Middle East

The Middle East, as I use the term here, runs from the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula to Jordan and Israel on the Mediterranean side. It is a region of great age and of very new cities. Within a few hours you can move from the galleries and mosques of Abu Dhabi or the souq in Doha to a desert camp, a mountain village in Oman or the rock-cut city of Petra. The Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia is a place for diving, sailing and snorkelling, and the Dead Sea can be reached from both Jordan and Israel.

Heat decides the calendar. Across the Gulf and most of Saudi Arabia, summer daytime temperatures reach around 45 degrees, and the outdoor season runs from late autumn into spring. Qatar is at its most comfortable from November to February, when days sit between 15 and 20 degrees, and Abu Dhabi singles out December. In Saudi Arabia, winter is the time for AlUla and camping in the desert, and spring brings mild weather with some rain in the Asir mountains. Oman has its own exception: from mid-June to September the khareef brings cloud, mist and green hills to Dhofar in the south. In Jordan, spring and autumn suit long walks at Petra, and Israel has roughly 40 rainy days a year.

Journeys here are often short and rich. A few nights in a city, with its museums and markets, then two or three nights in the desert, is a common shape, and Oman lends itself to a road journey from Muscat into the Hajar Mountains and on to the sands. Jordan works well as a loop through Amman, Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. Saudi Arabia rewards those willing to cover distance, from Riyadh and Diriyah to AlUla and the Red Sea. Local dress codes and the month of Ramadan shape the rhythm of a visit, and I plan around both.