Jeddah and Al Ula

📍 Jeddah Airport - Jeddah City center (25 km): 25 mins

Jeddah is a commercial hub sitting to the west along the Red Sea with the second busiest seaport in the Middle East. It’s the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, and sees over a million pilgrims a year on their way to perform the Hajj. Despite this, Jeddah is perceived to be the most liberal city in Saudi Arabia and is a popular tourist destination, offering the beauty of ancient architecture mixed with the latest luxuries.

After transferring from the airport and checking into your hotel, there’s no better place to start an exploration of the destination than in its atmospheric old town, Al Balad, which achieved UNESCO World Heritage status in 2014. Its traditional multi storey buildings and merchant houses are an architectural treasure trove.  It is a dive back in time with the buzz of trading, pilgrims shopping and the occasional tourist mixed in. The roshan or wooden window covers are the ancient way to create shade and cool in this hot and humid climate, and they make these alleys especially picturesque. This is the perfect place to purchase an Abaya for use during your travels. Naturally, as a foreigner the use of an Abaya is completely voluntary. 

Overnight in Jeddah.
 

Inclusions:

🍗 Dinner

Start the day working on the Saudi bigger picture in the Tayebat museum. The museum is housed in a multiroom complex that re-creates the traditional architecture of Al Balad. With several floors of in-depth exhibits, the museum offers a living history lesson on the foundation of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the wider Arabian Peninsula. There is also an entire floor dedicated to the city’s rich Islamic heritage.

Jeddah’s proximity to the Red Sea puts local seafood at the forefront, unlike elsewhere in the country. The Central Fishmarket is the hotspot where buyers and sellers come together. Squid, shrimp, lobster and a great variety of fish, some only native to the Red Sea, are all fresh and on display. Follow the lead of the guide and choose your fish for lunch. Move on to have it weighed, next get your ticket for the cleaning section and lastly, have it prepared in the restaurant right in the market. 

Things are equally convivial on dry land and guests will round up another incredible day with sunset drinks on the city’s attractive corniche. Spread out your carpet and your ‘takwa’ , the smart Saudi picnic seat. Join the locals when the sun sets, the call for prayer sounds and the world's tallest fountain comes to life in front of the beachwalk.

Overnight in Jeddah
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Jeddah City Center - Jeddah Airport (25 km): 25 mins Al Ula City Airport - Al Ula City Center ( 30 km): 25 mins

Transfer to the airport for a short flight to Al Ula, where Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site awaits. 

The destination sits deep in the desert in the northwestern region of the country. Don’t expect many sand dunes, this is a volcanic area with black lava stone and mountain vistas. It is rich in historical significance.

After lunch the old city of Al Ula awaits. It’s an ancient place that once sat at the crossroads of the Silk Road and the Incense Route, and one that rewards a leisurely stroll at any time of the day, so let’s start in the sunlight. The labyrinth of alleys with mud houses of which a small percentage has been restored and the rest has been left untouched gives you a true lost-in-time feeling. Ancient stories await around every corner and your guide will make the souqs and town squares come alive. Recent renovations have turned this place into a magical mix of ancient alleys and trendy restaurants and souvenirs shops. Next door, the ‘new city’ has a colorful vibe with street art and exhibits spread out in its walking streets.

For your first sunset in Al Ula Jabal Alfil or Elephant Rock is a great choice. Set in golden desert sands and climbing into the blue Arabian skies, the rock is one of Al Ula’s most impressive geological marvels.  

Overnight in Al Ula
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

The draw to Al Ula is its remarkable natural rock formations and canyons, extensive and varied pre-Arabic rock art, and immaculately preserved tombs built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans. You’ll start the day with a visit to the Nabataean site of Hegra, which was the southern capital of the Nabataean kingdom, dating back to the first century BCE. Today, visitors follow their ‘rawee’ or storyteller, to explore several of the more than 100 well-preserved monumental tombs, most with elaborate facades carved from rock formations scattered around the desert.

Before the Nabataeans, Al Ula was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dadan. You’ll take a journey even further back in time by observing the remarkably well-preserved cliffside tombs dating from this period carved from a red-rock mountain face. 

Across the Al Ula Valley lie thousands of inscriptions in Aramaic, Dadanitic, Thamudic, Minaic and Nabataean. You will learn about them at Jabal Ikma, in a valley outside Al Ula where the highest concentration of inscriptions is found.

Afterwards, time is at leisure and guests can end the day with another visit to Al Ula old or new city or spend a relaxing evening in the hotel.

Overnight in Al Ula. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

No trip to Saudi Arabia is complete without a 4x4 excursion into the desert. And we start this day with an unforgettable sortie around the towering cliffs that surround Al Ula. Following the ups and downs of the morning four-wheel safari, guests will settle down in the middle of the desert for a delicious Bedouin-style tented picnic lunch, encompassing a traditional range of Saudi and other Middle Eastern delicacies. The tents have been privately set up just for your enjoyment and the finest of Arabian hospitality awaits.

In the afternoon you’re free to enjoy time at leisure in your resort, or there are a number of optional activities for you to engage in. Some of the preferred activities include riding in a helicopter above Al Ula, riding a horse in the countryside, or mountain biking through serene landscapes. 

Overnight in Al Ula
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast, 🥘 Lunch

📍 Al Ula City Center - Al Ula Airport ( 30 km): 25 mins

At leisure until you check out of your hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight onwards. 

You have the option of flying out of either Jeddah or Riyadh, both of which are international airports with direct flights to Europe and Asia. 
 

Inclusions:

☕ Breakfast