Where to go?

Our favourites in September

Where the sun is turning up right now.

• 
  Luxor 98

  Egypt

  ☀️ 11.6 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 33°C

  Ancient Thebes spreads over both banks of the Nile, and a felucca is still the sensible way between them. Karnak's hypostyle hall is a forest of columns you walk through rather than look at, while Luxor Temple is best after dark, when the lighting picks out the reliefs. On the west bank lie the Valley of the Kings and the terraces of Hatshepsut's temple against the cliff.

  • Karnak Temple
  • Valley of the Kings
  • Luxor Temple
  • Temple of Hatshepsut

  When to go to Luxor? →

• 
  Sharm El Sheikh 98

  Egypt

  ☀️ 11.5 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 34°C

  Ras Mohammed, where two gulfs meet, hands Sharm El Sheikh some of the Red Sea's finest diving: sheer walls and coral gardens a short boat ride from shore. Naama Bay takes care of the rest, with sheltered swimming, dive centres and long evenings. Inland the Sinai turns granite and empty, and the classic outing is the night climb up Mount Sinai to meet the sunrise.

  • Ras Mohammed National Park (diving)
  • Naama Bay beach
  • Sinai desert (day trip)
  • Mount Sinai (sunrise)

  When to go to Sharm El Sheikh? →

• 
  Aswan 97

  Egypt

  ☀️ 11.5 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 34°C

  The Nile is at its most photogenic at Aswan: granite boulders, white sails and desert on both banks. Philae stands on its island, columns and pylons rising straight from the water, while Abu Simbel and its colossi lie upriver to the south. In town the souk sells hibiscus, spices and cotton, and Elephantine Island is a short ferry hop away.

  • Abu Simbel (day trip, UNESCO)
  • Philae Temple (island)
  • Nile cruise
  • Aswan souk and Elephantine Island

  When to go to Aswan? →

• 
  Hurghada 96

  Egypt

  ☀️ 11.5 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 31°C

  Everything here points underwater: Red Sea coral just off the beach, and day boats out to the Giftun Islands for snorkelling over gardens of soft coral and reef fish. Back on land, the marina fills up in the evening with seafood restaurants and slow strolling. Behind the town, the Eastern Desert opens into flat gravel plains best crossed by 4x4.

  • Coral reefs and diving (Red Sea)
  • Giftun Islands (snorkelling)
  • Marina Hurghada
  • Eastern desert (4x4 day trip)

  When to go to Hurghada? →

• 
  Dubai 96

  United Arab Emirates

  ☀️ 11.3 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 33°C

  Two cities, really. There is the Burj Khalifa and the mall at its foot, where the fountains perform against the tallest tower in the world, and there is old Dubai over the creek, reached by wooden abra. Bastakiya keeps its wind towers and courtyard houses, the gold and spice souks keep their haggling, and offshore Palm Jumeirah curls into the Gulf with Atlantis at its tip.

  • Burj Khalifa (world's tallest tower)
  • Dubai Mall and Fountains
  • Old Dubai (Bastakiya, gold and spice souks)
  • Palm Jumeirah and Atlantis

  When to go to Dubai? →

• 
  Abu Dhabi 95

  United Arab Emirates

  ☀️ 11.2 h/day · 🌧️ 0 mm/month · 🌡️ 34°C

  Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the set piece: white marble, inlaid flowers and reflecting pools that double everything at dusk. On Saadiyat, the Louvre Abu Dhabi shelters its galleries under a perforated dome that filters the light into a slow rain of dots. The Corniche unrolls beach and cycle path along the whole waterfront, while Yas Island keeps the theme parks and the Grand Prix circuit.

  • Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
  • Louvre Abu Dhabi
  • Abu Dhabi Corniche
  • Yas Island (Ferrari World, F1)

  When to go to Abu Dhabi? →

See all our ideas for September →