Elephantine Island Half-Day Tour, Aswan

Elephantine sits in the Nile right opposite Aswan's corniche, yet it feels a long way from the traffic. For thousands of years it marked Egypt's southern frontier and served as a trading post for ivory, which may be where its name comes from.

Your guide takes you round the archaeological site at the southern end of the island, where the remains of temples to the ram-headed god Khnum and the goddess Satet lie among excavated houses and granite blocks. You'll see the Nilometer, a stairway cut into the bank to measure the height of the flood, and visit the island's small museum of finds from the site.

Then the mood changes as you wander into the Nubian villages, with their brightly painted doorways, narrow lanes and gardens of palms and vegetables. It's a gentle, unhurried outing that ends with the short crossing back to the mainland.