Luxury holidays in Saudi Arabia
Watch Hegra's carved tombs turn gold in the evening light at AlUla. Send us your dates and we book local guides, private drives and stays among the sandstone.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Few places still feel this new to travellers. At Hegra in the AlUla oasis, more than 100 tombs are carved into sandstone outcrops by the Nabataeans, the same people who built Petra, and for centuries few outsiders saw them. It became Saudi Arabia's first World Heritage site, and a guide takes you between the tombs in the quiet of the desert.
Around AlUla, wind has shaped the rock into forms such as Elephant Rock, and the Gharameel area is set aside for stargazing. Outside Riyadh, Diriyah, the first seat of the Saudi state, has been restored around its mud brick quarter. Jeddah, on the Red Sea, has an old town of coral stone houses and a relaxed waterfront.
AlUla holds the ancient sites, and Riyadh shows the country's past and its new ambitions.
The capital, with the mud-brick ruins of Diriyah, the Masmak Fort and the Edge of the World cliffs nearby.
Sandstone canyons and rock formations around Hegra, the kingdom's first UNESCO World Heritage site, with over 100 Nabataean tombs.
The cooler months are best for the desert, and summer heat makes outdoor sightseeing hard.
Warm days and cold desert nights in AlUla.
Mild and clear, ideal for Hegra and the canyons.
Warm days before the heat, spring in the desert.
Hot afternoons in Riyadh, mornings comfortable in AlUla.
Heat builds quickly across the country.
Extreme heat in Riyadh and the desert.
One of the hottest months, sightseeing is hard.
Very hot, best avoided for desert travel.
Still hot, evenings start to cool late in the month.
Heat eases and the AlUla season begins.
Warm days and cool nights across the country.
Mild days and cold desert nights, AlUla at its busiest.
Connections run through Doha or Dubai, with domestic flights on to AlUla.
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