VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
Rowing boats below the ghats in the morning light, Varanasi
VaranasiRowing boats below the ghats in the morning light

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Varanasi by Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Aswan or Varanasi?

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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Varanasi for

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

What lies behind each score is written up on Varanasi’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, Varanasi 4: Aswan leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 25 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Varanasi 80: Varanasi leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Varanasi 10: Varanasi leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Varanasi 18: Aswan leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Varanasi 42: Aswan leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Varanasi 5: Aswan leads by 27 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Varanasi 28: Aswan leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Varanasi 55: Varanasi leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Aswan and Varanasi are level on 92.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Varanasi 58: Varanasi leads by 44 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan 40, Varanasi 30: Aswan leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Varanasi.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Aswan
38match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and families with your weighting.

Varanasi
40match

Wins on live music and the arts and food and drink 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

Varanasi in July

35 °Cdaytime high
27 °Cnight-time low
249 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AswanVaranasi

Where the figures come from

Varanasi 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). Varanasi: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.

Before you go

MeasureAswanVaranasi
Official languageArabicHindi, English
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Indian Rupee (INR)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzCM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+5:30
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180108 or 112
Elevation99 m76 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsLal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)21 km from centre16 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days-

By the numbers

MeasureAswanVaranasi
City population401,8901,198,491
People per km²1,07214,598
Museums within 10 km32
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 Varanasi 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. 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.