Lonely Planet Middle East (Travel Guide)
Lonely Planet, Stuart Butler, Anthony Sattin
Language: English
Pages: 672
ISBN: 1741796709
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher
Lonely Planet Middle East is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Watch the sun set over the Petra tombs, marvel at the towering Pyramids of Giza, or wander the streets of Damascus and enjoy Middle Eastern cuisine; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the Middle East and begin your journey now!
Inside Lonely Planet Middle East Travel Guide:
- Colour maps and images throughout
- Highlights and itineraries show you the simplest way to tailor your trip to your own personal needs and interests
- Insider tips save you time and money and help you get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
- Essential info at your fingertips - including hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, and prices
- Honest reviews for all budgets - including eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, and hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
- Cultural insights give you a richer and more rewarding travel experience - including customs, history, religion, art, literature, poetry, cinema, music, architecture, politics, landscapes, wildlife, and cuisine
- Over 90 local maps
- Useful features - including Month-by-Month (annual festival calendar), Walking Tours, and Travel with Children
- Coverage of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Beirut, Cairo, Amman, Ankara, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul, Palmyra, Petra, Luxor, Wadi Rum, Tel Aviv, Baalbek, and more
The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Middle East, our most comprehensive guide to the Middle East, is perfect for those planning to both explore the top sights and take the road less travelled.
- Looking for just a few of the destinations included in this guide? Check out Lonely Planet's guides to those particular destinations for a comprehensive look at what each country has to offer.
Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Anthony Ham, Stuart Butler, Zora O'Neill, Olivia Pozzan, Daniel Robinson, Anthony Sattin, Paul Smith, and Jenny Walker.
About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.
Mosque. EUPHRATES One of the most historically significant rivers on earth, the Euphrates cuts a swathe through northeastern Syria, and arrayed along its banks, and in its hinterland, are a number of little-visited but rewarding sites, including the ancient Mesopotamian city of Mari, the Graeco-Roman city of Dura Europos, where the synagogue on show at the National Museum in Damascus was found. The later Roman fort of Resafa is also here, but travel in this part of Syria is currently
Mardin airport is 20km south of town and receives daily Turkish Airlines flights from Ankara and İstanbul. There are hourly minibuses to Diyarbakır (TL10, 1¼ hours) and Şanlıurfa (TL20, three hours). For the Iraq border head to Silopli (TL20, three hours) via Cizre, and for the Syrian border to Nusaybin (TL8, one hour). See Click here for more details. Şanlıurfa (Urfa) 0414 / POP 498,100 Mystical and pious, Şanlıurfa (the Prophets’ City) is a spiritual centre par excellence and a great
visit to the heads, a night at a hotel below the summit and a second, dawn visit. Alternatively, visit the mountain from the south via Kahta, where sunrise and sunset tours are available. The Kahta trip is notorious for hassles and rip-offs, but this route is more scenic. Sleeping MALATYA Grand Akkoza Hotel HOTEL $$ ( 326 2727; www.grandakkozahotel.com; Çevre Yolu Üzeri Adliye Kavşağı 135; s/d TL90/130; ) This glass-fronted three-star venture provides a good level of comfort and
forks are offered but guests are encouraged to eat by dipping bread in the various dishes. Dinner starts promptly at 7pm, but the bar opens for pre-dinner drinks at 6pm. Best deal and experience: the set menu (E£100) includes three courses with 15 dishes to share. The vegetarian options are not cooked in a meat broth, as in so many other places. Jewel of the Nile EGYPTIAN, BRITISH $$ Offline map Google map ( 0106 252 2394; Sharia al-Rawda al-Sherifa; mains E£30-45, set menu E£60-70;
Oct-May, 7pm, 8.15pm & 9.30pm May-Sep), lasting 1½ hours, is held at the temple. Check the website or the tourist office (Click here) in Aswan for performance times and languages. HIGH DAM Egypt’s modern example of construction on a monumental scale, the controversial Aswan High Dam (As-Sadd al-Ali; adult/child E£20/10; 8am-5pm) contains 18 times the amount of material used in the Great Pyramid of Khufu and created Lake Nasser, the world’s largest artificial lake. Most people visit the