Niyavaran Cultural-Historic Complex
Tehran
In the Alborz foothills is the palace where Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family spent most of the last 10 years of royal rule. It’s set in 5…
Must-see attractions in Middle East
Dubai
More than a dozen hot shots of the international street-art scene, including Aiko, Blek Le Rat, ROA and Nick Walker, have turned new urban-style quarter…
Downtown Dubai
Edgy contemporary art from the Middle East and beyond has found a home in Dubai thanks to the vision of Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal. The local developer…
Manama
Manama Souq is a warren of narrow streets and alleyways emanating south from Bab Al Bahrain. Here you can pick up everything from electronic goods and…
Iran
The incredible Seljuk-era walled fortress of Qal'eh Rudkhan defends a steep, wooded spur of the Alborz mountains some 50km south of Rasht and makes a…
Dhofar
A popular picnic site during the khareef and a great place to enjoy the jebel in any season, Wadi Darbat is a grassy plateau in the hills marked by Oman's…
Tehran
This epic-scale museum, on a landscaped site of 21 hectares, is dedicated to the Iran–Iraq War, a bloody eight-year conflict that claimed a million lives…
Umm Qais
Entering Umm Qais from the south, the first structure of interest is the well-restored and brooding West Theatre. Constructed from black basalt, it once…
Oman
The 90 or so meticulously crafted stone towers scattered across the Selma Plateau are tombs dating back to the Umm An Nar culture of 2000 to 2700 BC…
Khasab
With its command of the bay sadly diminished since Lulu Hypermarket was built on reclaimed land opposite, Khasab Fort nonetheless cuts quite a dash with…
Kuwait City
For a brilliantly bizarre art-in-action experience, visit this residential house covered with mirror mosaics. It's the creation of gloriously eccentric…
Manama
The finest collection of ancient Qurans in the region, this wonderful homage to Islam's holiest book displays Qurans from almost every century since the…
Nazhvan Cultural & Recreational Resort
Esfahan
This huge park on the outskirts of Esfahan encompasses a large complex of attractions that makes a pleasant contrast to Esfahan's intense city experience…
Manama
This is Bahrain's grand mosque, built as a grand statement in honour of the founder of modern Bahrain, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Muhammad Bin Khalifa, who was…
Oman
Home to an extraordinary museum, this private castle houses the personal collection of Sheikh Khalfan Al Hashmi. His great grandfather owned the 250-year…
Al Hamra
This quirky museum is more open house than historical display. Three ladies accompany guests around their traditional house in the aged and crumbling…
Southeastern Iran
With lush date-palm groves, domed mud-brick houses, carpet-saddled camels and a distant backdrop of arid mountain ridges, it's hard to imagine a more…
Al Ula
The views as you wind your way up to this gem of a spot offer glimpses of what's to come. At the top, the road plateaus through a windswept, lunar…
Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System
Iran
Listed by Unesco as a 'masterpiece of creative genius', the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System has been diverting water for irrigation from the Karun…
Tehran
The inverted-Y-shaped Azadi Tower, built in 1971 to commemorate the 2500th anniversary of the first Persian empire, is one of Tehran's visual icons…
Iran
Western Iran’s most dazzling Safavid monument, and a World Heritage Site, the Sheikh Safi-od-Din Mausoleum is relatively compact. The patriarch is buried…
Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization
Sharjah
Just about everything you'd want to know about Islam is addressed in this museum set in a stunningly converted souq on the waterfront. The ground-floor…
Oman
This aged and revered mosque is difficult but rewarding to find. The low-lying prayer hall is unique due to its profusion of 52 domes. Non-Muslims aren't…
Oman
Justly famed for its natural beauty, this wadi just north of the town of Al Kamil makes a rewarding (and well-signposted) diversion off the Muscat–Sur…
Beit Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa
Bahrain
Offering a fascinating look at pre-oil life in Bahrain, this building was constructed around 1800 and is one of the finest examples of a traditional house…
United Arab Emirates
Snuggled between craggy mountain peaks which tumble straight down to the shore, this reservoir, built in the 1990s, is the main reason for a Hatta trip…
Qeshm Island
This fishing village on the northern coast of Qeshm Island is the best place in Iran to encounter the fast-disappearing traditional culture of the Persian…
Dhofar
Looking across one of Dhofar's prettiest bays at peacefully grazing camels and flocks of flamingos, it’s hard to imagine that 2000 years ago Khor Rori was…
Bahrain
The completely restored Riffa Fort was built in 1812 by Sheikh Salman Bin Ahmad Al Fatih, the 19th-century ruler of Bahrain. A classic piece of Bahraini…
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts
Amman
This small but impressive gallery is a wonderful place to gain an appreciation of contemporary Jordanian painting, sculpture and pottery. The attractive…
Southeastern Iran
One of Iran's most impressive fortress-citadels, the Arg's vast adobe walls top a gentle slope directly south of central Rayen. Inside is a castle within…
Kish Island
This splendid archaeological site comprises the remains of a large house with private qanat (underground water channel), a public hammam and a…
Southeastern Iran
A Unesco site, this troglodyte village is a series of over 400 cave-houses with a total of more than 2500 kiche rooms burrowed into the gently sloping…
Saudi Arabia
The mysterious and unique 'hanging village' of Al Habala is one of the genuine wonders of Saudi Arabia. This series of sandstone houses hewn from local…
Bahrain
There are more than 100,000 Dilmun-era burial mounds scattered across Bahrain, but none come close to the magnificence of these. That A'Ali was an…
Tehran
Next door to the National Museum, and part of the same complex, this museum offers a stunning collection of arts and antiquities from throughout the…
Dhofar
The sands of the Empty Quarter begin to curl around the road on the approach to Al Hashman, then very quickly coddle into small mounds and ergs (wind…
Saudi Arabia
The result of an underground volcanic explosion, this spectacular crater in the middle of the desert measures 1.3km across and 200m deep. In the middle,…
Jeddah
Beautifully restored and maintained, this historic mosque, one of the finest in Jeddah, is named after one of the four great imams of classical Sunni…
Saudi Arabia
The ancient residents of Al Yanfa came up with a novel way to navigate their congested village built on an uneven hill: they created a network of warrens…
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