Taif

Taif is the answer to a specific question: what do we do with a spare day in Makkah when it is forty degrees. It sits about 90 km away and roughly 1,800 metres up, and the temperature difference is the whole point.

Day trip or overnight?

A day trip for most people. Leave after Fajr, spend the day in the mountains, and be back in Makkah for Isha. That covers the Ziyarat sites and one or two of the mountain attractions comfortably.

An overnight makes sense if you want the rose farms at dawn in season, or if you have older travellers who would find the round trip in one day tiring. There is no strong third reason.

The road is part of the trip

The Al Hada road climbs the escarpment in roughly ninety hairpin bends with a long drop on one side. It is one of the best drives in the Kingdom, and it makes some people ill. Sit forward, keep a window cracked, and skip the heavy breakfast if you are prone. The newer tunnel road is faster and duller, and it is the right choice if anyone in the car is worried.

Allow ninety minutes to two hours each way. The fare by vehicle size is on the Taif Ziyarat page, and it is per vehicle rather than per person.

Pick two things, not four

The common mistake is trying to fit everything into one day and spending it in the car. Choose two:

• The Ziyarat sites — Masjid Addas, Masjid Abdullah ibn Abbas and Wadi Waj, where the Prophet was rejected by the people of Taif and offered grapes by a servant.
• The Al Hada cable car, 4.5 km down the mountainside to a small resort with a toboggan run. Go early; the queue is what ruins this one.
• The Al Shafa viewpoints, higher and cooler again, with fruit stalls and highland honey.
• The rose farms, but only from April to June. Outside that window you are looking at green bushes.

Pack for a different climate

This is the thing people get wrong every time. Taif runs ten to fifteen degrees cooler than Makkah and winter nights approach freezing. Pilgrims arrive in a thin thobe or an abaya, spend the afternoon cold, and remember the trip for the wrong reason. Take a jacket even in July.

When to come

Any time, which is unusual for this part of the world. Summer is when Taif is most valuable, because it is the escape from the heat. April to June adds the roses. Winter is cold and clear and quiet.

Fog on Al Shafa is a wildcard year-round and can close the views for an hour or a day. Mornings are usually clearer.

Worth knowing

• Taif itself is open to visitors of any faith, though the road from Makkah passes through the restricted zone, so plan the route with your driver if your group is mixed.
• Rose oil is expensive for a reason. Taste before you buy, and buy at a farm or a proper shop rather than a roadside stall.
• The cable car closes in high wind and has shut for maintenance before. Confirm it is running before committing the drive.
• Cash is useful at the fruit and honey stalls.

Where it fits

Almost always as a day out from Makkah, between Umrah and the flight home. Our Taif day trip guide has a worked itinerary, and the city guide goes deeper on each stop.