Your guide to AlUla, Saudi Arabia: Unfold the ancient site of tombs, an open-air library of inscriptions, a mirrored oasis and more

Earth, our planet, has been witness to countless cyclical geological transformations. In this macrocosm that hides mysteries and objects of wonders within its colossal fabric, we stumbled upon a preserved, living museum of AlUla in Saudi Arabia. And more often than not, the customary precursor before jetting off to an uncharted destination is to search for ‘the best things to do’ there.

But when you first arrive in the rugged, mountainous terrains of AlUla, ignited with piercing glimmers of sun rays, there’s only one ‘best thing to do’ while cruising through the long stretches of dune-y roads — endlessly gazing at the titanic towers of sandstone rocks, cobbled closely like sculpted pieces of art. The only difference being that AlUla’s natural landscapes remain untouched and duly undisturbed by any artistic and man-made interventions. Pinned on the northwestern map of Saudi Arabia, AlUla’s crown of beauty is AlUla itself; and this is where the story of this centuries-old desert town begins. 

With the AlUla Skies Festival, the blanketing skyline becomes an equal spectator of the marvels of the oasis city, too. Imagine sky-bound voyages in hot air balloons and helicopters with aerial vistas of the rock mazes below and sessions of stargazing and astrophotography that recite the celestial stupor of this ancient city. Alongside unprecedented, martian-esque canvas outdoors, AlUla quite consciously inhabits soporific indoors, thanks to Habitas, burrowed as an uber luxurious cocoon within the herculean desert canyons of Ashar Valley.

And before one spins the threads of heritage and history at AlUla, the hypnotic presence of Maraya, an angular edifice swathed in 9,740 mirrored panels stands right at the crossroads of its palaeolithic past and a futuristic present. A curious conflict from the contemporary art events, concerts and a blazing dining scene that thrives indoors, every inch of Maraya’s facade — discerned as one of the largest mirrored buildings in the world — reflects the grounded nobility of the ancient Arabic civilisation. The unmissable pockets of ‘Ikmah’ mountains bare its soul to display the engraved inscriptions from the Nabataean era of old Arab, becoming an open-air archive of the many languages and symbols the site once cradled.

On the vast scapes of the sweltering sand, rugged vintage jeeps cruise you through Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site and a necropolis of preserved tombs, echoing adventurous episodes similar to that of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989 movie). Beyond the millennia-worth of knowledge, the elephantine, rocky boulders in Hegra are also a constant revelation of the origins and patterns of civilisation that still remain buried, unearthed and in oblivion.