Top Aswan Tours & Vacations 2024/2025 [reviews & photos]

Aswan Tours & Travel Packages 2024/2025

309 Aswan trips. Compare tour itineraries from 57 tour companies. 673 reviews. 4.8/5 avg rating.

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Top Aswan Attractions & Experiences

Top Aswan Experiences

  • Visiting the Nubian Museum
  • Walking around the Fatimid Cemetery, where some graves date back to the 7th century
  • Touring the many ancient temples and archaeological sights on Elephantine Island
  • Experiencing modern Egyptian life on a walking tour through Aswans many markets, shops, and restaurants
  • Taking a boat ride on the Nile in a Felucca

Aswan Tours & Travel Guide

Aswan Attractions & Landmarks Guide

A city of great strategic and military importance for Ancient Egypt, today Aswan is a lovely laid back center, perfect for lingering and relaxing during your Egypt tour or Nile River Cruise. Enjoy the history here as well as the excellent shopping, food, and easy going pace.

Tours of Aswan

Aswan is the southernmost main tourist city in Egypt, and historically has been known as the country’s “Gateway to Africa.” Aswan was the primary source of granite used for the obelisks of Luxor, and is currently the site of the Aswan Dam which creates Lake Nasser.

A tour of the city will likely be walking-based, as most the sites are within a close range of each other. Some sites that will require transportation include the Unfinished Obelisk (an incomplete, ancient obelisk carved directly into the bedrock of a quarry. It would have been the largest known obelisk had it been finished).

A cultural tour of the area will definitely stop by Elephantine and Seheyl, two islands made up of Nubian villages. These villagers were displaced when the dam was built and Lake Nasser flooded their original homes.

The people are notoriously welcoming, and the villages are some of the best places to buy beaded jewelry, whether it be as a souvenir or for yourself! Elephantine is also home to a number of archaeological sites, and therefore a must stop if you are interested in ancient history.

Aswan Felucca Tours

One of the top activities to do in Aswan, Egypt is to take a felucca ride. A felucca is a traditional boat to the Nile. It is a smaller craft, made of wood and huge white sails, and sometimes known as the “workhorse of the Nile.” A felucca tour is usually several hours long, and you can expect to be served drinks and potentially lunch on the craft.

From the craft, you will be able to peacefully see all the classic Egyptian sights, from the Colossi of Memnon to the Temple of Karnak, to the Valley of Kings.

Luxor and Aswan Tour Packages

Tours to Aswan are usually included in a package with other key destinations in Egypt, such as the city of Luxor. While Aswan is known as a quiet and peaceful city with beautiful river views and visually appealing streets, as well as a strong Nubian population, Luxor is a city jam packed with Ancient archaeological sites.

As a result, the two offset each other quite nicely. For maximum flexibility between the two cities and their various sights, consider booking a private tour of Aswan and Luxor. 

What to Wear in Aswan

Both Aswan and its neighbor, Luxor, are very accustomed to a tourist presence. As a result, there is a less pressure for both men and women to dress conservatively -- you can basically “get away” with wearing anything.

However, simply because you won’t be openly harassed doesn’t mean that you won’t be making local peoples uncomfortable. For this reason, you should be sensitive to local culture, and therefore remain mindful of the way you are dressing.

For women, this means covering your knees and shoulders most of the time, and dressing in loose-fitting clothing if at all possible. As in the rest of Egypt, it is also a good idea to carry around a small scarf: you can use this to cover your head when entering sites of worship, or if the sun becomes overwhelming.

For men, try to wear full length pants rather than shorts, particularly when you are downtown. It is recommended that both sexes wear comfortable, sturdy shoes. Roads can be unpaved or cobblestone, and are often have a little bit of sand on them, which can be uncomfortable if it gets into your sandals.

When traveling on a cruise of the Nile, dress code is much less important. Wearing shorts and swimsuits for both genders is fine, though you may want to be prepared with some more conservative outfits for when you get off the boat. Depending on how luxurious your cruise is, you may find that people dress more formally for dinner on the boat.

Aswan Reviews & Ratings

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Anonymous

Oct 2018

Provided byExodus Travels

Nile Cruise

This was a wonderful trip - I enjoyed it enormously. Visit to the temples at Karnak & Luxor Khaled Lotfy was an excellent & inspirational group leader. He ...

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Anonymous

Oct 2018

Provided byExodus Travels

postscript

Sorry, I meant to add that Exodus should perhaps delete the reference to the "library" on the cruise from the Trip Notes. The library consisted of 16 dog-eared bo...

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Anonymous

Oct 2018

Provided byExodus Travels

History in the Heat

I've always been interested in Egyptian history and when friends suggested joining this holiday I booked straight away. And it didn't disappoint. Seeing & bein...

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Anonymous

Feb 2018

Provided byExodus Travels

Nile Cruise

I do not have a very long 'bucket list', in fact Egypt is the only destination on it and this holiday did not disappoint. From the flight to Cairo to the flight ho...

A

Anonymous

Jan 2018

Provided byExodus Travels

Nile Cruise Premium

I have always wanted to visit Egypt to see the antiquities, but because of the political instability I thought it would be unlikely. So when I saw this trip adver...

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