Saudi Explorer: Across the Arabian Peninsula

Fly from London to Riyadh, arriving in the evening. We’ll be met at Riyadh airport and driven to our hotel for the night.

Overnight at Centro Olaya Hotel by Rotana

Arrive Riyadh and make your way to the hotel. Land only travellers can arrive into Riyadh any time today. Hotel will be available for check-in from mid-afternoon.

Overnight at Centro Olaya Hotel by Rotana or similar

We make an early start today and begin our journey by road towards Buraydah, 400 kilometres away, making stops on the way. The highlight of the day is Ushaiger Heritage Village, one of the oldest settlements in the region which boasts some stunning traditional Najdi architecture.

Following time at Ushaiger, we continue our journey, passing the villages of Al Mithnab (an example of a traditional fortified village) and Al-Ghat.

Buraydah is the capital of Al-Qassim province and lies equidistant from the Red Sea to the west and the Persian Gulf to the east, in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. The climate is typical of the desert, with hot summers, cold winters, and low humidity. Agriculture is still the cornerstone of the economy and traditional oasis produce such as dates, lemons, oranges and other fruits are important. The area is also known for its fine traditional mudbrick architecture. The beautifully restored Souq Musawkaf in Unaizah is one of the best examples and comes to life in the evenings.

We will visit Al Bassam Heritage House in Unaizah, about 25 minutes from Buraydah. The house was built in 1955 using traditional Najdi ventilation and lighting techniques and spans 3,500 square meters. It features 30 rooms on two floors, including bedrooms, guest rooms, and storage rooms. Inside, visitors can enjoy ancient crafts, traditional foods, folk tales, poems, and ancestral heritage and history.

We head back into the city to stroll through the date market to pick some tasty treats before check-in at the hotel. Our visit to the city will include also The Women’s Souq, and the Al Jerredah Souq, which specialise in art and crafts.

We'll drive about 400 km in total today.

Overnight at Golden Tulip Buraydah or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

Early this morning we’ll visit Buraydah’s camel market – the largest in the world! Here thousands of camels, goats and sheep are bought and sold, along with saddles and other accessories. This is a chaotic and truly unique Saudi experience.

After the camel market we leave the province of Al-Qassim behind and head further into the desert. We stop at the pre-Islamic city of Faid, a stopover on old caravan routes. On our three hour drive, we’ll notice a change in terrain from sand dunes and oases to imposing granite formations of Jebel Aja near the city of Hail. Along the way, we will cross the easternmost lava fields of Saudi Arabia called Harrat Al-Hutaymah where a volcanic crater can be visited. We arrive in Hail around lunchtime and check into our hotel.

We'll drive about 280 km in total today.

Overnight at Hotel Tramontane or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

We begin the day by heading to Jubbah which lies on an ancient lake. Several sites of ancient human settlement from the Middle Paleolithic period have been found around the margin of the paleolake. Jubbah is surrounded by large sandstone outcrops that are filled with ancient petroglyphs and inscriptions, which form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The inscriptions depict animals such as aurochs, cheetahs and lions which were present here when the region was wetter with a savannah-like climate.

After our visit to Jubbah, we drive to AlUla. The journey passes through Nefud Al Kabir which literally means the “great extent of sand dunes”. It is 290 kilometres long and 225 kilometres wide. We arrive into AlUla early evening and check in at our beautifully located permanent desert camp, our base for the next two nights.

Optionally (payable locally – approximately US$110 per person), you can take a star-gazing trip this evening. Far from city lights, vast open spaces in the remote desert create some of the world's most impressive dark skies, making AlUla an ideal place for star watching.

We'll drive about 480 km today.

Overnight at Sahary Resort or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

AlUla is an ancient oasis that has been inhabited for the last 7,000 years evidenced by ancient carvings.

In the morning we visit the ancient city of Dadan - amongst the most significant discoveries in all of AlUla. Dadan was the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms and dates back to between the late 9^th and early 8^th century BCE (Kingdom of Dadan) and 5^th to 2^nd century BCE (Kingdom of Lihyan). During the 1st millennium BCE, the city of Dadan developed due to its strategic location on the frankincense trade road. The Nabatean people coming from Petra settled 30 kilometres north of Dadan in Al-Hijr where they built monumental tombs similar to the ones they dug in Petra.

