Aswān

Worth seeing in and around Aswān

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Aswan Low Dam

   The Aswan Low Dam or Old Aswan Dam is a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built by the British at the former first cataract of the Nile, and is located about 1000 km up-river and 690 km south-southeast of Cairo.

   7 km · dam in Egypt · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Temple of Isis in Philae

   The Philae temple complex is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt in Africa. Originally, the temple complex was located on Philae Island, near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt.

   7.2 km · Temple of Isis in Philae now located on Agilkia island · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Qubbet el-Hawa

   Qubbet el-Hawa or "Dome of the Wind" is a site on the western bank of the Nile, opposite Aswan, that serves as the resting place of ancient nobles and priests from the Old and Middle Kingdoms of ancient Egypt. The necropolis was in use from the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt until the Roman Period.

   1.9 km · archaeological site in Egypt, with Old and Middle Kingdom Tombs · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Trajan's Kiosk

   Trajan's Kiosk, also known as Pharaoh's Bed by the locals, is a hypaethral temple currently located on Agilkia Island in southern Egypt. The unfinished monument is attributed to Trajan, Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD, due to his depiction as pharaoh seen on some of the interior reliefs.

   7.3 km · ancient building on Philae, Egypt · Wikipedia
5. 05
   International Museum of Nubia

   The Nubian Museum is an archaeological museum in Aswan, Upper Egypt. It was built in 23 November 1997 following the UNESCO International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia.

   1.5 km · museum in Aswan, Egypt · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Wadi el-Hudi

   Wadi el-Hudi is a mining region that includes a large wadi and a mountain named Gebel el-Hudi in the Egyptian Eastern Desert, Southeast of Aswan. The name hudi is thought to come from the Arabic word for guide.

   1.2 km · archaeological site in Egypt · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Aswan Museum

   Aswan Museum is a museum in Elephantine, located on the south-eastern side of Aswan, Egypt. It was set up in 1912 by the British Egyptologist Cecil Mallaby Firth.

   1.4 km · museum on the island of Elephantine, Aswan, Egypt · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Gebel Tingar

   Gabal Tingar is a small mountain in Egypt, used as a granodiorite quarry in ancient times. The site is located on the west bank of the River Nile, west of Elephantine, near Aswan.

   3.2 km · mountain in Egypt · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Aswan Stadium

   Aswan Stadium is a stadium in Aswan, Egypt. It has a capacity of 11,000 spectators.

   3 km · building in Egypt · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Temple of Satet

    The Temple of Satet or Satis was an ancient Egyptian temple dedicated to the goddess Satet, a personification of the Nile inundation. The temple was located on the Nile Valley island of Elephantine, Egypt.

    1.4 km · ancient Egyptian temple · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

1. 01
   Nubian Museum
2. 02
   Unfinished Obelisk

   The largest known ancient obelisk, carved directly out of bedrock.

3. 03
   Archangel Michael’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral
4. 04
   Fatimid Cemetery

   The faded former glory of the Fatimid empire can be seen on the crumbling graveyard.

5. 05
   Ferial Gardens

   When you're in Aswan you'll have to walk along the Kornish Al Nile (Corniche) at least once.

6. 06
   Elephantine Island: Nubian Villages & Aswan Museum

   Nubian villages of Siou and Koti occupy this island.

From Wikivoyage: Aswān, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Rent a bike. Bikes available at many hotels. Cross the modern bridge to the east bank and bring back your bicycle afterwards by ferry boat. Camel rides. Grab a felucca captain and they will shuttle you across to the camel marshalling area. Ride the camel to the Monastery of St Simeon. Tea with the local shopkeepers.

From Wikivoyage: Aswān, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

= =

1. 01
   Al-Masry Restaurant

   Great kafta and kebabs, pigeon, and chicken, all served with bread, salad and tahini.

2. 02
   Aswan Moon

   Corniche an Nil (on pontoons along the Corniche),.

3. 03
   Panorama

   Serves simple Egyptian stews served in clay pots, with salad, mezze, rice.

4. 04
   Nubian House
5. 05
   Chef Khalil

   Sharia al Souq (near the train station).

From Wikivoyage: Aswān, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Aswān

Airports

Aswan (ASW), 16 km · Luxor (LXR), 177 km · Marsa Alam (RMF), 236 km

• Luxor → Aswān

  181 km · quickest by road, 3h 14m · E£290–385
  GuideToday
• Marsa Alam → Aswān

  229 km · quickest by road, 6h 38m · E£445–590
  GuideToday
• Suhaj → Aswān

  308 km · quickest by road, 6h 22m · E£580–770
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Aswān

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Aswān. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Aswān – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.