Oman
Brown signs lead off old Hwy 23 to this fortified mud-brick mansion house. Built possibly around 300 years ago, and now buried in the Ibra suburbs on the…
Must-see attractions in Middle East
Tel Aviv
Beloved by celebrity chefs, this aromatic market is a mini-neighbourhood of pantries and stores. Established in the 1920s by Balkan immigrants, this is…
Southeastern Iran
The large caravanserai in the heart of Safiabad is bigger in scale than others in the large surrounding oasis, and has four attractively faceted round…
Hajar Mountains
The market opposite Hela Castle sells barasti – plaited palm fronds traditionally used for roofing and fencing – while just along the road, a lively souq…
Dhofar
Of passing interest in the town of Mirbat is the old quarter, where some merchant houses still stand proud along the beach front. Some are still lived in,…
Umm Qais
A bit of imagination is needed to reconstruct the colonnaded courtyard of the Basilica Terrace, the western section of which housed a row of shops. The…
Beirut
The 'cardo maximus' was the principal north–south street of a Roman city, and you can see the evocative remains of Beirut's cardo maximus between the city…
Jerusalem
Food and clothing vendors are framed by soaring vaults in this mid-14th-century shopping arcade. The part closest to Al Wad St dates from the Crusader…
Tripoli
At the northern end of the old town is Souq Al Haraj, which is thought to have been built on the site of a Crusader church. Its high, vaulted ceiling is…
Masirah Island
The small town of Hilf, a 3km string of jetties, shops and fish factories in the northwest of Masirah, is home to most of the island's tiny population…
Iran
The most distinctive of Zafaraniyeh's adobe-faced buildings is the beehive-shaped ice house. Up until the 1970s locals cut up thick slabs of compacted…
Aqaba
This free museum, in the shadow of the giant flagpole, is moderately diverting. There are some fascinating period photos of Aqaba, including at the time…
Iran
Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan constructed an observatory here in the 13th century for brilliant mathematician Nasruddin Tusi (Nasir al-Tusi), who advanced…
Beirut
Banque du Liban Museum is an offbeat little stop for a change of pace. The collection includes coins dating back to 500 BC; some of the retired Lebanese…
Tel Aviv
Just north of Alma Beach and south of Jerusalem Beach, this beach is a peaceful spot with a 24/7 beach bar, beach volleyball court and a surf school…
Kuwait City
Adjacent to Kuwait Bay, opposite the Dickson House Cultural Centre, you can see dozens of traditional dhows (cargo boats), most still operational and…
Southeastern Iran
On dun-coloured ridges at the eastern edge of town rise the lumpy outlines of two timeless mud-fortress ruins. This area would have been Kerman's most…
Lotfolla Sheik-al-Islam Mansion
Iran
The well-renovated Qajar Lotfolla Sheikh-al-Islam Mansion houses the regional museum, whose orosi (multicoloured windows) – said to have 42,000 pieces of…
Iran
The brick-vaulted basement of the the Khorshid Palace contains a graciously cool ethnology museum, graphically depicting Khorasan village life and also…
Bur Dubai
One of the emirate's oldest and largest parks stretches for 2.6km along Dubai Creek and is mostly popular with Bur Dubai expats, who arrive on weekends to…
Oman
Functioning less as a sight in its own right, picturesque though it may be, this fort as an excellent landmark for the slightly obscure entrance into Wadi…
Iran
This simple, domed building, with three arched porches at both sides, sits in a lonely field with a few wizened trees 1.3km from Belqays. Up close it's…
Iran
The ever-expanding mausoleum complex of one of Imam Reza's many half-brothers contains dazzling mirror work and is fronted by a giant new ogive-arched…
Iran
Very close to Firuz Abad, a dirt road fords the Tang Ab River to reach Ardashir’s Palace, a grand structure built beside a spring. This 1800-year-old…
Iran
Seeing the large, 3D map-model of how Neishabur looked in the 17th century makes it well worth popping into this elegantly presented new museum, which…
Sur
Built to defend the town against marauding tribes from the interior, 200-year-old Bilad Sur Castle boasts unusually shaped towers. It has been closed for…
Jerusalem
This aquarium, opened in 2017, focuses on regional aquatic life, primarily from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. Kids of all ages will ooh and aah…
Haifa
In an old stone building across the street from the modern Beit HaGefen Arab–Jewish Center, this gallery-cum-social space sponsors interfaith social and…
Iran
More atmospheric than the churches in Orumiyeh itself is the Assyrian Orthodox Marsarjis Church in the hillside hamlet of Sir (5.6km west of Pol-e-Qoyum)…
Jordan
One of the few towns along the Desert Hwy is Qatrana, a couple of kilometres north of the turn-off to Karak and a former stop on the pilgrim road between…
Tehran
At the centre of political change in Iran, Tehran University is a fascinating place to wander around. There is, however, a ban on foreign nonstudents…
Downtown Dubai
This bi-level space is the first gallery in the Middle East dedicated to cartoon and animation art from across the entire spectrum of media, from paint to…
Russian Orthodox Convent of St Mary Magdalene
East Jerusalem
A glint of St Petersburg on the Mount of Olives, this shapely church was constructed in the style of a 17th-century Russian Orthodox church. Built in 1888…
Israel
Running the length of Jabotinsky St, Ramla's vibrant Middle Eastern bazaar has been going for more than a century, since the late Ottoman period. People…
Amman
Built by King Abdullah I in 1924 and restored in 1987, this compact mosque is in the heart of downtown on the site of an earlier mosque built in AD 640…
Iran
A vaulted passage of the bazaar leads into the courtyard of the large Qajar-era Masjed-e Jameh. The disused south iwan (entrance) leads into a hall over…
Oman
This renovated fort, which is open somewhat erratically, if at all, seems to have been built as part and parcel of the surrounding merchant houses, with…
Jerusalem
At the corner of Al Wad St and the western stretch of the Via Dolorosa is the 5th Station, where it is said that the Romans ordered Simon the Cyrene (aka…
Iran
With its metallic dome, this mosque looks outwardly new but was actually founded a millennium ago; the fine faceted-brick minaret probably dates mostly…
Iran
By the roadside in this low-rise farming village, the extensive, partly crenellated mud-walled citadel here is less impressive than Belqays – but has more…
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