VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Burj Al Arab, Dubai
DubaiThe Burj Al Arab

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Dubai by Aleksandar Pasaric, Pexels License.

Aswan or Dubai?

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

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Dubai for

  • beaches
  • nightlife
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Dubai’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, Dubai 80: Dubai leads by 70 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Dubai 76: Dubai leads by 46 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Dubai 40: Aswan leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Dubai 62: Dubai leads by 54 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Dubai 25: Aswan leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Dubai 45: Aswan leads by 7 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Dubai 82: Dubai leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Dubai 42: Dubai leads by 2 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Dubai 82: Dubai leads by 52 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Dubai 32: Aswan leads by 60 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Dubai 40: Dubai leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Dubai 46: Dubai leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Dubai.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Dubai
Best match
54match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Dubai in July

42 °Cdaytime high
33 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
33 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0510152025JFMAMJJASOND
AswanDubai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Dubai: 1991-2020 normals, Dubai International Airport (3.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanDubai
Official languageArabicArabic
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)UAE Dirham (AED)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+4
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180112
Elevation99 m0 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsDubai International Airport (DXB)7 km from centre294 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAswanDubai
City population401,8903,944,751
People per km²1,072-
Museums within 10 km314
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Aswan or Dubai 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.