Nothing in the region stages a reveal quite like Petra. You walk the Siq — a 1.2-kilometre slot canyon barely wide enough for two camels — and the walls suddenly part to frame the Treasury, Al-Khazneh, its 2,000-year-old sandstone facade glowing pink-orange in morning light.

Arrive at the main gate near Wadi Musa by 7am or shortly after opening and you'll walk the Siq in near-silence before tour buses arrive from Amman around mid-morning. Push further to the Monastery, Ad Deir, a 45-60 minute climb up roughly 800 rock-cut steps, and you'll likely have the whole site to yourself.

Winter mornings here run cool, sometimes near 8-10°C at dawn, which makes the climb far more bearable than a summer attempt.

Wadi Rum's russet sandstone jebels and open sand valleys have doubled for Mars in more than one film, and standing in them at sunset, it's easy to see why. A 90-minute drive from Petra puts you at the visitor centre, where Bedouin-run 4x4 tours pick up.

A typical 2-4 hour jeep circuit takes in Lawrence's Spring, the Khazali Canyon petroglyphs, and a climb up a small dune for sunset, before dropping you at a Bedouin camp for the night.

Winter nights here can drop close to freezing, so a camp with proper blankets or a heated tent matters more than in shoulder season — ask specifically when booking.

Dubai in winter is a genuinely different city from the sweat-through-your-shirt version tourists complain about in July. Mornings hover near 20°C, evenings are pleasant for walking, and the Burj Khalifa's observation decks on levels 124 and 125 are worth timing for sunset.

Tickets vary by time slot, from roughly AED 169 for a standard midday slot to AED 300-380 or more for a prime sunset booking (winter 2025) — book at least a few days ahead for sunset.

Balance the glass towers with the older city: Al Fahidi Historic District's coral-and-gypsum wind-tower houses, an abra crossing over Dubai Creek for about AED 1, and the gold and spice souks of Deira on the far bank.

Few places on Earth pack this much history into so little ground. Within the Old City's walls sit the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Haram al-Sharif esplanade with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Non-Muslim visitors can typically walk the Haram al-Sharif esplanade during set morning visiting hours, though entry to the mosque interiors is reserved for worshippers — check locally on arrival, since hours shift around religious holidays and Fridays.

Wander the covered stalls near Damascus Gate for fresh za'atar bread and cardamom coffee, then walk a stretch of the Ramparts Walk along the top of the city walls for views over both the Old City rooftops and the Mount of Olives.

Muscat moves at a slower pace than its Gulf neighbours, and winter is when that pace feels most rewarding. The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, completed in 2001 and capable of holding tens of thousands of worshippers, opens to visitors on most mornings, typically 8am to 11am, Saturday through Thursday, and is closed to tourists on Friday for prayers.

Down at the harbour, Mutrah Souk has operated in some form for well over a century, its narrow covered lanes thick with frankincense smoke, silver khanjar daggers and pashmina scarves.

Walk the Mutrah Corniche in the late afternoon as fishing boats return and the sky over the Gulf of Oman turns copper — it's one of the more understated golden-hour walks in the region.

Hegra, sometimes called Mada'in Salih, is Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2008, and its more than 100 carved tombs are a quieter, less-visited cousin of Petra's facades — built by the same Nabatean civilization.

Access is guided-only through Experience AlUla's booking system; you can't simply drive up and wander in. Most visitors fly into AlUla International Airport, about 90 minutes from Riyadh, or make the roughly 1,100-kilometre drive.

Winter is effectively the only sensible season for this — summer daytime temperatures in the Nabatean heartland regularly climb well past 40°C. Pair a Hegra tour with an evening at Maraya, the mirrored concert hall a short drive away, for a sense of how deliberately AlUla is being built into a cultural destination.

The Dead Sea sits roughly 430 metres below sea level, the lowest exposed land on Earth, and its water is so dense with salt and minerals that you bob rather than swim. Winter is arguably the best season to try it — the surrounding air stays mild rather than scorching, so you can linger.

The Jordanian shore, about an hour's drive from Amman, is lined with resorts including the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea and the Mövenpick Resort & Spa, both offering day-pass access to private beach and mineral mud.

The sea recedes a little more each year as upstream water is diverted for agriculture, which means the shoreline you photograph today won't be quite the same in a decade.