Aswan in two days
Two days makes the city work: Philae, Elephantine, the Nubian Museum and a sunset sail, with the High Dam and the obelisk folded into a half-day. It is tight but not rushed, as long as Abu Simbel stays off the list.
Morning — Philae, early and unhurried.
Afternoon — The Nubian Museum through the hottest hours — it is the one air-conditioned hour in Aswan and it is the context for everything else.
Evening — Felucca at sunset, then the souq.
Morning — The half-day loop: High Dam, unfinished obelisk. Twenty minutes at the dam is enough.
Afternoon — Public ferry to Elephantine — the excavation, then the villages. Botanical garden if there is time.
Evening — Nothing. Eat by the river.
The west bank entirely — Qubbet el-Hawa and St Simeon both need half a day and a boat. Two days does not have that half day.
You get the city and the river, and you give up the west bank and the desert. That is the right trade at this length.
Two days is the most common length and it works. The mistake people make is squeezing Abu Simbel into it, which costs a whole day of the two and gives you an exhausted third.
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