VacationSelector
Philae temple on the Nile, Aswan
AswanPhilae temple on the Nile
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Aswan by AXP Photography, Pexels License; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Aswan or Xi'an?

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
  • beaches

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • food and drink
  • nightlife
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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, Xi'an 4: Aswan leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Aswan 30, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 40 points.
Culture & sights. Aswan 64, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 17 points.
Nightlife. Aswan 8, Xi'an 42: Xi'an leads by 34 points.
Nature & outdoors. Aswan 45, Xi'an 62: Xi'an leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Aswan 52, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Aswan 32, Xi'an 48: Xi'an leads by 16 points.
Getting around. Aswan 40, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 26 points.
Shopping & style. Aswan 30, Xi'an 50: Xi'an leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Aswan 92, Xi'an 80: Aswan leads by 12 points.
Live music & performing arts. Aswan 14, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Aswan and Xi'an are level on 40.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Aswan and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Aswan
38match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on food and drink and nightlife 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

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
AswanXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Aswan: 1991-2020 normals, Asswan (18 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAswanXi'an
Official languageArabicPutonghua
CurrencyEgyptian Pound (EGP)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCF220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+2, UTC+3 in summerUTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 122, ambulance 123, fire 180Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation99 m405 m
Main airportAswan International Airport (ASW)16 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureAswanXi'an
City population401,89012,952,907
People per km²1,0721,283
Museums within 10 km39
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 Xi'an 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.