Height and climate
Taif lies in the centre-east of Makkah al-Mukarramah Province, 1,800 m above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Sarawat Mountains. It is the province's largest governorate and the seventh largest in the Kingdom by area, and the 2022 census counted 913,374 people there.
Summer averages stay below 30°C, with July, the hottest month, averaging 27.1°C. The highlands grow apricots, plums, peaches and figs, and about 650 million roses a year.
Palaces and the mountain road
Shubra Palace, built in 1905, was where King Abdulaziz ran the government during his summer stays, and it became a museum in 1988. About 20 km west of the city lies al-Hada, and some 25 km to the southwest al-Shafa, which stands at roughly 2,500 m.
From Makkah, the 87 km Aqabat al-Kurr road climbs over the al-Hada mountains, following a route used by caravans for over a thousand years. Paved from 1958 and expanded again in 2008, it is closed all year to trucks and large buses.