Saudi Arabia 3 Classics Tour

Today we will be welcoming you at the airport as our guide will be waiting for you holding a sign with 88Destinations on it , we will be taking you to your hotel where you can rest for a bit. Welcome to Riyadh, the birthplace of modern Saudi Arabia, where old-world charm meets 21st-century vision. Riyadh Province – also known as Al-Wosta – is home to the country’s capital: a modern metropolis with a thriving financial and business centre, and a growing cultural scene. It’s a city rich in history, boasting myriad forts, palaces and museums,and some of the country’s most colorful souks.

First visit is Ad Diriyah , northwest of the city and the original capital of the first Saudi state is a must-see. Its Al Turaif quarter, a carefully restored mud-brick district that was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, offers a glimpse into the country’s extraordinary heritage.Please note that this site is closed for development and the visit will be from the outside however we will do our best and apply for a permit and request for access will start our day with a historical brief about the capital of Saudi, In the National museum you will be discovering Saudi Arabia’s rich past is an amazing journey that would bring you along thousands of kilometers around the whole Kingdom. An easier way to have an insight of Saudi Arabia’s rich History is to visit the King Abdulaziz Historical Center in Riyadh where artifacts from all periods are exhibited and with explanations about their historical significance. After our lunch break , we suggest Al Qaria Al Najdya for traditional cuisine After our historical brief we will go see some by ourselves checking out Al Masmak Fortress ,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-tree, taramic and ethel wood and exude an old-world charm that evokes an Arabian painting. Inside, the information panels and short, chest-thumping films on the storming of the fortress and the ‘reunification’ of Saudi Arabia are reverential towards the Al Sauds but worth watching nonetheless. In the same area and only in walking distance we will find our self in Souq Al-Zal which is one of the oldest traditional market. They sell traditional dresses, antiques, Oud ” Arabic perfume” and jewelry Our last stop Kingdom Tower which is a 99-story, 302.3 m skyscraper. When completed in 2002, it overtook the 267-meter Faisaliyah Tower as the tallest tower in Saudi Arabia. It has since been surpassed and is now the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the country, It is the world’s third-tallest building with a hole after the Shanghai World Financial Center .

Today we will be taking our flight to another city in Saudi Al Ula. AlUla, The World’s Masterpiece, is one of the oldest cities in the Arabian Peninsula and home to Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site. A land rich in historical, geological and geographical significance, this ancient city, once at the crossroads of The Silk Road and The Incense Route, has only recently been re-discovered by the world. There’s a reason we call it The World’s Masterpiece. There’s magic hidden in the canyons; history written on the walls. AlUla melds the past, present and future. Today will be a free day for you to enjoy with the Driver to explore the area.

Today we will do 2 guided tours then end the tour with visiting the elephant rock to relax Tour 1: Hegra tour ( the tomb ) The importance of Madain Saleh is ostensibly displayed by its 111 monumental tombs, among which 94 were decorated with majestic facades on the sandstone massifs of the area, especially the Jibal Ithlib. The smallest tomb is barely 2,7 meters tall but the biggest reaches an impressive 21,5 meters! Madain Saleh was the second largest city of the Nabatean kingdom whose capital was Petra (in today’s Jordan) where the Nabatean people created more than 600 tombs. What most people dont know that there are many other fascinating archeological sites attest to the thousands of years of human occupation of the area thanks to the underground water available for millennia. Dont worry we are showing everything you need to see ! Page 4 of 8 Tour 2 : Dedan, is also of great interest, not only for the extent of the remains of this ancient oasis city that once thrived there, but also because its history is much older than the neighboring Madain Saleh. The most famous oases of the 1st millennium BCE the oasis of Dedan, where excavations on extensive archeological sites have revealed the existence of large fortified cities. These kingdoms developed their own culture including a specific language and alphabet, that resulted in a mix of Arabian traditions and strong influences from the surrounding empires. In the ancient oasis Dedan, Elephant Rock Before we head to our last stop, we will pass by the Elephant Rock, also known as Jabal AlFil, one of AlUla’s many geological marvels. This is a seating area with nice coffee to relax and enjoy the scenary. Best time to visit is usually at 4 to 5 PM with the sunset Please note that Hegra and Dedan/Ikma mountain are guided tours by Bus and last each 2 to 3 hours max. These tours are done by Al Ula Tourism Board which is a third party and as such sometimes the inclusions of these tours or and timeline changes by the operator.

Today after breakfast we will drive to Madinah which is around 2 hours and 30 minutes. The first place visited is The International Fair and Museum of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization which is located right next to the Holy mosque. We will have a short lunch break with a view over the mosque and then continue. Will end the tour in Qiba Street which connect two Mosques , the grand Mosque and Qiba Mosque which both have significant importance in Islamic history in which the first was the house that prophet Mohammed lived and eventually it’s his grave visited by . The second was the first Mosque ever built. you will have a general overview how the city was built and shaped throughout the 1400 years. After our tour in the city, we will take the train to Jeddah.

Today we will start our tour in the morning starting with The Tayebat Museum for a fascinating look into Jeddah’s long and cosmopolitan past, take an informative tour indeed 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 lattice work 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. Before we move to the next tour we will have lunch in one of the local nice restaurants here in Jeddah that serves the famous traditional dishes in Jeddah, after our lunch we will start cruising around the city and make short stops in the most famous monuments like the world tallest flag pole, the world tallest fountain and the open air museum, then we will go towards the beach to see the floating mosque and Jeddah waterfront to enjoy a walk on the beach, this is our last stop before we start our tour in Al Balad. We will start our tour in Al Balad as local call it which means “ the town” as reference to the base of Jeddah. Al-Balad was founded in the 7th century and historically served as the centre of Jeddah. Al-Balad’s defensive walls were torn down in the 1940s. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Jeddah began to become wealthier due to the oil boom, many Jeddawis moved north, away from Al-Balad Al Balad is registered as a world heritage UNISCO site and since then the old buildings with its unique window designs and doors are being preserved along with its unique buildings which some have been built using sea shells and stones !. The old buildings once housed the famous Jeddah families and hosted the founder the late King Abdulaziz when first entered Jeddah. Our tour will go through the history of these building including going inside one of the buildings to see the interior designs , furniture and life back then Will also explain the historical importance of some sites and locations while we wonder 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 head to Makkah through the Makkah Gate in Al Balad.We will start our tour in Al Balad as local call it which means “ the town” as reference to the base of Jeddah. Al-Balad was founded in the 7th century and historically served as the centre of Jeddah. Al-Balad’s defensive walls were torn down in the 1940s. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Jeddah began to become wealthier due to the oil boom, many Jeddawis moved north, away from Al-Balad Al Balad is registered as a world heritage UNISCO site and since then the old buildings with its unique window designs and doors are being preserved along with its unique buildings which some have been built using sea shells and stones !. The old buildings once housed the famous Jeddah families and hosted the founder the late King Abdulaziz when first entered Jeddah. Our tour will go through the history of these building including going inside one of the buildings to see the interior designs , furniture and life back then Will also explain the historical importance of some sites and locations while we wonder 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 head to Makkah through the Makkah Gate in Al Balad.