Cairo vs Aswan
Which would you pick?
The short answer
Aswan is the cheaper trip, by roughly 20% a day — $40–80 against $50–100 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Nov–Feb, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇪🇬 Cairo | 🇪🇬 Aswan | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $50–100 | $40–80cheaper |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $1–3 | $1–3 |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $45–100 | $35–80cheaper |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $0.20–0.40cheaper | $0.30 |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $165 | ≈ $165 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇪🇬 Cairo
Twenty-odd million people, the last standing Wonder of the ancient world at the end of a city bus route, and a brand-new museum built to hold Tutankhamun. Loud, hot and exhausting, and nowhere else is quite like it.
- The Giza pyramids and the Sphinx$$Pharaonic Cairo
- Khan el-Khalili and El Fishawy$Islamic & Coptic Cairo
- Abou Tarek$Restaurants
- Tannoura at Wekalet El Ghouri$Evenings
- Grand Egyptian Museum$$Pharaonic Cairo
🇪🇬 Aswan
Egypt's southern frontier, where the Nile narrows between granite boulders and golden dunes, feluccas outnumber cars, and Nubian villages paint their houses blue. The slowest, easiest city on the tourist route — and the base for Abu Simbel.
- Abu Simbel$$Temples & sights
- Felucca around Elephantine and Kitchener's Island$On the water
- The Old Cataract terrace$$$Eating & evenings
- Philae Temple$Temples & sights
- Nubian village by boat$On the water
Practicalities
| Cairo | Aswan | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Arabic (Egyptian dialect). English is common at hotels, sites and anywhere that sells to tourists, thinner with taxi drivers and at street stalls. | Arabic, and Nubian languages in the villages. English is common wherever tourists are. |
| Currency | Egyptian pound (EGP, written LE or E£ locally). US$1 ≈ EGP 52. The pound was floated in March 2024 and roughly halved against the dollar, so any guide or forum post older than that has prices that are badly wrong. | Egyptian pound (EGP, written LE or E£). US$1 ≈ EGP 52. The pound was floated in 2024, so older price guides are off by half. |
| Tap water | Treated and chlorinated, and fine for brushing teeth, but visitors drink bottled — it's cheap and everywhere | Drink bottled |
The same in both:
- Time zone
- EET (UTC+2), moving to UTC+3 for summer daylight saving from late April to late October
- Power
- Type C/F plugs, 220V
- Emergency
- 122 police · 123 ambulance · 180 fire · 126 tourist police · 112 connects to all of them