MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

Middle East & North Africa

From Istanbul and the Nile to Morocco’s medinas and Jordan’s Petra, first learn the customs around prayer times, dress and Ramadan.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

City guides

Start with a city

Every city guide has a timeline, stories of local figures, must-see sights, festivals and local etiquette.

İstanbul

Istanbul

2 places

A thousand-year imperial capital spanning two continents: Byzantium, the Ottomans and the Bosphorus

القاهرة Cairo

Cairo

3 places

'The Victorious City': Islamic Cairo, Khan el-Khalili and the pyramids of Giza

الأقصر Luxor · 古称底比斯

Luxor

1 places

Thebes, 'City of a Hundred Gates': Karnak and the Valley of the Kings

أسوان Aswan

Aswan

2 places

Ancient Egypt's southern gateway: Nubia, Philae and Abu Simbel

مراكش Marrakech

Marrakesh

3 places

The 'Red City': the night market of Jemaa el-Fnaa and the old city at the foot of the Atlas

فاس Fès

Fez

1 places

A thousand-year-old university and a labyrinthine medina: al-Qarawiyyin and the tanneries

أبوظبي Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

3 places

'Father of the Gazelle': from pearling village to capital of the UAE

البتراء Petra · Wadi Musa

Petra (Wadi Musa)

2 places

The rose-red Nabataean city, and the Valley of the Moon to the south

Classic landmarkNear Selçuk, İzmir Province, Türkiye

Ephesus

The two-storey façade of the Library of Celsus and a great theatre for 25,000 bear witness to the prosperity of Rome's eastern provinces.

The white travertine terraces of Pamukkale

Classic landmarkDenizli Province, Türkiye

Pamukkale and Hierapolis

Snow-white travertine terraces cascading down the hill, with the Roman spa city of Hierapolis on top.

Balloons flying over the Göreme valley at dawn

Classic landmarkNevşehir Province, Türkiye

Cappadocia

At dawn hundreds of balloons rise over valleys of 'fairy chimneys', above cave churches carved by Byzantine monks.

Classic landmarkFatih, Istanbul, Türkiye

Old Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar

Religious layers of a capital that ruled empires for 1,600 years — a Byzantine church, an Ottoman mosque and a bazaar open since 1461 in one nei…