Qurayyat

Ka'af Palace on the way to the Jordan border

Qurayyat is a one-night stop on the way to the Jordan border or Al Jawf. Arrive by air or on the overnight train from Riyadh, see Ka'af Palace, the stone fort linked to Nawaf al-Sha'lan of the Ruwala tribe's leading family, early next morning, then drive west to the Al-Haditha crossing or south-east to Sakakah.

Arrive on a Saudia flight or on the overnight train from Riyadh, which terminates here after crossing Ha'il and Al Jawf, and confirm the rail schedule well ahead because services are sparse. Pick up a hire car, check in, and spend the evening on a walk and a slow dinner.

Next morning, drive out to Ka'af Palace, the stone fort linked to Nawaf al-Sha'lan, of the family that led the Ruwala tribe. Go early, when the light on the stone is soft and the air still cool, and allow an hour or so to walk the walls and look out across the flat land around it.

Then fill the car and press on west to the Al-Haditha crossing into Jordan, starting early if it is a holiday period, when the queue of cars can stretch far back. Travelling the other way, head south-east toward Sakakah, where the Rajajil columns and Dumat al-Jandal make two full days of sightseeing. Spring and autumn are the months to do it; winter nights here are colder than most visitors expect.

Lamb in sour yoghurt sauce and local olive oil in Qurayyat

Lamb dominates in Qurayyat, where the cooking sits between Saudi and Levantine habits: kabsa for lunch, Bedouin lamb in sour yoghurt sauce for gatherings, local olive oil at breakfast and roadside grills open late for drivers heading to the border.

Kabsa is the default lunch, but you will also find Bedouin dishes of lamb on rice with a sour yoghurt sauce, close cousins of Jordan's mansaf, served for gatherings and in traditional restaurants.

The surrounding farmland is part of Al Jawf's olive belt, so local olives and olive oil turn up on breakfast tables and in the shops, alongside dates and the area's own salt; the town's old name, Qurayyat al-Milh, means the villages of salt. Grills along the main roads serve skewers and chicken with flatbread until late, mostly to truck drivers heading for the border.

Arabic coffee and sweet tea are poured everywhere. After a wet winter, look for desert truffles in the markets in spring. Choice is limited compared with a big city, so eat where the lorry drivers stop: turnover keeps the food fresh.