Aswan

Today, Aswan is characterized by its abundance of palm trees and tropical gardens, standing beside one of the widest parts of the Nile River. As such, it has many islands dotted off its shores. Two of the largest are Kitchener’s Island, known for being covered with exotic plants, and the much larger Elephantine Island.

Aswan is Egypt’s southernmost city and lies, like Luxor and Cairo, on the shores of the Nile River, at its first cataract. To its north lies some 750 miles of the Nile until it reaches the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea. What sets this beautiful city apart from Cairo and Luxor, however, is that its buildings occupy only the East Bank and two islands in the river, with its barren West Bank’s dunes, literally, on the water’s edge. The West Bank has only a handful, albeit supremely notable, structures including the Monastery of St Simeon, the Aga Khan Mausoleum and the Tombs of the Nobles.

Aswan is located roughly where the Western Desert and the Eastern Desert meet, and just north of the great expanse of water created by the Aswan Dam known as Lake Nasser.