Middle East/North Africa Forum

This is a region that includes some of the richest and poorest places in the world, as well as some of its most extraordinary sights (dating back to some of the most ancient times in all of history), cultures, ecotourism, beaches, and more.

And here our beat is Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

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Our recent weekend in Ceuta, the Spanish city in North Africa

Photos by David Paul Appell unless otherwise noted Both my husband and I have always had something of a fascination for oddities of geography, and so Spain´s two cities of Ceuta and Melilla, on the coast of North Africa, had been forever on my bucket list. Since moving to Spain, we ticked Melilla off that list three years ago, and this past spring we finally made it to sister city Ceuta for a two-night visit. Perched on a narrow peninsula where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic…

Started by David Paul Appell

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The tug of Tunisia, and 14 of its top destinations

Discover Tunisia This small North African country (pop. 12.3 million) is perhaps most famous as home in classical antiquity to the capital and heartland of the Phoenician-founded Carthaginian Empire, which lasted some 670 years until razed by Rome, and at its height ruled all of coastal North Africa as well as large swaths of present-day Spain and southern Italy. Today, however, it´s only as big as Florida and about two-thirds the size of England After 75 years under French colonial rule,…

Started by José Balido

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The top 7 musts in the West Bank of Palestine - plus one more

Kyle Taylor Palestine´s West Bank - a territory of just under 2,200 square miles with a population of 4.2 million, wedged betwen Israel and Jordan - has long been a trove of history and culture enjoyed by millions of visitors in recent decades, especially those attracted to biblical history (mostly but far from exclusively Christians from around the world). But beginning in the fall of 2023, Israel responded to the brutal murders and kidnappings of more than a thousand of its citizens by…

Started by Max Pesling

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My first Omani wedding: a distinctive Arab cultural experience

The female security guard discreetly slips me through a side door and gestures for me to sit at the table in the corner. The Arabic music is pulsating and the room is reverberating with the nervous energy of 400 women. Suddenly, the lights dim and everyone turns to watch. A bride, dressed in a Western-style long white wedding gown with matching trailing veil has a death grip on her bouquet of roses as she takes very slow measured steps down the center aisle towards the “Bride’s Love Seat.”…

Started by Tripatini

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Helen Brown April 22, 2024 at 1:19pm

Travel Noire surveys other great North African destinations besides Morocco: https://travelnoire.com/north-african-destinations-to-explore

More Than Morocco: Other North African Destinations to Explore - Travel Noire

These North African travel destinations are not to be missed. Like Morocco, they are full of culture, history, and incredible landscapes.
José Balido October 20, 2023 at 12:29pm

This is a question that´s on a lot of people´s minds right now, and my sister and her wife just canceled a plan group tour to Jordan: https://www.escape.com.au/travel-advice/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-the...

Is it safe to travel to the Middle East right now?

The travel advice varies from country to country in the region.
José Balido October 11, 2023 at 5:31pm

Tragically, the situation in Gaza, Palestine is horrific and now certain to get even worse. But strangely, it got me curious about tourism. When it comes to Palestine, we hear about the great stuff in the West Bank but virtually nothing about Gaza - partly because the situation has been so difficult there for so long, and few tourists have been able venture there even if they wanted to. But I went to my favorite "off the beaten track" expert, Joan Torres, from Barcelona, and sure enough, on his fascinating site AgainsttheCompass.com he has a whole section on Gaza - what to see as well as some very important info about logistics and planning. He even updated it on October 2 - perhaps poorly timed, a mere several days before this whole Hamas mess (although he does have a caveat that "the major risk a foreigner can face there is military escalation" and "If the situation “erupts” while you are there, try to leave the Strip as soon as possible. If the borders are closed, the best option would be to stay at your hotel/accommodation and ask the staff for safety instructions." Certainly prescient. Anyway, check this out and I think you´ll find it quite interesting: https://againstthecompass.com/en/travel-gaza/
Tripatini September 14, 2023 at 2:28pm

Once again our thoughts are with disaster victims, this time in North Africa, due to the earthquake in Morocco and the catastrophic flooding on the coast of Libya. To contibute what you can to aid victims, click here for Morocco https://time.com/6312509/morocco-earthquake-victims-how-to-help/ and here for Libya https://time.com/6313307/help-flood-victims-libya/

Morocco Earthquake: Here's How to Help

At least two aftershocks exacerbated the disaster, with the latest being a 3.9 aftershock on Sunday.
Wissam Al Khoury May 14, 2023 at 10:05am

The Arabian Travel Market took place a few days ago in Dubai, and CNN took the occasion to run an interesting piece on how culture, heritage, and history are driving tourism across the Middle East: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/05/11/arabian-travel-m...

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/05/11/arabian-travel-market.cnn
Tripatini February 11, 2023 at 11:28am

Our profound and heartfelt condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria on the wrenching devastation wrought by this past week's catastrophic earthquake, and we urge our readers to contribute to relief efforts being coordinated by numerous aid groups around the world, to help the millions who have been ijured and made homeless in severely cold weather. You can find a list of highly rated such groups at https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/e....

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Highly rated charities providing relief and recovery in the wake of the devastating earthquakes affecting Turkey and Syria.
Jordan Simon January 8, 2023 at 10:14pm

Wow, looks like a bunch of stunning new luxury hotels are bursting out all over the region! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-26/best-over-the-to...
José Balido December 12, 2022 at 12:46pm

Syria's Assad régime has launched a flurry of tourism development projects and promotion campaigns - including Western travel blogger/vlogge/influencerr dupes - designed to convince prospective visitors (and investors) that Syria is a safe place for a wonderful vacation. Plenty of critics aren't having it, though. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/oct/28/whoever-...

‘Whoever says Syria’s safe is a liar’: country’s tourist drive at odds with human rights record | G…

Vloggers visit the country to create audience-boosting content, but critics say they’re being cynically used by the Assad regime
Max Pesling October 3, 2022 at 9:14am

MP Qatar Airlines was just recently announced as the "favorite" airline of 2022 by the influential Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site, based on more than 14 million customer surveys in more than 100 countries between September 2021 to August 2022 More details: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/skytrax-world-airline-awards-202...

The world's best airline for 2022 named

Airline review site Skytrax has revealed its 2022 rankings of the world's best airlines, with an old favorite taking the number one spot and a contro…
Mo Madhoun September 12, 2022 at 6:16pm

https://arabscountries.com/new-year-celebration-in-uae/
New Year celebration in UAE: UAE is famous for its astonishing fireworks during the New Year celebration; however, there are many other amazing places that you can attend during the New Year celebration in UAE. Moreover, Dubai is one of the main touristic destinations all over the world. Also, the government exerts all its efforts to facilitate everything for the tourists.

New Year celebration in UAE

New Year celebration in UAE is an amazing adventure that you will never forget ar there are many activities and amazing places to visit.