We have time for lunch in the centre of AlUla where there is a good choice of restaurants, then continue to the Old City of AlUla. The city had nearly 900 houses and five town squares and the remains of some of the original stone and mudbrick buildings can still be seen today. In the 12^th  century, Old AlUla became an important settlement along the pilgrimage route from Damascus to Mecca.

Overnight at Sahary Resort or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

We begin our day with a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra (Madain Saleh). Hegra is the southernmost major city of the Nabatean Kingdom that flourished thanks to the caravan trade between the 2nd century BCE until the Roman conquest in 106 CE. It is the second richest Nabatean city in terms of monumental tombs with more than 130 decorated funeral monuments including some of the most vibrant and well conserved architectural achievements of the Nabatean builders. We will explore this fascinating site and the secrets of its tombs, ancient inscriptions, stone structures, and more. In the afternoon we will drive towards the holy city of Medina.

We'll drive about 330 km today.

Overnight at La Meriden or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

This morning we’ll visit some of the outer parts of Medina, Islam’s second holiest city, a major pilgrimage site. While tourists are strictly forbidden from visiting Mecca, we are able to see some parts of Medina. We’ll view the vast Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) from the outside - the striking Green Dome rises above the tombs of the Prophet Muhammad and early Islamic leaders Abu Bakr and Umar. The Masjid al-Qiblatain (Qiblatain Mosque) is known as the site where the Prophet Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer to Mecca. We will also get to visit some of the seven mosques from a distance. We’ll visit the Dar Al Madina museum which shows Medina’s heritage and history featuring different archaeological collections, visual galleries, and rare images. We will visit the edges of the city, avoiding the pilgrimage areas and we conclude the day with a short walk near Mount Uhud.

In the afternoon we’ll travel by high speed train to Jeddah, covering over 400 kms in less than two hours. Check-in procedures for the train are similar to that of a flight, including security checks. On arrival in Jeddah, we’ll be taken to our hotel for the night.

Overnight at Hotel Ruve or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

We will start our tour with a visit to Abdul Raouf Khalil Museum which presents local and Arabian heritage, we then continue old Jeddah. We will enjoy a wonderful walk in Al-Balad, the old part of the city and another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This tour of the old town will take us to the old market and galleries and we’ll be able to try local Jeddah food. While visiting Al-Balad, we will see Beit Nassif (from outside only), one of the prominent renovated structures in the old city, which dates back to the mid-1800s. The five-story building provides a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the blend of traditional architecture with modernity. We will visit also Gabel Street.

After lunch, we drive to Jeddah Corniche - the 30 km coastal resort area of the city on the Red Sea. The corniche features a coastal road, recreation areas, pavilions, and large-scale civic sculptures.

Overnight at Hotel Ruve or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

We will start our journey to drive up the Sarawat Mountains Range that spread all along the western side of the Arabian Peninsula from Yemen to Jordan. Once we have passed the crest peaking at nearly 2,000 meters above sea level, we will descend down the eastern side towards the city of Taif.

Taif, thanks to its location above 1,600 meters benefits from cooler weather, especially in summer when people travel there for its greenery, lower temperatures, beautiful scenery and relaxed atmosphere. Our tour will start with a drive to enjoy the majestic panoramic view of Al Hada mountain. In the afternoon we will visit a rose factory where the people of Taif gather local roses to make one of the best rose perfumes in the world. Our tour will finish with the Sharif Museum.

We'll drive about 200 km today.

Overnight at Velar Inn or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

This morning we will start our journey to Al Bahah. Al Baha is a city in the west of Saudi Arabia in the Hejaz area. It is the capital of the Al Bahah Region and is one of the Kingdom’s prime tourist attractions. It enjoys a pleasant climate and is surrounded by more than forty forests. On arrival, we will visit the Marble Village of Dhee Ayn. It’s an amazing place, showcasing the quality of ancient construction. The village was named after the water that flows from the nearby mountains and the area is famous for banana and other fruit plantations. The village dates back about 400 years, and has witnessed the battles between the Ottoman Turks and its inhabitants.

Following time for lunch we will drive to Raghavan Forest Park, Al-Surat Mountains to visit Al Mud Village. and finally to Khairah Forest Park before returning to our hotel.

We'll drive about 250 km today.

