VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Aswan or Muscat?

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
  • getting around
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Muscat for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’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, Muscat 72: Muscat leads by 62 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Muscat 44: Muscat leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Muscat 55: Aswan leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Muscat 14: Muscat leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Muscat 70: Muscat leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Muscat 62: Muscat leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Muscat 52: Muscat leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Muscat 20: Aswan leads by 20 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Muscat 42: Muscat leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Muscat 45: Aswan leads by 47 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Muscat 40: Muscat leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Muscat 55: Muscat leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Muscat.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

Muscat
Best match
48match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

05101520JFMAMJJASOND
AswanMuscat

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanMuscat
Official languageArabicArabic
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Rial Omani (OMR)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+4
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180968
Elevation99 m69 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAswanMuscat
City population401,8901,421,409
People per km²1,072406
Museums within 10 km310
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 Muscat 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.