Aswan Attractions

Spread out along the banks of the Nile, Aswan is a relaxed and friendly town that provides a tranquil interlude if you've just arrived from busier Luxor or Cairo. Once ancient Egypt's gateway to Africa, this is a perfect base for exploring the temples, monuments, and other tourist attractions in the southern reaches of Upper Egypt and the area's distinctly different Nubian culture. Many of these can be done on day trips from Aswan.

The best way to discover Aswan's charms is to hop aboard a felucca (traditional sailboat) and view town from the watery highway that once made Aswan an important trading post. The river here is speckled with islands holding picturesque mud-brick Nubian villages and hemmed by the West Bank's colossal sand dunes. It's all incredibly photogenic, particularly at sunset, when hundreds of lateen-sailed feluccas take to the water, and the river shimmers in the setting sun. Plan your trip with our list of the top things to do in Aswan.

Temple of Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo rising dramatically above the Nile's bank are one of Egypt's iconic views

Temple of Philae

the Temples of Philae were venerated from the Pharaonic era through the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods with each ruler making their own additions to the stones here.

Temple Of Edfu

Temple Of Edfu is a must-do stop if you want to experience the sheer scale and ambition of Egypt's temple builders

temples of Abu Simbel

The most magnificent of the monuments Ramses II built, Abu Simbel is both the perfect example of the ambition of this pharaoh's reign and also a model illustration for modern engineering

Unfinished Obelisk

Aswan's Northern Quarry is home to the famous Unfinished Obelisk a 41-meter-long and four-meter-wide chunk of stone that was probably abandoned because of a crack in the rock

Aswan High Dam

Aswan High Dam is a rock-fill dam located at the northern border between Egypt and Sudan