Middle East
Middle East travel starts with the thermometer: November to March is the golden season — Gulf cities are cool and pleasant, desert-camping nights even call for a jacket, and most of the festivals and events of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha cluster in this period; spring is brief and precious, as Jordan's wildflowers, Iran's Nowruz New Year (late March), and the rose season arrive in succession; in summer's fierce heat, travel turns to plateaus above a thousand meters (Yemen, Saudi Arabia's Asir, the Lebanese mountains) or hands the itinerary over to museums and the sea (Red Sea diving has superb visibility in summer). Sand and dust, and the dates of Ramadan, shift every year — check the calendar and official announcements for the year before setting out.
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