Where to Travel in SAUDI ARABIA

The oasis of Al Ula in northwest Saudi Arabia is one of the country’s most exceptional heritage sites as well as being a place of great natural beauty and is surrounded by wondrous terracotta hued mountains. For many visitors, exploring Madain Saleh (see separate description) is the main reason to visit Al Ula, but the oasis has a great deal more to offer and deserves time. The history of Al Ula is an ancient one pre-dating that of Madain Saleh and is centred around the kingdoms of Dadan (9th and 8th century BC) and Lihyan (5th to 2nd century BC) who once controlled this important staging post on the Arabian incense trail. The Lihyanite sacrificial alter at Umm al-Daraj with its sweeping views of the oasis below is a good place to begin your Al Ula visit. Then, proceed to the ruins of ancient Dadan and view the remarkably well preserved tombs – including the famed Lion Tombs - that puncture the perpendicular red cliffs. Across the valley is Jabal Ikmah with its remarkable rock art. The site has been called the largest ‘open-air library’ in Saudi Arabia. Nearby, are the ruins of the abandoned village of old Al Ula, a maze of c900 crumbling mudbrick houses that is surrounded by its verdant oasis of date palms. Outside the sheltered valley of Al Ula, you’ll find wild and breath-taking desert panoramas of drifting dunes, deep canyons, wonderfully eroded rock forms, and dark lava flows that can be explored by 4WD, horse-back or on foot. Elephant Rock (Saharat al-Fil) is the most well-known of Al Ula’s geomorphological wonders. Another excursion will take you to the deeply eroded canyons of the ‘Dancing Rocks’ - a natural labyrinth of rock – in the Raggasat Valley; while a drive to the west of Al Ula reveals the Harrat Uwayrid, a dramatic volcanic landscape of lava flows, scoria cones and tuff that is a fabulous playground for Dune Buggies.