Old Cataract: Aswan Travel Guide (4.9★)

A palace above the First Cataract

The hotel takes its name from the river below it. Here the Nile breaks over the granite boulders of the First Cataract, the old southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt. Thomas Cook’s company opened the hotel in 1899 for Victorian winter travellers coming upriver by steamer.

The building is a long terracotta-coloured Victorian block on a rocky bluff. Its terrace faces west over sailing feluccas toward Elephantine Island and the dunes beyond. Agatha Christie stayed here, and the hotel appears in Death on the Nile. That literary link is a large part of why so many visitors come.

Today it is a full luxury hotel with four restaurants and bars, a pool, a spa and a gym. It is one of the most-reviewed and most consistently praised places to stay in Upper Egypt. This is no secret, so plan around other people.

Getting to Abtal Al Tahrir street

The hotel sits where the Corniche bends south, near the end of Aswan’s riverfront promenade.

• From Aswan station: about 3km south along the Corniche. A short taxi ride, or a long flat walk past the felucca moorings.
• From Aswan International Airport: roughly 25km southwest across the dam road. Arrange a transfer or agree a taxi fare before you get in.
• From the Nubian Museum: directly uphill across the road, a walk of a few minutes.

Cruise passengers usually tie up along the Corniche to the north, which puts the hotel within a short ride.

Terrace etiquette and getting a table

The terrace is the reason most non-guests come, so here is how it works.

• Reserve. Policies for outside visitors on the terrace and in the restaurants change. Contact the hotel before you go and book a specific slot rather than turning up.
• Aim for late afternoon. The west bank lights up gold and the feluccas come in. Everyone else wants this hour too, which is exactly why booking matters.
• Dress for a grand hotel. Smart-casual is the safe choice. Beach shorts and dusty temple-day clothes fall flat in the dining rooms.
• Paying and tipping. Cards are standard at the hotel. Carry some small Egyptian pounds for porters and felucca captains, because tipping (baksheesh) is expected throughout Aswan.
• Prices are on the menus and on the hotel’s official site. Expect luxury-hotel pricing.

Hours for the restaurants and terrace are not fixed here, so confirm them when you book.

What sits around the hotel

The location lets you cover much of Aswan from the front gate.

• Nubian Museum: just uphill. It covers Nubian history and the monuments rescued when Lake Nasser flooded the region.
• Elephantine Island: a short boat crossing from the Corniche. It holds the ruins of ancient Abu and a Nilometer.
• Felucca sail: boats leave from the Corniche landings for a loop around Elephantine and Kitchener’s Island (the Botanical Garden).
• Aga Khan Mausoleum: visible on the west-bank hill opposite the terrace.
• Philae Temple: reached by motorboat from Shellal, south of town past the Old Aswan Dam.

A terrace visit takes an hour or two. Stay overnight and the hotel becomes your base for two or three days of the sights above. The cooler months from October to April are the classic season, as they were for the steamer crowds in 1899.