VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Aswan or Cusco?

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 Aswan for

  • families
  • prices
  • beaches

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

Choose Cusco for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Cusco’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. Aswan 10, Cusco 3: Aswan leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Cusco 56: Cusco leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Cusco 81: Cusco leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Cusco 42: Cusco leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Cusco 86: Cusco leads by 41 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Cusco 78: Cusco leads by 26 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Cusco 10: Aswan leads by 22 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Cusco 48: Cusco leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Cusco 52: Cusco leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Cusco 73: Aswan leads by 19 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Cusco 30: Cusco leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Cusco 33: Aswan leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Cusco.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on families and prices with your weighting.

Cusco
Best match
49match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Aswan in July

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

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AswanCusco

Where the figures come from

Cusco's station stands 151 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanCusco
Official languageArabicSpanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Sol (PEN)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC-5
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180111 or 911
Elevation99 m3,399 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAswanCusco
City population401,890428,450
People per km²1,072-
Museums within 10 km311
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Aswan or Cusco 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). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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. 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.