Must-see attractions in Middle East
Jordan
This little-visited archaeological site, believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Elijah, gives you just the excuse you need to explore the…
Jerusalem
The most convenient Old City gate for access to the Western Wall. The popular theory as to how this unflattering appellation came about is that at one…
Jordan
If you have a car and are intrigued to know why all roads out of Irbid seem to lead to Yarmouk battleground, follow the signs northeast towards the…
Doha
The grand white building of Qatar's national parliament marks the official workplace of the Emir of the State of Qatar, and is recognisable by the Qatari…
Doha
Previously used as both a prison and as an ethnographic museum, this fort was built during the 19th-century Turkish occupation but lost many of its…
Muscat
Straddling the road between the Corniche and the old walled city, this museum, with the original gates used until the 1970s to keep land-bound marauders…
Muscat
The restored Portuguese watchtower on a promontory out to sea, halfway along Mutrah Corniche, affords a view of the ocean and the grand sweep of Mutrah's…
Muscat
Kalbuh Bay Park juts into a sea that's boiling with sardines. Located at the end of the Corniche, it makes a good pausing place on a hike between Mutrah…
Muscat
This modern clock tower, opposite Muscat's Chamber of Commerce, has become one of the landmarks of Ruwi. It presides over a pleasant park that attracts…
Muscat
Set inside the attractively landscaped Qurm Park, this funfair (with Ferris wheel and an ever-growing number of rides) is a local favourite. Restaurants,…
Downtown Dubai
Compared to its cloud-touching cousins, the 149m-high World Trade Centre seems small today, but when completed in 1979 was actually Dubai's first…
Muscat
Protecting a rare stretch of mangrove, this reserve is closed to visitors. That said, it's possible to sit in adjacent coffee shops and do some…
Doha
Pop over here from the Corniche for a photo op with a grazing camel. The animals are in their pen here most of the day and into the early evening.
Mt Nebo
Amateur archaeologists will like Tell Hesban, 9km north of Madaba. Over the centuries this strategic hill has been a Bronze Age settlement, a Hellenistic…
Iran
Just beyond Gorgan's southern city limits, Nahor Khoran is an area of woodlands and gurgling streams offering an easy, clean-air escape from the city…
Jerusalem
Dominated by the green domes of its Church of the Holy Trinity, this compound was acquired by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1860 to strengthen the…
Jordan
The minimal ruins of this Roman temple date from the end of the 3rd century AD (two niches contained statues of the Roman emperors Diocletian and…
Tel Aviv
This theme park makes for a fun, though noisy, day out for families. Rides range from the white-knuckle Black Mamba rollercoaster to gentler fairground…
North Coast
The wreck of a once-imposing Crusader castle, known in Latin as Castrum Pergrinorum and in French as Château Pèlerin (Pilgrims’ Castle), sits on a…
Umm Qais
The decumanus maximus continues west of the main site for 1km or so, leading to some ruins of limited interest, including baths, mausoleums and gates…
Tel Aviv
Once the terminus of the Jerusalem–Jaffa train line, this station near the southern end of the beachfront promenade operated between 1892 and 1948 and was…
Abu Dhabi
Shaped like two parallel sand dunes – smooth and curvaceous on the windward side, steep and rippled on the eroded side – this award-winning building by…
Tel Aviv
This pleasant grassy knoll has a panoramic view of the Tel Aviv seafront as its backdrop. The small amphitheatre in the centre of the park hosts free…
Southeastern Iran
Guides claim that this small, lonely mud compound with four little towers is a caravanserai (a traditional inn with a courtyard for camel trains). In fact…
Iran
Sang-e Shir is a walrus-sized lump of rock eroded beyond recognition by the rubbing of hands over 2300 years. It was supposedly once a lion, but you’d…
Tel Aviv
Splendidly located on Rothschild Blvd, this museum chronicles the formation and activities of the Haganah, the paramilitary organisation that was the…
Jerusalem
This 1540 building has a facade featuring handsome ablaq (coloured stone) and shallow muqarna (stalactite-style carvings), typical of Mamluk architecture.
Tel Aviv
A simple bronze statue of Meir Dizengoff on horseback, Tel Aviv's founding mayor, sits in front of Independence Hall – Dizengoff's former home and where…
Iran
Dating from the 1020s, Pir Alamdar is a circular, Seljuk-era tomb-tower in faceted pale brick, notable for its original band of Kufic inscriptions around…
Jerusalem
Halfway down Aqabat Al Takiya is this noblewoman's palace built in 1388. Though the facade is badly eroded, the uppermost of the three large doorways…
Mecca
Although the Saudi authorities claim there is no evidence to confirm it, many Muslims believe this is the spot where the Prophet Muhammad was born in…
Israel
Spread over 20 acres, Superland is a newer and much larger theme park than its Tel Aviv branch, Luna Park. If travelling with children, it's worth taking…
Russian Church of the Ascension
East Jerusalem
Built atop Herodian ruins, a sharp steeple soars 64m above this Russian Orthodox church, the tallest structure on the Mount of Olives. Orthodox believers…
Iran
In an early 20th-century 'khan's house', this modest yet well displayed museum includes ancient pottery and mannequin displays – including a barber…
Jerusalem
Rather plain (and much less crowded) than the other Old City gates, Herod's Gate stands just 100m east of the point at which the Crusaders breached the…
Ramallah
Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish was buried on this hilltop in Al Masyoun after his death in 2008, and this recently completed complex in his honour is…
Kuwait City
When Kuwait City was protected by a wall, gates such as this one allowed folks to enter and exit while the wall protected the city from attack. Around a…
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