The countryside around Sulaymaniyah is spectacular and the roads are generally good by Iraqi standards. Halabja, the town where the Ba'athist regime carried out the chemical weapons attack of 1988 — the largest chemical attack on a civilian population in history — lies about 75 kilometres southeast. The Halabja Monument and museum document the attack and its aftermath; it is a necessary and harrowing visit.
Darbandikhan lake, formed by a dam on the Diyala River about 60 kilometres northeast, is the main recreational lake for Sulaymaniyah. Kurdish families spend weekends here in summer; there are restaurants, boats for hire, and good views of the surrounding mountains.