Markets and moonscapes

Libya was until recently a "pariah state", says Martin Fletcher in the Times. It only began accepting tourists a decade ago – and it shows. Facilities remain fairly basic and visitors must be accompanied by a government minder. The country is dauntingly vast, too, eight times the size of Britain: you can drive all day and pass only occasional herds of camels. But such inconveniences are "trifling" when set beside the thrill of discovering Libya's "little-known wonders". And its 6 million inhabitants – official minders included – are "hospitality personified".

Tripoli itself has a "charming" old town, where you can shop in covered souks and watch weavers, coppersmiths and jewellery-makers practising their crafts in tiny back-alley workshops. Nearby is Leptis Magna, probably the best-preserved Roman city in the world. Visitors can wander, "awestruck", for hours through the markets and bath houses, the forum and amphitheatre of this once thriving metropolis of 100,000 people. The more adventurous, however, should not miss the chance to explore Libya's wilderness, with a camping trip in the Sahara.

The Acacus mountains in the west are "a stunning moonscape", with "outcrops of towering black rock, in spires, pyramids and colonnades". They are also home to 12,000-year-old rock paintings depicting life when the region was a lush savannah, "as vivid as if completed yesterday". From there, it's not far to the Ubari lakes, where palm trees fringe waters of "startling" blue – so salty that you bob in them like a cork.

In the evenings, climb the dunes barefoot, to watch the setting sun "casting extraordinary shadows over the curved hills", before falling asleep on the sand, to the sight of shooting stars overhead. There is "nothing to disturb the silence – no planes, no birds, no grass to rustle in the breeze".

The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646) arranges tailor- made trips, with prices starting at £2,206pp for 10 days. ·