Taif short break

You are collected from the coast at Jeddah, on the Red Sea, and driven up into the Sarawat range. The drive is broken with stops rather than run straight through, and you reach the hotel in the late afternoon.

Al Hada Mountain, which you reach on the third day, stands on the same range: its road is a line of switchbacks cut through solid rock, known traditionally as Darb Al-Jammalah, the way the camel caravans carrying trade goods once came, and the drop in temperature along it is gradual and noticeable. At around 2,177 metres there are acacia and juniper along the roadside and vendors' booths selling rose water, fruit and hot drinks.

The morning is at a rose farm and a distillery. The cycle starts in December, when growers come back to the fields and the bushes; roughly fifty-five days later the petals are picked and carried in bushels to the oil extraction works, and what comes out is the rose water and perfume oil the town is known for. Early spring is the picking season. The annual Taif Rose Festival is held at Al Rudaf Park.

The afternoon is in the town: Al Shareef Museum, housed in a preserved traditional building, holds weaponry, coins, clothing and household pieces from across the Hejaz, and the markets around it are still where the region's produce is sold.

Al Shafa is about 30 km from Taif by road and rises over 2,500 metres above sea level. At the top, fog sits in the juniper and the ground below falls away to the Tihama plains, with terraced fields of pomegranate, grape and fig on the slopes. Heritage villages and old stone forts stand along the road. Al Hada, with the cable car and Al Kar, is the last stop of the day.

If you would rather have the geology, this day can be swapped for the Al Wahbah crater: the largest and deepest volcanic crater in Saudi Arabia, 3,000 metres across, ringed by the Al Luhayan, Umm Rilan and Zabna mountains, with a salt dome on the floor where a lake evaporates through the summer. It is about 250 km from Taif, so it is a long full day and not a short outing.

The morning is open for the markets or a last run along the mountain road. You are then driven back down for your onward flight, or on to your next stop.