Take a trip to alexandria then continue along the coast of the Med. See the 3 WWII graves, and end up in Matruh. Visit an Oaisis or two and then back across the western deset to Cairo. Or if you like diving, visit the blue hole in Dahab about 100 km from Sharm El Shiek. Or visit St. Katherines cathedral near mount sanai. Good time to visit Egypt. Very few travelers there now because of the revolution. Great prices on hotels, airfare and travel

Syria any time! Most friendly people in the middle east, great in combination with lebanon!

Oman is nice! If you like Deep sea fishing talk to one of the local fishermen in the old port in Muscat see if they will take you out with them for a day. Warning... it will be a VERY early morning.

Ever thought of Cypress? There's an annual marathon there if you're a runner too.

If you want off-beat go to Jordan! you can stay in a Solar energized hotel in Dana ( Nature Reserve), spend the night under the stars in Wadi Rum ,, spend a day canyoning in Wadi Mujib,,, relax on the shores and water of the dead sea,,, and enjoy the beautiful castles and ruins all over the country,,, from Petra to Jerash to Karak castle and Ajloun castle,,, its very amazing and extremely safe

Tunisia is a great place to visit. It's definitely off the beaten track. Very kind people with vibrant cultural life, but pretty modern, so there is no need to cover your head for women. Also, very inexpensive and rich in history.

1. Syria: Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, Bosra, etc. Plenty of wonderful spots. People are open and friendly. Not much tourism but still good quality hotels. Easy to go to Lebanon (Baalbek, ...) 2. Oman: Nizwa, Sur, ... Extremely friendly people; few tourists (except in Muscat). 3. Libya: wonderful desert, Leptis Magna. Few tourists; quality of hotels less good. Ideal for trekking. 4. Israel: many places with few tourists in the Negev (Mizpe Ramon, Ein Avdat), Mount Gilboa Route + Bet Shean, northern Israel (Nimrod Castle, ...)

I dream of experiencing Oman. I have friends who shared their stories and photographs with me. It looks and sounds incredible. Good Journeys!

I know this is a late answer, but I just spent 2 months wandering around the Middle East in the spring. I traveled alone (female) and had NO problems at all. Every country I went to was very different in so many ways. Iran is amazing. If you are American, though, you have to stick with a guided tour. As a Canadian I had more freedom. It is a beautiful country, even if you get stuck in a small village in the middle of no where, everyone is so friendly and helpful. It is an amazing country with so much history. Most places I went didn't have many tourists, except for the odd small tour group. Syria is fantastic. If you like exploring ruins, it is definitely the place to go. Crusader castles dot the country side. Most places I went in Syria had so few people (tourists). It was easy to get great pictures without other tourists getting in the way. Damascus is cool. I really liked the people in Hamah (which is also a great place to stay while doing day trips to the various castles and dead cities). I spent the most time in Eygpt (including 3 months wandering around in 2005). Definitely check out Siwa, an oasis in the desert near the Libyan border. Sleep in the desert, go to some of the remote springs, etc. The temples are definitely something to see. My favorite was in Dendara, probably because there weren't as many tourists there.

Off beat, I certainly hope that you are not travelling on your own, it's not reccommended in the middle east especially if you are a girl. Old Jaffa is definetly a must and so is Joppa and Jericho. The Dead Sea (while touristy) is nice. Also you could also go and see some Bedouins near the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is fun to see how they cook - definetly not the tourist thing to do, but I would still be careful and go with friends if I were you.

Israel is an amazing place for tourists... you have a lot of different views and different experiences... You can visit Haifa, Jerusalem, Old Jafa, Eilat (that's the border with Egypt) and many more places... if you have any q you can ask me any time... Enjoy your trip!

Go to iran, awesome architecture, a lot of culture and the hospitality!! i loved it

Agree with Claire. The old city in Damascus is well worth a visit. Buy some pre-war Iraq currency in Palmyra featuring a young Sadam. And in Aleppo, have a drink at the Hotel Baron where T E Lawrence's unpaid bill is displayed in a cabinet in the sitting room. The Baron has seen better days but just sit back in the worn leather chairs and soak up the history.

Damascus in Syria is incredible, especially getting lost in the old city and then Palmyra in the desert is a complete contrast but just as beautiful.

israel is amazing

Well.. Oman got everything... But it's not really the Middle East :) I've been to Syria twice, and all over the most of the Middle East.. And I can recommend that! Damascus, specially the Old City, have a fantastic atmosphere! There's old cities in the middle, big castles in the hills and a really nice coastline around Lathakia!

I would agreew ith Amo R - go to Iran and if you want to go REALLY off the beaten track, go to the Persion Golf, slowely travelling from Bushehr to Bandar-e Abbas. The most friendliest people in the little villages which even look like no one is living there. They will all invite you to spend the week with them even though they have next to nothing! Women witz strange masks will smile at you and are all very curious! IT IS SAVE!

Lebanon for the history, culture, cosmo lifestyle, sense of humours, food, people!

Iran, if you like architecture... very safe... don't believe what you read in the papers... sadly, India and Pakistan are actually less stable...

go to yemen, extrodinary architecture!

In Muscat, Oman, there is a neat and somewhat rural place you can go to snorkel an underwater utopia. I got to swim with black tipped sharks there, and it was absolutely phenomenal! You should try it...no matter what, that sort of story never gets tired. "Hey, guess what guys! I swam with sharks!" haha! :D

with alcohol: Bahrain without alcohol: Kuwait with oily smell in the air: Kuwait Without oily smell:Qatar ( Doha is the new Dubai, extraordinary architecture)still possible to have a drink in some high end hotel bars With full burqa: Saudi Arabia( might be hard to get in) With Bikini: Dubai With decapitation: Saudi Arabia Without decapitation: Stay out of the middle east! ;-)

Go to Bahrain.

wadi-rum and petra in jordan are great, but there's more people who found out. same goes for every place in egypt. maybe try to travel to oasis in the desert.