VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
Angkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway, Siem Reap
Siem ReapAngkor Wat beyond the palms of the causeway

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Siem Reap by allPhoto Bangkok, Pexels License.

Aswan or Siem Reap?

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
  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Siem Reap for

  • nightlife
  • culture and sights
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Siem Reap’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, Siem Reap 5: Aswan leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Siem Reap 45: Siem Reap leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Siem Reap 88: Siem Reap leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Siem Reap 42: Siem Reap leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Siem Reap 40: Aswan leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Siem Reap 55: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Siem Reap 35: Siem Reap leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Siem Reap 30: Aswan leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Siem Reap 38: Siem Reap leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Siem Reap 88: Aswan leads by 4 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Siem Reap 32: Siem Reap leads by 18 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Siem Reap 60: Siem Reap leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Siem Reap.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on getting around and beaches with your weighting.

Siem Reap
Best match
47match

Wins on nightlife 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

Siem Reap in July

30 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AswanSiem Reap

Where the figures come from

Siem Reap has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Siem Reap: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAswanSiem Reap
Official languageArabicKhmer
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Riel (KHR)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzACG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180Police 117, ambulance 119, fire 118
Elevation99 m18 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsSiem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI)39 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days21 days

By the numbers

MeasureAswanSiem Reap
City population401,890147,866
People per km²1,072-
Museums within 10 km36
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 Siem Reap 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. Temperature and rainfall for destinations with no weather station are from the NASA POWER 2001-2020 climatology, derived from MERRA-2. 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.