Bayji

Introduction

Baiji is an industrial city in Salah ad Din governorate in northern Iraq, set on the main road north from Baghdad toward Mosul. It is a major industrial centre, best known for its oil refinery — the biggest in Iraq — and it also has a large power plant.

For travellers, Baiji's significance lies in its position on the national railway network: the city is a junction, making it a point where routes converge in this part of northern Iraq.

When to go

Baiji has a hot desert climate, and the timing of your visit matters most for how you handle the heat and the little rain the area receives. Winter is the coolest time of year and the period when most of the area's sparse annual rainfall arrives. Expect occasional rain rather than a wet season, and temperatures mild enough for comfortable travel.

• Winter: The coolest months, with the area's sparse annual rainfall. Rain comes occasionally rather than as a sustained wet season, and conditions are mild enough for comfortable travel.

Three days in Bayji

Day one: Begin in Baiji, in Salah Din, Iraq. It is a place to get your bearings, and in winter you should expect rain.

• Baiji
• Salah Din
• Iraq
• Winter
• Rain

Day two: Travel from Baiji toward Baghdad or Mosul, the larger cities that frame this part of Iraq. Expect rain again in winter.

• Baiji
• Baghdad
• Mosul
• Iraq
• Winter
• Rain

Day three: Return to Baiji in Salah Din. It is a quiet end to three days, and winter rain is likely.

• Baiji
• Salah Din
• Iraq
• Winter
• Rain