BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN SAUDI ARABIA
28 Jun 2023 || MIDDLE EAST
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There is no lack of beautiful places in Saudi Arabia. It is a massive country – way bigger than I imagined when we nonchalantly thought to just drive across all of it. It’s immensely varied, absolutely demolishing stereotypes of a dusty, dry, desert wasteland. Instead, we found endless rust-coloured dunes, soaring kilometre-high mountains, ancient cliffside villages, vibrant cosmopolitan cities and emerald green-blue oceans.
Making the decision to drive across the entirety of Saudi Arabia meant we saw some pretty beautiful places, some of which are not exactly on the usual tourist trail!
So, after a month and over 8000 kilometres, here are what we consider to be the most beautiful places across Saudi Arabia (in no particular order). We’ve mentioned if there are any fees, parking issues and what to expect.
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IN THIS GUIDE //
Beautiful Places in Saudi Arabia
WHY VISIT SAUDI ARABIA
ARRIVING IN SAUDI ARABIA
GETTING AROUND SAUDI ARABIA
beautiful places in saudi arabia – MAP
Our list of Beautiful places in SAudi Arabia
PLACES WE WISHED WE HAD VISITED
FINAL THOUGHTS – Beautiful places in saudi arabia
WHY VISIT SAUDI ARABIA?
Saudi Arabia has only allowed international tourism (other than Umrah and Hajj pilgrims) since 2019 (and most of the years since have been affected by covid). This makes it a unique destination to experience as almost all the country is not set up with western visitors in mind.
However, what the newly opened nation lacks in international tourists, it makes up for in tourist facilities – with high quality hotels, road infrastructure, cinemas, shops and attractions.
Saudi Arabia is also a nation full of dramatic scenery, despite the stereotype vision of endless deserts. With 3000-metre, baboon-covered mountains in the south, dramatic black volcanic landscapes, rust-coloured canyons in the north and a coastline of turquoise waters comparable to any popular beach destination, it’s a nature-lover’s utopia.
In this list, we’ve written about Saudi Arabia’s most beautiful places; some urban, some rural; some historic, some modern; some just simply a bit mysterious. We hope you’ll see some places you like!
ARRIVING IN SAUDI ARABIA
There are several major hubs for flying into Saudi Arabia – Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam are popular arrival points depending on which direction you’re coming from. The vast majority of international tourists arrive via air.
It is also possible to arrive by bus from the U.A.E. or Bahrain, or drive from any of the gulf states if you are a GCC resident.
From Jordan, it is possible to cross the border overland towards Tabuk – we haven’t done this yet but are considering it for this winter. We will write a post if we figure it out!
FLIGHTS TO SAUDI ARABIA
We exclusively book our flights through Skyscanner. It’s the cheapest way to book flights from anywhere in the world.
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GETTING AROUND SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia is vast and not overly public transport friendly.
The best option is to rent a car. We rented three cars in total throughout our Saudi Arabia trip, all through Discover Cars. The roads within cities are fantastic, the highways are great and we had no issues over the 8000 plus kilometres we drove. We are writing a driving guide for Saudi Arabia – stay tuned and subscribe to find out when it is finished!
The Saudi national bus company SAPTCO operates buses between all major cities (and to the U.A.E. and Bahrain). These can be booked online and are reasonably comfortable and efficient.
Hitchhiking is a safe, easy way to get around. It’s a common practice in Middle Eastern countries and Saudi Arabia is no exception. We would comfortably hitchhike in any region of Saudi Arabia.
Within cities, taxis and Ubers are available, but not particularly cheap (also not that expensive either!).
Riyadh actually has a new metro that has just opened a few months ago – partially. The Riyadh metro seems like an incredible way to get around this impenetrable, difficult to travel in city (without a car, anyway).
CAR HIRE FOR SAUDI ARABIA
We always rent our vehicles all over the world, including our recent trips to Saudi Arabia, Oman, the U.A.E. and Jordan with Discover Cars. They’re often the most affordable, plus they paid out immediately on an insurance claim we made when our car took some heavy damage in Sicily. We fully recommend them.
If you book through the link below, we make a small profit, at zero cost to you, which helps us write these posts with no advertising! We only endorse products and companies we *actually* use regularly. For more information, read our position on affiliates.
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BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN SAUDI ARABIA - MAP
Below is a saveable Google Map with all the beautiful places in Saudi Arabia below marked, plus the nearest towns or cities.
To save the map to your Google Maps, click on the star icon by the title.
BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN SAUDI ARABIA
Below are our most beautiful places in Saudi Arabia. We’ve tried to choose some places that are a little offbeat too. Hopefully some are new to you!
Any fees, the nearest town or city, parking notes and if you need a two-wheel drive (2WD) or four-wheel drive (4WD) car is mentioned.
⋅ Scenery Around Al Ula ⋅
I’m not going to lie, I’m a sucker for road trip scenery; north western Saudi Arabia is not a let down on that front.
Al Ula, in north western Saudi Arabia, is famous for the Nabataean archaeological site of Hegra (Petra’s little cousin). This exceptional stop could easily make this list as one of the top things to do in Saudi Arabia. However, Hegra is kind of an obvious choice (and is probably on everybody’s list already!). Truthfully, we were more blown away by the scenery surrounding Al Ula, and the journey up to Tabuk.
Around and between Al Ula and Tabuk, there’s a Wadi Rum (in Jordan) kind of vibe, with small villages, imposing mountains and vast, sandy panoramic vistas. The major difference is you don’t need a tour and there are zero crowds. It’s truly incredible and definitely one of the most beautiful places in Saudi Arabia!
We’d recommend taking the drive from AL Ula to Tabuk (the stunning Wadi Disah is along this route too – see below) and also exploring the scenery around Tabuk and Al Ula.
Nearest major town: Al Ula, Tabuk
Parking: available everywhere – be careful if you stop on the side of the road
Fees: none
Car: essential, 2WD
⋅ Al Khalaf Archaeological Village ⋅
This little stop in the Asir region, near Abha, blew me away. There are a lot of ‘tourist villages’ and ‘Archaeological villages’ across Saudi Arabia, with some a little too gentrified and touristy for my tastes. However, this one was incredible – abandoned mud brick, traditional Asir style tower architecture with beautifully distinctive, decorated doors and hidden artwork.
It became a kind of ‘hunt’ to find all the doors, which contrast so well with the surrounding earth-coloured structures.
Also nearby is the Al Jahamah Historical Village. This is a similar, but less impressive, version of Al Khalaf Archaeological Village, with fewer colourful doors. Neither of these stops are likely to have any tother tourists present.
Nearest major town: Abha
Parking: free, opposite the mosque at 17.952922, 43.127229
Fees: none
Car: essential, 2WD
⋅ Al Wa’bah Crater (or Al Wahbah) ⋅
Once again, Saudi Arabia surprised me. We did not expect to see such a perfect example of a volcanic crater, just a small diversion from the main route between Riyadh and Taif. This 250-metre deep, 2.2-kilometre-wide crater sits on the lava fields of Harrat Kishb, in western Saudi Arabia. Once believed to be a meteor crater, it is now widely recognised as a maar crater (a broad, relatively shallow crater) – over a million years old.
This caldera is seriously worth a stop if you are camping – there is a Pakistani caretaker who tells you to camp anywhere you want and is super friendly (with very minimal English!). He managed to talk cricket with us for a bit (we know nothing about cricket!). The region is incredibly scenic, and chances are you’ll be the only ones there. This is possibly one of the most striking and beautiful places in Saudi Arabia.
Currently, you cannot hike to the bottom of the crater due to poisonous gases (there was a lot of ‘you’ll suffocate’ kind of miming going on from the caretaker). You can, however, hike anywhere around the rim (it’s huge).
Nearest major town: Taif
Parking: yes, free
Fees: none
Car: essential, 2WD
⋅ Al Hada Mountain ⋅
Mountainous Taif is surrounded by towering, beautiful scenery – no more so than at Al Hada, where on a clear day, you can see the clocktower at the centre of the holiest city in Islam – Makkah.
As non-Muslims, we were not allowed to visit the holy city of Makkah (although I’d absolutely love to go – it feels oddly significant to me, even as a person with no religious beliefs).
We visited Al-Hada in the craziest weather – it was thundering, hailing and quite dramatic – I even saw lightening hit Makkah. It’s beautiful and kind of spiritual, even though I’m not particularly spiritual at all. To look towards the place that two billion people across the world pray to, every single day, felt poignant to me.
On a separate note, there are incredible panoramic views of the valley below, places to picnic and an awesome switchback-loaded road that leads to the valley floor. Also, in true Saudi style, there’s also a cable car for extra epic views.
For the best views, park at 21.372100, 40.256581 and climb down on the abandoned building there at 21.371612, 40.255772.
Nearest Main Town: Taif
Parking: Available: yes, free
Fees: none
Car: essential, 2WD
