Discover the Best of Saudi Arabia

Carved by the Nabataeans — the same civilization behind Jordan's Petra — Hegra holds more than 110 monumental tombs cut directly into free-standing sandstone outcrops, some rising over 16 metres tall and dated to the 1st century BCE. It was inscribed as Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, and remains the best-preserved Nabataean city south of Petra itself.

Entry is by timed ticket only, usually bundled with a guided tour that also covers the restored Old Town of AlUla and the Hejaz Railway station. Visit between October and March; the desert heat makes summer visits punishing and many facilities scale back.

This squat clay-and-mudbrick citadel in the heart of old Riyadh is where a young Abdulaziz Al Saud, in a daring 1902 night raid with sixty-odd men, recaptured the city and set the unification of Saudi Arabia in motion. The original wooden door still carries the mark of a spearhead thrown during the battle.

Today it functions as a compact, free museum with weapons, photographs and dioramas telling the story of the Kingdom's founding — an easy, unhurried hour that pairs naturally with the nearby Souq Al Zal antiques market.

About 100 km northwest of Riyadh, the Tuwaiq Escarpment abruptly drops nearly 300 metres into what was once an ancient seabed — a view so vast and sudden that visitors nicknamed it the Edge of the World. Fossilised marine life in the exposed rock layers is a reminder that this desert plateau was underwater millions of years ago.

There's no entry gate and no fee, but the site is remote: the final stretch runs over unmarked desert track, so a 4x4 and an experienced driver (or a guided day tour from Riyadh) are strongly recommended. Aim for sunset, when the cliffs glow amber.

Jabal Sawda, near the resort town of Al Soudah, is Saudi Arabia's highest point at roughly 3,000 metres — and one of the only places in the country where juniper cloud forest, cool summer air and genuine fog roll in. A cable car drops from the ridge toward the coastal plain below, and hiking trails wind between terraced villages.

The area anchors the wider Soudah Peaks development, a multi-resort mountain-tourism project. For now it remains a refreshingly low-key summer retreat for Saudi families escaping the coastal heat.

More than 2.5 million date palms cover this Eastern Province oasis, watered by natural springs that have sustained continuous settlement for roughly 6,000 years. Guinness World Records recognises it as the largest self-contained oasis on the planet, and UNESCO listed its cultural landscape — gardens, canals, wells, and the fortified old town of Hofuf — as a World Heritage Site in 2018.

The area's real curiosity is Al-Qarah Mountain, a limestone mesa riddled with naturally air-conditioned caves that locals have used for shelter and trade for centuries. Pair a visit with Ibrahim Palace and the Qaisariah covered souq in central Hofuf.

Jabal Umm Sinman rises from the edge of the Great Nafud Desert, its sandstone faces covered in roughly 15,000 petroglyphs — ibex, camels, horsemen, lions and a uniquely detailed chariot pulled by two horses. The carvings span some 10,000 years, from a time when this stretch of desert ringed a freshwater paleolake that drew Neolithic communities to its shores.

Inscribed by UNESCO in 2015 as part of "Rock Art in the Ha'il Region," the site now has a visitor centre with marked paths and interpretive panels. It pairs naturally with a stop in the red dunes of the surrounding Nafud Desert.

Anchoring the King Abdulaziz Historical Center in the Al-Murabba district, the National Museum is Saudi Arabia's flagship heritage institution — eight themed galleries tracing the peninsula's story from ancient geology and pre-Islamic kingdoms through the life of the Prophet, the Hajj, and the unification of the modern Saudi state under King Abdulaziz. Architect Raymond Moriyama shaped the building's crescent façade to echo the dunes of the nearby "Red Sands," curving toward Mecca.

The complex also includes the restored Murabba Palace, King Abdulaziz's former residence, and open heritage gardens, making it an easy half-day pairing with the Masmak Fortress across town. Exhibits are bilingual in Arabic and English, and the museum is reachable directly by Riyadh Metro.

Perched at roughly 2,200 metres in the Sarawat range, Al-Baha is Saudi Arabia's smallest province and one of its greenest — juniper and wild-olive forests, mist-wrapped valleys, and terraced villages earn it the local nickname "Garden of the Hejaz." Raghadan Forest, just outside the city, is the signature stop: shaded picnic trails, a centuries-old Sunday market, and a cable car that drops dramatically from the mountain ridge down toward the hot Tihama coastal plain below.

Beyond Raghadan, the province is dotted with fortified stone watchtowers — locals call it "the Land of 1,001 Watchtowers" — and heritage villages like Dhee Ayn, whose houses are built from white marble-like rock atop a green hill. Spring and summer bring the mildest, most comfortable weather, a rarity in Saudi Arabia and the reason the region draws domestic tourists escaping the coastal heat.