Overnight at Swiss Spirit or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

Today we discover the highlands of Al Bahah, more than 2000 meters above sea level. We start with a visit to some traditional stone houses typical of the southern mountains of Arabia. Then we visit some amazing viewpoints from the vertiginous cliffs of the Sarawat mountain range near Al Bahah and the nearby city of Baljureshi.

Later we will drive to Sheda Village. Nestled halfway up the peak of Jabal Mussala Ibrahim is the hidden village of Sheda, offering dramatic views across the green cliffs and valleys of the Sarawat Mountains. As we venture up, the air becomes much cooler and drier, which has allowed rare plants like the white Capparis cartilage flower (sometimes called Cartilage caper) and the Dendrosicyos tree (also known as the cucumber tree) to grow. Along the picturesque drive up its slopes, we’ll pass ancient stone houses dotting the roadside, offering a glimpse of a time and community past. To complete the picture-postcard view, a nearby natural spring provides water to a lush oasis surrounding the bottom of the hill. The village was named after a water spring (Ayn in Arabic) that flows continuously from the nearby mountains to several reservoirs.

Overnight at Swiss Spirit or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

Fly from Al Baha to Dammam. Old Al Uqayr Seaport and transfer to Hofuf

This morning we’ll fly from Al Baha to Dammam on the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf. We’ll visit Dammam briefly, then head off to explore the Old Al Uqayr Seaport on beautiful Half-Moon Bay. The old port includes administrative buildings, a fort, and a market. It was built by the Ottomans in the 17th century and has been partly restored recently.

After visiting Al Uqayr, we’ll head towards Al Ahsa Oasis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We start our exploration of the area at a stunning viewpoint over Yellow Lake located just a few kilometers east of the city of Hofuf. The lake takes its name from the colour of the surrounding dunes. This landscape made of flat ground rich with water in between dunes is typical of the Eastern Province and is called sabkha. We will drive through dunes and sabkhas, before reaching our destination - Hofuf. Set in an expansive oasis with over 2 million palm trees, Hofuf ranks among the world's leading date producers.

Overnight at Garden Plaza, Hofuf

Meals Included: Breakfast

This morning we will visit Al Hofuf, the main city of Al Ahsa region. Al Ahsa is the largest oasis in the covering an area of around 85 square km. There are more than 2.5 million palm trees, fed from a huge underground aquifer which allows agriculture all year round in a region that is otherwise desert. Al Ahsa also hosts an ancient secret: the Greek geographer Strabo described an ancient Arab kingdom whose capital Gerrha had "fancy tools made out of gold and silver, large homes which have their doors, walls and roofs filled with gold, silver, and holy stones". Until today this site has not been found by archaeologists but one of the candidates is Al Hofuf. We will visit the Ibrahim Fort and its mosque, then the Jebel Qarah, a limestone outcrop with caves and canyons that offers a viewpoint over the huge palm tree cultivations. We will finish the day at the historical mosque of Jawatha.

 Overnight at Garden Plaza, Hofuf or similar

Meals Included: Breakfast

This morning we’ll take a high speed train from Hofuf to Riyadh. The journey takes about two hours. We start our tour of Riyadh with a visit to the National Museum, with exhibits on Saudi heritage and culture, giving an overview of Arabian civilization from Prehistory to the modern era.

We pass Riyadh Tower, a 99-story skyscraper. When completed in 2002, it overtook the 267-meter Faisaliah Tower as the tallest tower in Saudi Arabia. We will continue to Masmak Fort and its museum which depicts the history of the conquest of Arabia by the Al-Saud family. The palace was built during the reign of Abdullah bin Rashid in 1895 to serve as a military garrison for the Abdullah bin Rashid army. King Abdulaziz, the father of the nation today, captured the fort in 1902 making this fort the birthplace of the 3rd Saudi Kingdom. We’ll be able to have lunch will at one of the traditional restaurants in the city. We will visit Dira Souq and learn about Saudi traditional clothing and the way in which it is made. In the evening, we'll visit Diriyah for a sound and light show at the ruins.

As most flights (including our group flight) depart very early tomorrow morning, we just include a small number of hotel rooms shared between the whole group for tonight, allowing for a shower and repacking of bags. If you would like your own room for tonight, this is possible at additional cost, please let us know at the time of booking.

Transfer to the airport very late tonight.

Meals Included: Breakfast