Tailor-made trips to the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey

One region of the world, six destinations

Sabaro is dedicated to the Middle East and North Africa. The site currently covers six destinations, Egypt, Morocco, Dubai, Oman, Tunisia and Turkey, each divided into regions: the Nile Valley and its temples, the Red Sea and Sinai, the oases of the Western Desert; the imperial medinas, the High Atlas, the dunes of the Sahara and Morocco's two coastlines; old Dubai and its Creek, the beaches of Jumeirah and the Palm, the desert and the Hatta mountains; Muscat and its coast, the forts of Nizwa and the villages of the Hajar Mountains, the Wahiba Sands and the turtle beach of Ras al Jinz; the medina of Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said, the beaches of Hammamet and the Sahel, the amphitheatre of El Jem and the holy city of Kairouan, the island of Djerba, the oases of Tozeur and the gateway to the Sahara at Douz; Istanbul, its palaces and mosques on the Bosphorus, the cave valleys and hot-air balloons of Cappadocia, the ancient cities of Ephesus, Pergamon and Troy, the bays of Bodrum and the Lycian coast, from Göcek to Antalya.

Each region has its own page. It says who it suits, how many days to spend there, how to get there, when to go and what to combine it with. The country pages help you choose between regions according to the trip you have in mind.

For European travellers

The site is written for Europeans on holiday. The entry requirements and safety advice shown are those of the country chosen at the top of the page, based on its foreign ministry, whatever the language; flight times are given from that country's main cities, once its flights have been recorded. Times on the spot, for hotels, sites, activities and events, are in local time.

A tailor-made trip starts from what you want to experience: a first sight of the pyramids, a week between a medina and the ocean, a night in the dunes, a Nile cruise, a diving or surfing holiday, a winter beach week in Dubai, a loop between Muscat, the Jebel Akhdar and the Wahiba Sands, a week of thalassotherapy and beach on Djerba, a few days in Istanbul followed by a night in a room carved into the tuff of Cappadocia. The trip ideas show complete examples, day by day, with their hotels; the themes group hotels and regions by interest, from riads to golf, from family holidays to honeymoons.

Hotels chosen one by one

Every hotel shown has been selected by Sabaro. Its page says who it suits, what sets it apart and what may disappoint. No hotel pays to appear on the site, and lists follow the order of the regions, then alphabetical order.

Prices are collected by hand from public websites, taxes included. Each one gives its date, the stay it was collected for and its source: they give an idea of budget and are not an offer.

Information taken from the source

Entry rules and safety advice come from foreign ministries; places to see, from tourist boards and the official websites of the monuments; climate, from the World Meteorological Organization's 1991-2020 normals or, failing that, from station records. Red Sea diving rules come from Egypt's diving chamber, site prices from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Every page cites and dates its sources. When two sources disagree, the official one prevails.

The practical guides bring together what you need to know before you go: visas, site tickets, getting around, customs, religious holidays, the eclipse of 2 August 2027. The page How Sabaro chooses explains the method, including the part artificial intelligence plays in the writing.

Where to start

Three ways in lead to the same place. Through a country, if the destination is already chosen. Through a trip idea or a theme, if you know what you want to do but not where. Through the Plan your trip form, to describe in a few lines the trip you have in mind.