Saudi Arabia: Where Ancient Heritage Meets Modern Vision

Day 1: Arrival in Jeddah

Today, we will be welcoming you at the airport as our representative will be waiting for you holding a sign, we will be taking you to your hotel, where you can rest for a bit.
Welcome to Jeddah. Over the years, no Saudi city has been more open to outside influencers such as traders, international artists and Makkah-bound pilgrims than the ancient port of Jeddah. Indeed, the city’s unofficial motto is “Jeddah ghair,” or “Jeddah’s different.” Today, Jeddah is Saudi Arabia’s buzzing cosmopolitan hub, home to gleaming hotels and big-ticket events. Transfer to the hotel.

Day 2: Jeddah City Tour

Jeddah - City tour

We will head to the Tayebat Museum for a fascinating look into Jeddah’s long and cosmopolitan past and take an informative tour of the Tayebat Museum for a superbly curated representation of the city’s 2,500-year history. Located in the Al Faisaliyah district, the museum is housed in a multiroom complex that re-creates the traditional Hijazi architecture of the old city, with bay windows overlaid with intricate wooden latticework and ornate coral masonry. 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. The Museum is open from 8:00 - 12:00 and then 17:00 -21:00

Al Balad Tour - Jeddah Historical City

In the evening, we will start our tour in Al Balad, as locals call it, which means “the town” as a reference to the base of Jeddah. Al-Balad was founded in the 7th century and historically served as the centre of Jeddah. Our tour will go through the history of these buildings, including going inside one of the buildings to see the interior designs and furniture Al Balad has been registered as a World Heritage UNESCO site, and since then, the old buildings with their unique windows designs and doors have been preserved along with its unique buildings which some have been built using sea shells and stones!

We will also explain the historical importance of some sites and locations while we wander around the narrow streets to explain how merchants used to sell their goods and how pilgrims used to get their supplies of cloth and food before they headed to Makkah through the Makkah Gate in Al Balad. The old Mosques are another tourist attraction where some were founded over 300 years ago and are still functional as mosques.

Jeddah Yacht Club & Art Promenade

In the evening, we will visit Saudi Arabia's first west coast marina, Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina, designed to deliver a premium and luxurious yachting experience for guests and crew alike. A design inspired by the fusion of travel and emotion. A mast to elevate us. A sail to capture those magical moments with friends and family. A boom to lift our spirits, day and night. Whether you are sailing, celebrating, or unwinding, our elegant five-star surroundings and our restaurants and shops are a haven for people and occasions that are truly special.

The Floating Mosque

The Floating Mosque was built in 1985 on a water surface, with bases planted under the surface of the sea. It is also called "Al Rahmah Mosque". It is marked by its bright white color and its turquoise dome which paints a wonderful scene especially when the sun shines on it to reflect the beauty of architecture joined with Islamic and traditional constructive art. The beauty of the mosque is not limited to its construction, it is also equipped with advanced sound and lighting technologies, to complement the elements that distinguish it from others with serenity and extreme beauty.

King Fahd's Fountain

To wrap up the day, we'll take you to the King Fahd's Fountain, located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The fountain jets water to a maximum height of 260 metres (853 ft). King Fahd's Fountain is listed in Guinness World Records as the highest water fountain in the world. The fountain is visible throughout the vicinity of Jeddah. The water ejected can reach a speed of 375 km/h (233 mph), and its airborne mass can exceed 16 tonnes (18 short tons). The fountain uses saltwater taken from the Red Sea instead of freshwater. Over 500 LED spotlights illuminate the fountain at night.

Day 3: Jeddah – Madinah (Train from Jeddah to Madinah – Luggage must be 25 Kg or less)

Madinah Tour

Today, we will visit the two famous holy Mosques, the Holy Mosque and Qiba Mosque, which both have significant importance in Islamic history the first was the house where the Prophet Mohammed lived, and eventually it’s his grave was visited. The second was the first Mosque ever built. You will have a general overview of how the city was built and shaped throughout the 1400 years. (Both mosques will be visited from the outside only)

On the same street, which is a nice pedestrian street for walking, there are many traditional food shops and snacks where we will stop for our lunch break.

