By type of trip
Nile Cruises Luxor to Aswan: Routes, Boats and Prices
Classic Egypt Tours: Cairo, Luxor and Aswan Itineraries
Nile Cruise and Red Sea Holidays: Two-Week Egypt Trips
White Desert Tours from Cairo: Oases and Desert Camping
Short Breaks in Egypt: Three and Four Day Cairo Trips
Tailor-made Egypt Tours: Private Trips Built Around You
Aswan
Stay on the east bank corniche in Aswan if you want the easiest base, with the town, the station and the boat landings at your door. Stay on Elephantine Island for river views and quiet, a short boat ride from town. Stay in a Nubian guesthouse on the west bank for village life and calm nights. Aswan is small, so every choice is close to the others. The real question is how much of the river you want between you and the town.
East bank cornicheElephantine Island| East bank corniche | Elephantine Island | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting around | Walk to the town, the souk, the station and the boat landings | A short boat ride to the corniche for anything in town |
| The river | Nile views from rooms on the water side | Water on every side, with the islands and the west bank cliffs in view |
| Evenings | Restaurants and the busy corniche | Quiet. Your hotel, or a boat back to town |
| Selling and touts | Boatmen and calèche drivers along the water. Calmer one street back | Very little |
| Nubian life | A ferry ride to Elephantine or a boat to the west bank | Two Nubian villages, Koti and Siou, a walk away |
| Best for | One night, early starts for Abu Simbel, and eating out | Two or more nights, river views and a slower pace |
The short answer
For one night before a cruise or an early Abu Simbel start, stay on the corniche. For two or more nights, Elephantine Island gives you the river and the quiet, and the town is still a few minutes away by boat.
Aswan sits at the First Cataract, where granite breaks the Nile into channels around islands. The town and the corniche are on the east bank. Elephantine Island lies in the river opposite. The west bank has desert cliffs and Nubian villages.
The corniche is the best area for most short stays. It is central, flat and close to everything. Elephantine suits a slower stay with river views. The west bank suits travellers who want a Nubian guesthouse more than a hotel.
Aswan is calmer than Cairo or Luxor. Even the busiest part of town is easy to manage once you step back from the water.
The corniche is the road along the river on the east bank. Hotels, restaurants, boat landings and the public ferries line it. The souk and the station are a short walk inland.
This is the practical choice. You can walk to dinner, catch the ferry to Elephantine and find a felucca on the spot. Early pick-ups for Abu Simbel are simple from here.
The boatmen and calèche drivers along the water work hard for your business. Agree every price before you set off. One street back from the river, the selling stops.
Elephantine Island sits in the Nile opposite the corniche. Its southern end holds the ruins of the ancient town, a Nilometer and a small museum. The ministry lists the site as open from 8am to 4pm. The northern half is two Nubian villages, Koti and Siou, with narrow painted lanes.
Staying here means water on every side and quiet nights. The public ferry crosses to the corniche in a few minutes and costs very little.
The trade-off is that town is always a boat ride away. For one night that can feel like a hurdle. For two or three nights it is part of the charm.
Gharb Soheil is a Nubian village on the west bank, south of the town. It is known for its brightly painted houses. In 2024 UN Tourism named it one of its Best Tourism Villages.
The village has small, family-run guesthouses. Guests often eat with the family and spend the evening on a roof or a terrace by the river. Reach them by boat from the corniche or by road, and ask your host how to arrive.
This choice suits people who want Nubian life up close and do not mind simple rooms. It is a poor fit for a single night before an early Abu Simbel start, as the town is a boat ride away.
We sell the tours of one Egyptian operator, Memphis Tours. Three of the sixteen set itineraries we sell include a hotel night in Aswan. Each uses one of three hotels, depending on the accommodation option you choose when you book.
Mövenpick Resort Aswan is on Elephantine Island, a five-minute boat ride from the centre. Tolip Hotel Aswan is on the Nile Corniche. Citymax Hotel Aswan is on the Corniche El Nile, next to the Aswan Plaza Mall. We checked each location on the hotel's own website in November 2026.
Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, thirteen days, starts at US$2,945 per person, land only. The Grand Tour of Egypt, sixteen days, starts at US$3,910. Both spend one night in Aswan before the boat. Cairo, Luxor and a Nile Cruise, fifteen days, starts at US$3,985 and spends its Aswan night after the cruise.
Most Nile cruises start or finish in Aswan, and the boat is your hotel while it is moored there. Many passengers fly out the morning the cruise ends. Their Aswan is a rushed stop between the boat and the airport.
One extra night changes that. It buys an unhurried afternoon on the water, a felucca at sunset and time on Elephantine. If you can add a night, add it in Aswan.
Two full days covers Philae, the Unfinished Obelisk, a felucca afternoon and time on Elephantine. Keep the middle of each day free for the heat.
Three days lets you add Abu Simbel without rushing. The road trip is about 280 km each way and takes three to three and a half hours, with departures around 4am. Flights take about 45 minutes and save around five hours of your day.
The east bank corniche, for most short stays. It is close to the town, the ferries and the boat landings. For two or more nights, Elephantine Island gives you river views and quiet, a few minutes from town by boat.
Yes, for two or more nights. You get water on every side, quiet evenings and two Nubian villages on foot. The town is a short ferry ride away, which can feel like a hurdle if you only have one night.
Yes. Gharb Soheil, on the west bank, has small family-run guesthouses. Reach them by boat from the corniche or by road. Ask your host how to get there before you arrive.
Memphis Tours, the operator whose tours we sell, uses three: Mövenpick Resort Aswan on Elephantine Island, and Tolip Hotel Aswan and Citymax Hotel Aswan on the corniche. Your hotel depends on the accommodation option you choose.
One night covers Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk. Two full days add a felucca afternoon and Elephantine at an easy pace. Three days let you add Abu Simbel without rushing.
On the corniche. Road trips to Abu Simbel leave around 4am, and the drive takes three to three and a half hours each way. A central east bank hotel makes the early pick-up simple.
Most trips need both. Luxor has more to see and needs two or three days. Aswan is calmer and needs about two. Our Luxor vs Aswan guide compares them in detail.
For current advice, read the US State Department and UK FCDO travel pages for Egypt before you book. In practical terms, expect boatmen and calèche drivers on the corniche, and agree every price before you set off.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
Plan this trip
A real itinerary with real prices, usually within 24 hours. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until you say yes.
13 days · Nile & Red Sea
Thirteen days that give the ancient sites a week and then stop moving: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, and three nights on the Red Sea at Hurghada before flying back for a last day in Cairo.
from US$2,945 / per person
15 days · Classic Egypt
Fifteen days of the ancient sites without a beach stop: Cairo, two days of Luxor on land, four nights sailing to Aswan, a Nubian village, then back to Cairo for Alexandria, Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,985 / per person
16 days · Classic Egypt
Sixteen days and very little left out: Cairo, a flight to Aswan, three nights sailing down to Luxor, two more days of Luxor on land, three nights on the Red Sea, then back to Cairo for Saqqara and Dahshur.
from US$3,910 / per person
