Saudi Arabia opens at the edge of a cliff. Then it keeps going.
Which Edge of the World run actually stays out for the stars. What the Hegra shuttle costs and when it sells out. Whether Al-Balad is better before or after dark. Reviews of every tour you can book in Saudi Arabia.
The Tuwaiq rim, Hegra at sunrise, Al-Balad after dark, a red dune.
The four bookings a first Saudi trip gets built around. What each costs, and what the travellers who took it say.
01The night in the desertEdge Of The World, camels &Stargazing with 4×4A 4x4 run out to the Tuwaiq escarpment, camels at the rim, dinner once the stars are up. Take the sunset departure, not the morning one.
02Sunrise over HegraHegra Al Ula: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon FlightBalloons lift off the AlUla valley at first light, before the heat builds. Cool season only, and the baskets fill weeks ahead.
03Old Jeddah after darkAl-Balad Old Town Historical City Guided TourCoral-stone houses and carved rawasheen shutters in Al-Balad, walked in the evening when the lanes cool and the shops reopen.
04The red dune afternoonDesert Sand Dunes (VIT-Qude bike + Camel Ride)Quad bikes and a camel on the red sand north of Riyadh, then tea at a mud-brick farmhouse. Half a day, easy to bolt onto a city stay.
Riyadh sits an hour from red dunes and two from a cliff edge.
The desert is what most people fly in for. Four kinds of day out of the capital, what it costs to join each one, and how much of the day it takes.
Hegra was carved before Rome. Al-Balad was built out of the reef.
Saudi heritage comes in two shapes. Nabataean tombs cut into sandstone in the northern valleys, and a Red Sea merchant quarter stacked from coral blocks and faced with teak. Both are walked with a guide, and both shut through the middle of the day.
- 1Visiting The Incredible Heritage Site Hegra in AlUlafrom $65
- 2Historical & Heritage Tour in Jeddah Al Baladfrom $109
- 3Al-Balad Old Town Historical City Guided Tourfrom $120
Six Saudi cities, and the day out that justifies each one.
The capital with its dunes and its cliff, a Red Sea port wrapped around an old coral quarter, a valley of rock tombs in the north, the two holy cities, and the stone villages of the southern mountains.
What a day out in Saudi Arabia actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. The city walks sit at the cheap end, the desert runs in the middle, the private drivers above it.
Old-town walks, museum entries, sightseeing buses and the short desert runs out of Riyadh.
The standards: the escarpment with dinner, Hegra on the shuttle, a guided Al-Balad walk, a snorkel boat off Jeddah.
Private 4x4 days, the AlUla balloon at sunrise, and a driver who is yours from breakfast on.
The Saudi days out more travellers take than any other.
Every Saudi tour we have reviewed →The tours with the longest queue of travellers behind them, and what earns each one the slot.
1
Edge Of The World, camels &Stargazing with 4×4
You’ll leave Riyadh around 3 PM in an SUV for the 1,131-meter Edge of the World, with stops at a camel farm, gazelle park, and desert viewpoints. English-speaking guides such as Khalid, Yazeed, Rashed, and Subaiy lead the hike, take photos, and return you after sunset, stargazing, and optional dinner.
From · $53
Read our review →
2
Edge of The World Riyadh with Camel Ride ,Bat Cave Visit & Dinner
from $60
3
Edge Of The World Hike(Dinner under stars,village,bats cave,camp)
from $55
4
Edge of the World with 4×4 vehicles, sunset Dinner and stargazing
from $46
5
Edge Of The World and Bats Cave Tour by 4×4
from $45
6
Edge of The World Riyadh,Camel Ride ,Bat Cave Visit & Dinner
from $60
7
Riyadh Sunset Edge of the World & Deer Reserve 4WD Adventure
from $48
8
Bayada Leisure Boat Trip with Snorkeling
from $99
Three things that only happen in Saudi Arabia.
Dunes and old towns run the length of the Gulf. A cliff that ends in open air, tombs cut for the kingdom that ran the incense road, and a port quarter quarried out of the reef do not.
The Edge of the World
Ninety minutes north west of Riyadh the Tuwaiq escarpment simply stops, and an old seabed floor drops away about three hundred metres to a plain that runs out of sight. There is no paved road to the rim and no barrier at the top. You go by 4x4, you walk the edge, and in the cool months the guides stay on for dinner and the stars.
- 1Edge Of The World, camels &Stargazing with 4×4★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,050 reviews
- 2Edge of The World Riyadh with Camel Ride ,Bat Cave Visit & Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 778 reviews
- 3Edge Of The World Hike(Dinner under stars,village,bats cave,camp)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 675 reviews
Hegra
More than a hundred tombs stand carved into sandstone outcrops across the AlUla valley, made by the Nabataeans who also built Petra, with the eagles and the inscriptions still legible on the facades. Entry runs on a timed shuttle from the visitor centre, which keeps the site quiet and rules out turning up on a whim.
- 1Visiting The Incredible Heritage Site Hegra in AlUla★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 93 reviews
- 2Hegra Al Ula: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Flight★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 43 reviews
- 3Dadan and Jabal Ikmah Tombs Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 26 reviews
Al-Balad
Old Jeddah was quarried out of the Red Sea itself. Coral blocks laid up into merchant houses, then faced with teak rawasheen shutters that catch the sea breeze and keep the lane from looking in. The streets are narrow, the light goes gold an hour before sunset, and the whole quarter reopens after dark.
- 1Historical & Heritage Tour in Jeddah Al Balad★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 57 reviews
- 2Al-Balad Old Town Historical City Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 47 reviews
- 3Al-Balad Old Town Tour with Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 43 reviews
Four Saudi bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged the night before from a hotel lobby. These four run on shuttle slots, a cool-season calendar and prayer times, none of which take an interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Visiting The Incredible Heritage Site Hegra in AlUlaHegra is entered on a timed shuttle from the AlUla visitor centre. Slots are released in blocks and the winter weekends go first.
- 02Hegra Al Ula: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon FlightBalloons fly at sunrise in the cool months only, and a basket holds what it holds. Wind cancels the flight with no notice.
- 03Edge Of The World, camels &Stargazing with 4×4There is no public road in and nothing signposted at the rim. Every visit is a 4x4 departure from Riyadh, and the sunset runs fill before the morning ones.
- 04Half-Day Ziarah TourMadinah ziyarah routes are timed around the five daily prayers, and the Prophet’s Mosque itself is open to Muslims only. The tour is built around both.
Saudi summers empty the street between noon and five.
From May to September the middle of the day is not walkable, and shops shut again for the afternoon prayer. Every workable plan here splits in two. Get out at first light, let the heat pass over coffee in a majlis, then take the second half of the day once the sun is off the sand. The three below all start after sunset.
By place, from the Red Sea to the edge of the Empty Quarter
Riyadh, the escarpment, AlUla, Madinah, Jeddah: the run most first visits make.
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