This day covers the two sites that predate the Nabataean tombs at AlUla for. Dadan was the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan kingdoms, and its carvings sit in the cliff face nearly 50 metres above the ground, which is the first thing you notice when you look up from the valley floor. Archaeologists are still working on the tombs and the inscriptions here.
The second half is Jabal Ikmah, a canyon whose cliff faces and loose rocks carry hundreds of detailed inscriptions. It is on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, which is a separate listing from the World Heritage List. You walk into the canyon on a made path and read the panels as you go, so the pace is slow and there is a fair amount of standing and looking up.
Day by day
Morning
Pick-up from your hotel and the short drive to Dadan. You walk the viewing route below the cliff, where the carvings sit high in the rock face, and take in the excavated ground at the base. Your guide sets out what the Dadan and Lihyan kingdoms were and how the valley was farmed and settled around them.
Afternoon
After a lunch break the day continues to Jabal Ikmah. The walk into the canyon is level and short, and the inscriptions appear on both sides of it, some at eye level and some well above. There is time to work along the panels without rushing before the drive back and drop-off at your hotel.
What is included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off in AlUla
- Private air-conditioned vehicle for the day
- Site entries arranged and booked in advance
- English-speaking driver for the day
- Bottled water in the vehicle
- All fuel, parking and road charges
What is not
- Meals and drinks
- Gratuities
- Personal expenses
- Travel insurance
- Anything not listed under inclusions
The places on this trip
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We come back with the itinerary written out and one clear cost.