Shopping in Luxor and Aswan is delightful with their many souks and marketplaces. Whilst they have unmatched historic sights, for some visitors, shopping is the highlight of their visit. However, visitors will need to practise their bargaining skills to get the best deals. When the hot sun goes down, the best way to shop is to have a leisurely stroll around town and enjoy the array of colourful things on display.
Tourists will find the sights and sounds of the souks in Luxor and Aswan truly enchanting.
Take a look through our Luxor and Aswan Shopping Guide to learn more about the shopping scene in both Luxor and Aswan. Our Egypt Shopping Guide has further information about the best things to purchase whilst shopping in Egypt. Also, as bargaining can be hungry work, don't forget to enjoy a traditional meal in one of the marketplaces or restaurants in Luxor and Aswan.
Luxor and Aswan Shopping Guide
While shopping in Luxor and Aswan, the only thing visitors need to equip themselves with, is the knack of haggling hard. Usually the prices touted by the shopkeepers would be on the higher side - so without some vigorous haggling, visitors might well end up paying more than necessary. Most shopkeepers mark up prices by a whopping 25% to 30% - so, visitors would be well advised to bargain so that they get good value for money.
Luxor Shopping Guide
Like everything else, shopping in Luxor is a unique experience. Luxor has a village like ambience and its shops and cafes are crammed one on top of another. Shopkeepers usually quote wildly unreal prices and expect visitors to wear them down by haggling. If visiting during the off season, tourists can expect lower prices. But during peak season, even an experienced shopper cannot expect things to come cheap.
What to Buy
There are stone carvings that come in many colours and are wonderfully polished. Pretty glass bowls and plates, traditionally made are available too. Then there are shawls and carpets in many colours. Finely crafted gold and silver jewellery always find many buyers because of their permanent value. A must-buy item would be spices straight from the Oriental market.
Antiques are a wonderful buy because they are unique. At the Corniche, visitors can find a number of bookshops. Their collections are very good and they quote fair prices, so shopping is hassle free. At the Fair Trade Centre, prices are fixed and marked clearly.
For silk, hubble-bubble shisha pipes, jewellery and really inexpensive embroidered dresses, the Luxor souks are the places to head for. But visitors should prepare to settle down to some hard bargaining. For an interesting Luxor souvenir to take home, alabaster figurines, tagens or clay cooking pots can make an unusual gift.
Along the West Bank, artists produce alabaster cups, vases and figures of the ancient Egyptian deities. The souvenir shop at the Tomb of Nefertari sells reproductions of the figures seen inside and fragments from various excavations.
Aswan Shopping Guide
Located by the river Nile, Aswan conducts business in the most scenic settings, making shopping a real pleasure. The sheer variety of things on offer in Aswan markets will amaze visitors. Visitors to Aswan can browse through and choose from exotic spices, souvenirs, finely crafted jewellery, elegant shawls, designer carpets, brass, limestone and copper handicrafts and other ethnic decorative items.
The Aswan Souk located in the city centre is one of the most preferred places for shopping in Aswan. This market has many attractive wares and visitors will get the chance to use their bargaining techniques to bag excellent deals. The huge variety of spices sold here lends exoticism and colour to the souk. Local bazaars in Aswan also store a superb collection of perfumes ranging from delicate floral to striking spicy scents. The glass bottles that store the perfumes are exquisitely designed too, making them the perfect choice for souvenirs.
Tourists visiting Aswan are particularly interested in the colourful spices as their unmistakable aroma wafts through the bazaars. In fact, visitors from other parts of Egypt come to Aswan to shop especially for quality spices. A mind boggling variety of spices available here make them the avid shopper's first choice when it comes to making purchases in Aswan. The place to go shopping for spices is the Aswan Spice Market of Egypt.
