The most striking day trip from Duhok. Amadiya occupies a flat-topped plateau of solid rock, rising sheer out of the surrounding valleys, with views of layered Zagros mountains in every direction. The town is small — perhaps a thousand people — and has been continuously inhabited since the early first millennium BC, going through Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, and Islamic phases.
The walk around the rim takes about an hour and passes the medieval gate of Bab al-Mosul, the surviving stub of a Zoroastrian fire temple, a small mosque, and several restored Yazidi and Jewish quarters. The road up from the valley is the dramatic part: a single switchback climb to a saddle, then the final approach to the cliff. Drivers from Duhok run the trip for around 40,000 dinars round trip; allow half a day.