• Visit As Safiyyah Museum and Park
• Walk along the historic Medina Old Bazaar or local bazaar
• Photo Stop at Mt. Uhud
• Visit a Date Farm in Madinah

Your visit will include a complete tour of the date farm. Meet the team and learn about what they do on the farm and the different dates they grow. Have a chance to try the samples and enjoy the views.

Day 4: Madinah – AlUla (Start early - 4 hours – 331 Km)

Hegra tour – Madain Saleh

Today, we are starting with the Madain Saleh or Hegra, which is a remarkable archaeological site in Saudi Arabia that combines natural beauty, historical significance, and cultural heritage, making it a truly beautiful and mesmerising destination to explore. Here's why:

Stunning Architecture – Hegra boasts impressive rock-cut tombs and facades that showcase the exceptional.The craftsmanship of the Nabateans. The intricate details and intricate designs on the facades are awe-inspiring.
Scenic Landscape – The site is set amidst a captivating desert landscape with sandstone cliffs, rocky outcrops, and serene surroundings. The combination of ancient architecture and the natural beauty of the desert makes it a unique and breathtaking place.
Cultural Heritage – Hegra holds significant cultural and historical importance, serving as a testament to the ancient Nabatean civilisation and their trade networks. It provides a glimpse into the past and allows visitors to connect with the rich history of the region.
Unique Heritage Site – Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra is recognised and protected for its outstanding universal value, ensuring its preservation for future generations to enjoy.
Serenity and Tranquility – Visiting Hegra can offer a sense of peace and tranquillity as you wander through the ancient ruins and marvel at the beauty of the surroundings.
Connection to Ancient Trade Routes – Hegra was a key stop along the ancient trade routes, and its architecture reflects a blend of various cultural influences from the region.

Elephant Rock (opens at 4 pm)

The Elephant Rock, also known as Jabal AlFil, is one of AlUla’s many geological marvels. Unlike the ornate, hand-carved facades of nearby Hegra’s Nabataean tombs, the "trunk" and "body" of this monolithic red sandstone beast were hewn by natural forces — millions of years of wind and water erosion. The beauty of the unrefined structure is enhanced by its surroundings of a fine-sand sea studded with rocky outcrops, many of which are equally impressive in size and have interesting shapes and figures. The area has a very nice atmosphere with a cafe and restaurant, and the seating area is built underground and filled with magical lights that it’s just wonderful to witness the sunset. Dinner at the hotel

Day 5: AlUla – Hail (5hours – 433 Km)

Note: Short stops can take up to 6 hours depending on the time spent on the breaks

Jubbah Mountain

Today, we will start our tour northwest of Hail to Jubbah, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by pictures of the past. Jabal Umm Sinman in Jubbah boasts rock inscriptions dating back at least 7,000 to 9,000 years to the Pottery Neolithic period. Home to some of the most prominent Neolithic rock art in the Middle East, the variety of inscriptions and petroglyphs reveal human activities, clothing, animals and weaponry of that period. This site is about an 80-minute drive from Hail, where a guide will explain the background of this site, which is a UNSECO-registered site.

Day 6: Hail – Buraydah

Today we will do a tour in the city of Hail.

A'arif Fort

Al Qishla Castle (photo stop only) is located in the city of Hail. It was built by order of His Majesty King Abdulaziz – may God rest his soul - in 1360 AH. The castle’s building consists of a rectangular structure extending longitudinally from east to west and in width from north to south. It has two floors, an open courtyard, and a square tower in each of its four corners, as well as a main entrance on the eastern façade and a secondary one on the southern façade. The castle was built to serve as a military barracks beside a rectangular mosque containing three rows of connected columns parallel to the castle’s wall.
A'arif Fort stands out with its ancient details and reflects the rich cultural history of the city of Hail. It was built in 1840, and it was named after the mountain on which it was built.

