VacationSelector
The Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla, AlUla
AlUlaThe Qasr al-Farid tomb at Hegra near AlUla
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile

Photos: AlUla by Richard.hargas, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License.

AlUla or Aswan?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose AlUla for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on AlUla’s own page.

Choose Aswan for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Aswan’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. AlUla 3, Aswan 10: Aswan leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. AlUla 28, Aswan 30: Aswan leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. AlUla 70, Aswan 64: AlUla leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. AlUla 5, Aswan 8: Aswan leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. AlUla 72, Aswan 45: AlUla leads by 27 points.
Day trips. AlUla 20, Aswan 52: Aswan leads by 32 points.
Good for families. AlUla 35, Aswan 32: AlUla leads by 3 points.
Getting around. AlUla 15, Aswan 40: Aswan leads by 25 points.
Shopping & style. AlUla 15, Aswan 30: Aswan leads by 15 points.
Affordability. AlUla 18, Aswan 92: Aswan leads by 74 points.
Live music & performing arts. AlUla 28, Aswan 14: AlUla leads by 14 points.
Wellness & relaxation. AlUla 45, Aswan 40: AlUla leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: AlUla and Aswan.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

AlUla
30match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Aswan
Best match
38match

Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

AlUla in July

43 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Aswan in July

42 °Cdaytime high
28 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

05101520JFMAMJJASOND
AlUlaAswan

Where the figures come from

AlUla has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. AlUla: 2010-2025 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Alula / Al ‘Ulá (23.7 km from centre). Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlUlaAswan
Official languageArabicArabic
CurrencySaudi Riyal (SAR)Egyptian Pound (EGP)
SocketsG60 HzCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112 or 911Police 122, ambulance 123, fire 180
Elevation692 m99 m
Main airportAl-Ula International Airport (ULH)24 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-15 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlUlaAswan
City population32,413401,890
People per km²-1,072
Museums within 10 km23
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow AlUla or Aswan somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.