Tabuk is the north-west: sandstone desert, the Hejaz Railway and the canyon country running toward the Jordanian border. The province holds a large number of archaeological sites, but the landscape west and south of the city is what the region is really known for.
This trip is built around Wadi Disah and the driving days either side of it. Two days are on foot; the rest is vehicle work across open sandstone, with two nights under canvas and everything the camps need carried in the vehicles.
Tabuk also marks the start of the Saudi Red Sea coast, and AlUla sits in the same north-western sandstone country, so the week extends in either direction if you have the days for it.
Day by day
Arrive Tabuk
Tabuk has an airport and is the natural base for the far north-west. You are met on arrival and taken to your hotel. The evening is a kit check and a run through the route, the camping arrangement and what you carry each walking day.
Tabuk Castle and the Hejaz Railway
Tabuk Castle was built on the old road that connected Damascus to Madinah. Its towers were used for watching and guarding that road, and it was a station for pilgrims heading to Masjid Al-Haram as well as for trade caravans. Its construction dates to 1559 and it has been restored several times since. Inside are archaeological inscriptions, old photographs and heritage exhibits, and a room showing documentary films.
The Hejaz Railway station in the city belongs to the same route. Work on the line began in 1900 and took eight years; the section inside Saudi Arabia begins at Halat Ammar in the north and runs south through 23 stations, roughly 20 km apart, to Madinah, where the first train arrived on 22 August 1908. The First World War broke large parts of it and service stopped. There is no ticket for either the castle or the station.
Into the sandstone
You leave the city in four-wheel drive and spend the day crossing open sandstone country, stopping at the wind-cut outcrops the region is made of and taking the driving slowly enough to get out and look at them. Tyres are let down for the soft ground. The first camp is pitched before dark - tents, bedding, cooking and water all handled by the crew.
Wadi Disah on foot
A full day on foot at Wadi Disah. The pace is set by the group; you carry water and lunch and nothing else. The vehicles meet you again in the late afternoon and the second camp is set up before dark.
A second walk, then back to Tabuk
The morning is a shorter second walk. After lunch the vehicles turn back to Tabuk, arriving with time to clean up before dinner. The last night is in a hotel.
Depart Tabuk
You are collected from your hotel and transferred to the airport for your flight out. If you are carrying on to AlUla or to the coast rather than flying home, the onward leg is arranged as part of the booking.
What is included
- Four-wheel drive vehicle with an experienced desert driver throughout
- English-speaking guide on both walking days
- Three nights' hotel accommodation in Tabuk
- Two nights' camping with tents, bedding and camp crew
- All meals on the camping days
- Daily breakfast on the hotel nights
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Drinking water, fuel and recovery equipment carried in the vehicle
What is not
- International and domestic flights
- The Saudi tourist eVisa, which you apply for yourself through the official portal
- Travel insurance
- Lunches and dinners on the hotel nights
- Personal walking kit, boots and sleeping bag liner
The places on this trip
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