Hail to Buraydah (2.50 Hours – 280 km)

Al Bassam Heritage House – Souq Musawkaf

Upon arrival in Buraydah, we will visit Al Bassam Heritage House, located in Unayzah (about 30 minutes outside Buraydah), it was built in 1955 using traditional Najdi ventilation and lighting techniques and spans 3,500 square meters. The palatial structure’s roof incorporates traditional Najd wood carvings. (Najdi is an architectural style characterised by unfired mud-brick, which has dominated the Saudi countryside for hundreds of years.) 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.
Al Musawkaf Traditional Market is located next to Al Bassam Historical House in the city of Unaizah and is one of the most important landmarks of urban heritage in Al Qassim. It was built in a traditional style that mimics the houses of the past and has a courtyard surrounded by traditional mud arcades.

Day 7: Buraydah – Riyadh

Visit The Camel Market

Today we will check out from the hotel early morning and head to the Camel Market in Buraydah, the largest camel market in the world! once we arrive you can enter the main arena which is chaotic and has a lot of buyers and sellers auctioning different camels. Each owner brings his collection and displays them. You will be surprised to find that camel prices are determined based on a lot of features. This is one of the very local venues that can be experienced in the city. Note: Camel Market is closed on Sundays

Buraydah Date City

Upon arrival in Buraydah, we will visit the traditional date market, Buraydah, which is home to the world’s largest date market. Known as the Date City, it’s here where the farmers from all over the region come for the seasonal market in August – September – the region has more than 7 million date palm trees, the highest concentration among all the regions in Saudi Arabia. As a whole, the country produces 1.3 million tons of dates per year from 28 million palm trees of over 40 varieties, accounting for over 15% of the global production.

Buraydah to Ushaiger (2 Hours – 185 Km)

Day trip to Ushaiger + Qasab

Today we will be taking you on a historical trip outside Riyadh as we will be heading to Ushaiger. On the way we will first stop by Qasab.
Qasab Salt Flats are located in Shaqra Governorate and are the largest salt flats in Najd and one of the largest in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They are the primary source of salt in Saudi Arabia and have become a popular tourist destination where visitors can learn about natural salt extraction and processing.
Later, we will continue our way to Ushaiger.

Ushaiger – Hidden in the heart of the Najd, an oasis-dotted region 200km northwest of Riyadh, Ushaiger Heritage Village provides a glimpse of a slow-paced Saudi society of old. Bedouins first settled here 1,500 years ago, and Ushaiger quickly became a popular stopping point for pilgrims crossing to Makkah, thanks to its springs and low-brimmed olive and palm groves. But far from being a dusty, deserted museum piece, Ushaiger – which, in a naming quirk, means ‘little blonde’ to reflect the nearby red mountain that looms over the yellow mud houses – still has a small community of residents, making use of its schools, shops and mosques. To walk its narrow lanes is to enter a living museum draped with traces of an ancient way of life.
Encased in thick walls, Ushaiger is a labyrinth of winding alleyways, shaded pathways and timber-framed walkways, crossing between hundreds of mud houses. The village is divided into districts and bisected by groves of palm trees and includes a cluster of beautifully renovated houses. These offer a stunning example of Najdi architecture, with its distinctive triangular windows and roofs and ornately carved wooden doors. Some still bear the names of the families who lived there.
We will be having our lunch here before we take the road back to Riyadh.

Ushaiger to Riyadh (2 hr 24 min – 204 km)

Day 8: Riyadh

Diriyah Visit

We will visit Diriyah, birthplace of the first Saudi state, a historical crossroads of pilgrims and traders, and home to one of the kingdom’s most ambitious heritage developments.

The historical district of Turaif in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for its well-preserved adobe structures that showcase the Najdi architectural style. It was the first capital of the Saudi dynasty and holds great cultural and historical importance in the country's history. Visitors can explore the traditional mud-brick buildings, historical mosques, and learn about the rich history of the region.

