Bahrain is an island state connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, and its history runs deeper than its size suggests — the Dilmun burial mounds and Qal'at al-Bahrain fort date back thousands of years. Manama holds the souq, the national museum and the Grand Mosque.
The guides here cover Bahrain as a whole. The comfortable season is November to March, with summer heat and humidity severe. The country is more liberal than some of its neighbours in terms of alcohol and dress, and weekend traffic across the causeway is heavy. The Formula 1 Grand Prix each spring fills hotels and raises prices well beyond race weekend.