VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Johannesburg by K, Pexels License.

Aswan or Johannesburg?

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

  • getting around
  • prices
  • wellness

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

Choose Johannesburg for

  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’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, Johannesburg 5: Aswan leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Johannesburg 58: Johannesburg leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Johannesburg 56: Aswan leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Johannesburg 62: Johannesburg leads by 54 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Aswan and Johannesburg are level on 52.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Johannesburg 42: Johannesburg leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Johannesburg 18: Aswan leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Johannesburg 58: Johannesburg leads by 28 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Johannesburg 72: Aswan leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 41 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Johannesburg 28: Aswan leads by 12 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Johannesburg.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on getting around and prices with your weighting.

Johannesburg
Best match
47match

Wins on nightlife and live music and the arts 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

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AswanJohannesburg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanJohannesburg
Official languageArabicEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+2
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180112
Elevation99 m1,753 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAswanJohannesburg
City population401,8904,803,262
People per km²1,0722,922
Museums within 10 km314
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 Johannesburg 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

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.