Edge of The World

The Edge of the World (its real name is Jebel Fihrayn), one of Saudi’s most popular tourist destinations, got its nickname from the uninterrupted view of the horizon it offers atop its 300-meter-high cliffs, which overlook the surrounding plain. It’s part of the much longer Tuwaiq escarpment and drops down roughly 305 meters into an ancient ocean bed. From the top of the cliffs, you’ll spot dried rivers weaving across the land and may even see camels moving far below — an ancient caravan route once passed through these grounds.

The cliffs are the result of the tectonic movement of the Arabian plate toward the northeast caused by the spread of the Red Sea rift 1,000 kilometres to the west of the Tuwaiq escarpment. The clear-cut it carved reveals the layers of sediments that accumulated there when the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula was a shallow tropical sea during the Jurassic period (150 million years ago). As you walk along the path, keep an eye out for fossils, a vestige of when the region was part of an ocean bed. As you’re capturing the views around you, take pictures of any fossils you may come upon, as you will not be allowed to take these artefacts out of the area.

Day 9: Riyadh

Riyadh city tour - Al Masmak and Addoho neighbourhood

Today we will start with at Al Masmak Fortress(outside) ,surrounded by sand, this squat fortification was built around 1865 and is like a scene out of the movies: a big fortress representing an empire. It was the site of a daring 1902 raid by Ibn Saud, during which a spear was hurled at the main entrance door with such force that the head is still lodged in the doorway. Highlights among the exhibits include maps and fascinating photographs of Saudi Arabia dating from 1912 to 1937, in galleries converted from diwans (living rooms). The roofs are covered with painted palm trees, taramic and ethel wood and exude an old-world charm that evokes an Arabian painting. Inside, the information panels and short, chestthumping films on the storming of the fortress and the ‘reunification’ of Saudi Arabia are reverential towards the Al Sauds but worth watching nonetheless.

National Museum

We will visit the National Museum you will discover Saudi Arabia's rich past is an amazing journey that will bring you along thousands of kilometers around the whole Kingdom. An easier way to gain an insight into Saudi Arabia's rich History is to visit the King Abdulaziz Historical Center in Riyadh where artefacts from all periods are exhibited and with explanations about their historical significance.

Al Murabba Historic Palace

The palace is built in the form of a square surrounded by walls, highlighting the nature of the local society that values the privacy of their homes. The palace has 32 rooms divided over 2 floors, receptions for the king’s guests, and administrative offices for the king's aides and guards.

KAFD & Grand Mosque

King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Grand Mosque in Riyadh won the International Architecture Prize, in the Religious Buildings category, for the Year 2020. Today we will be visiting a landmark within a ‘forest’ of skyscrapers, The building represents the spiritual centre of the Master Plan and serves as the Juma’ah (Friday) mosque for the visitors and residents of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD); an all-new mixed-use district in Riyadh. The inspiration and basis for the unique geometry of the mosque is the crystalline intersecting plates of a desert rose. The building is further landmarked by two sculpted 60m minarets. The development of the design involved a series of complex parametric arrays to ultimately create a simplified and dynamic massing that represents an abstraction of the desert rose. This form and movement in stone extend to the 5th elevation completing an exciting profile, viewed from all angles. The skin of the building appears to rise up from the earth as an emerging crystal mass, bursting from the earth. In the same way the minarets appear to rise up, piercing the landscape.

Kingdom Tower Photo Stop Only

It was designed by the US-based architecture firm Ellerbe Becket in a joint venture with the Riyadh-based architecture and engineering firm Omrania and associates. At the top of the tower, an inverted arch is spanned by a glass skybridge housing a public observation deck, its design was inspired by iconic structures from around the world, including the Gateway Arch in St.Louis, The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Eiffel tower.

Day 10: Riyadh – Departure

Transfer to the airport. Today, we say goodbye. We will be dropping you off to the airport according to your flight schedule.