VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License.

Aswan or Samarkand?

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
  • wellness
  • beaches

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

Choose Samarkand for

  • food and drink
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’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, Samarkand 4: Aswan leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Samarkand 54: Samarkand leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Samarkand 84: Samarkand leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Samarkand 14: Samarkand leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Samarkand 40: Aswan leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Samarkand 72: Samarkand leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Samarkand 30: Aswan leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Samarkand 58: Samarkand leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Samarkand 42: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Samarkand 80: Aswan leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Samarkand 24: Samarkand leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Samarkand 32: Aswan leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Samarkand.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Samarkand
Best match
45match

Wins on food and drink and culture and sights 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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080JFMAMJJASOND
AswanSamarkand

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanSamarkand
Official languageArabicUzbek
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Uzbekistan Sum (UZS)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCFI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+5
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180112
Elevation99 m702 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAswanSamarkand
City population401,890546,303
People per km²1,0725,058
Museums within 10 km311
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 Aswan or Samarkand 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.