SAUDI ARABIA · ARABIAN PENINSULA
Carved tombs, desert cliffs, the Red Sea.
Hegra and the canyons of AlUla, the Edge of the World outside Riyadh, old Jeddah on the coast, plus the dunes, reefs and heritage in between. The trips worth your time, in one place.
Only in Saudi Arabia
Three places that stop you in your tracks.
Plenty of countries have a desert, an old town and a big view. These three are not that. A Nabataean necropolis, a cliff at the rim of an ancient sea, and a coral-stone port older than the country around it. Build the trip around them.
In the northwest
Hegra, cut into the desert
Hegra was the Nabataeans’ southern capital, the same civilisation that built Petra, and it became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than a hundred tombs stand carved into honey-coloured sandstone outcrops, their facades still crisp after two thousand years. Petra draws the queues; here you can have a tomb to yourself.
- 1 Hegra Al Ula: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Flight
- 2 Al Ula: Dadan and Jabal Ikmah Tombs Guided Tour
- 3 AlUla: Discover AlUla Like a Local Guided Tour
An hour from Riyadh
The Edge of the World
The Tuwaiq escarpment runs for hundreds of kilometres across the Najd, and at Jebel Fihrayn it simply stops. A sheer cliff above a plain that was a seabed before the peninsula rose. Walk out to the rim near sunset and the desert drops clean away beneath your feet.
- 1 Riyadh: Edge Of The World, camels &Stargazing with 4×4
- 2 Edge of The World Riyadh with Camel Ride ,Bat Cave Visit & Dinner
- 3 Riyadh: 4×4 Trip to the Edge of the World at Sunset
On the Red Sea
Old Jeddah, in coral stone
For centuries Al-Balad was the first footfall for pilgrims arriving by sea on the way to Makkah. Its merchant houses are built from Red Sea coral rock and screened with carved wooden rawasheen balconies, a way of building you will not find anywhere else on the coast. UNESCO-listed, and still lived in.
- 1 Historical & Heritage Tour in Jeddah Al Balad
- 2 Historic District Tour in Jeddah by a Local Guide
- 3 Jeddah: Al-Balad Old Town Historical City Guided Tour
Where to go
Three Saudi Arabias, one country.
The Kingdom is about the size of Western Europe, and the three places worth flying for sit a long way apart. Most first trips pick two and join them with a short domestic flight. Here is how they divide.
Start here
The one almost everyone books first.
If you only have room for a single day out, start with this one. The trip most first-timers end up building their week around.
The classics
Saudi Arabia's Most Popular Tours
The Edge of the World, Hegra, the Red Sands and old Jeddah. The trips most visitors come for.
By region
Pick a part of the Kingdom.
Each one is a different trip. Riyadh for the capital and the desert’s edge. Jeddah for the Red Sea and the old town. AlUla for the tombs. Medina for the heritage.
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend it.
A 4x4 if you want the dunes. A boat if you want the reef. Heritage walks, camel rides, desert safaris, dawn balloon flights, and the rest.
Riyadh's back yard
Into the Red Sands.
An hour south of the city the tarmac runs out and the dunes turn deep orange. Dune-bashing by 4x4, camels at golden hour, dinner around a fire. If we picked three desert afternoons, these would be them.
On the coast
The Red Sea, mostly to yourself.
Some of the healthiest coral on earth sits a short boat ride off Jeddah, and almost nobody is diving it yet. Snorkel trips, dive boats, slow afternoons on the water. Our three favourites for getting wet.
Off the asphalt
The active Kingdom.
Saudi rewards the people who get moving. A camel through the dunes, a quad over the rock, a bike along the escarpment. Three ways to feel the landscape instead of only photographing it.
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