Its run-down infrastructure and lack of hotels, especially on the coast, have hindered tourism. Sana, a walled medieval city, is the more interesting center for tourists. It has impressive architecture, particularly tall stone and mud brick Arab houses, and the palaces of the former imamate. German and French tourists were the first to travel to North Yemen during the 1980s. Hopes of a rise in tourism following the end of the 1994 civil war were dashed in 1998 after tribesmen killed four Western tourists.
Tourists are subject to a ban on the consumption of alcohol, except in five-star hotels.
Whisky and beer are available on the black market, which operates out of Djibouti.