The towering cliffs facing Aswan, just north of Kitchener's Island, are peppered with the graves of ancient Elephantine's governors, guardians of the Gate of the South, and other nobles. Six of the Tombs of the Nobles are available to the public and are known as the Tombs of the Nobles.
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The controversial Aswan High Dam (As-Sadd al-Ali) in Egypt is a contemporary example of monumental building, including 18 times the amount of material used in the Great Pyramid of Khufu and creating Lake Nasser, the world's biggest artificial lake.
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The Aswan Botanical Gardens are located to the west of Elephantine and are still referred to by its previous name, Kitchener's Island. The Aswan Botanical Gardens are open from April to October.
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The fortress-like Monastery of St. Simeon, built in the 7th century, was originally dedicated to Anba Hadra, a local saint who lived in the 4th century and abandoned the world on his wedding day.
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The museum, originally opened in 1997 in collaboration with Unesco, serves as a reminder of the Nubians' history and culture, most of which was destroyed when Lake Nasser swamped their territory when the dams were built.
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The romantic atmosphere and grandeur of the Temple of Isis on Philae island (fee-leh) drew tourists for thousands of years, and the ruins became one of Egypt's most renowned tourist sites throughout the 19th century.
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Elephantine Island is the location of ancient Abu (which means both elephant and ivory in ancient Egyptian), both names a reminder of the island's importance in the ivory trade.
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Aswan was the source of Egypt's finest granite, a hard stone that the ancient Egyptians used for sculptures and to decorate temples and pyramids across the country. A massive abandoned obelisk may be seen in the Northern Quarries, about 1.5 kilometres from town and just across from the Fatimid Cemetery.
Read MoreAbu Simbel is located 280 kilometres south of Aswan and 40 km north of the Sudanese border, & the tiny town is calm and relaxed. Few tourists stay longer than necessary to see the famous colossal temples, but that may soon change.
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Its quarries furnished the costly granite needed for so many statues and obelisks, and it was a bustling marketplace at the crossroads of historic trade routes.
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