Tabuk is the north-west corner of the country: sandstone desert, the Hejaz Railway, and the canyon country running up toward the Jordanian border. It holds a large number of archaeological sites, but the landscape west and south of the city is what the region is really known for.
Wadi Disah takes a full day of the three, and the city's two historic sites take half of another. The rest goes to the coast: Tabuk marks the start of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea shoreline, and its seaside towns have clear water and unworked beaches. Umluj is one of the access points onto this coast if you want to carry on down it.
This is an active break. Two of the three full days are spent outside, on foot and in a four-wheel drive, and the ground is rough in places.
Day by day
Arrive Tabuk
You are met at the airport and taken into the city, and the afternoon covers both of its historic sites. There is no entry ticket for either the castle or the railway station.
Tabuk Castle was built in 1559 on the old road running from Damascus to Madinah. Its towers were used to watch that road, and it worked as a station for pilgrims heading south and for trade caravans. It has been restored twice and now holds inscriptions, old photographs, heritage exhibits and a room showing documentary films.
The Hejaz Railway station belongs to the same route. The line was begun in 1900 and took eight years to build; inside what is now Saudi Arabia it ran through twenty-three stations about twenty kilometres apart, ending at Madinah. By 1914 it was carrying 300,000 pilgrims a year, and the First World War broke it.
Wadi Disah
The full day goes to Wadi Disah. You are driven in by four-wheel drive and walk from there, at your own pace, with the guide setting the turnaround point.
Water and a packed lunch are carried with you, and the day starts early.
The Red Sea coast
You drive out to the coast for the day. This is the northern end of a shoreline that runs more than 1,700 kilometres down the country, and the reefs along it have had very few divers on them - coral in a condition that is now rare in the northern Red Sea.
Snorkelling gear is provided and the time is split between the water and the beach. You are back in Tabuk in the evening.
Departure
The morning is unscheduled. You are collected from your hotel and taken to the airport for your onward flight.
What is included
- Accommodation for three nights in Tabuk, with breakfast
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Four-wheel drive and driver for the Wadi Disah day
- Vehicle and driver on the other sightseeing days
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Snorkelling equipment on the coast day
- Packed lunch and water on both full days out
- A contact number for the whole trip
What is not
- International and domestic flights
- The Saudi entry visa, which you apply for yourself through the official portal
- Travel insurance
- Meals other than breakfast and the packed lunches listed
- Tips and personal spending
The places on this trip
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