Six years on
How Arabia’s most alluring destination is continuing to evolve and excite curious travellers
By Scott Campbell
When AlUla opened its doors to travellers in 2019, it felt like stepping through a rip in time.
Here was an oasis on the ancient Incense Route – a valley framed by ancient sandstone cliffs and volcanic plateaus, home to Hegra’s Nabataean tombs and 7,000 years of successive civilisations – suddenly inviting the world in, yet determined not to be overwhelmed by it.
From the outset, the Royal Commission for AlUla spoke of light-touch tourism, carefully regulating visitor numbers, restoring its ancient oasis and dedicating half the region to nature reserves, even as boutique hotels and design-led cultural spaces began to appear.
Six years on, AlUla remains in full, fascinating flow. Sharaan has become a national park, art has spilled into wadis and palm groves, and new wellness retreats and restaurants are offering deeper ways to meet the people who call this valley home. Here’s how to experience it best.
A new national park is born
The Sharaan National Park – a 1,500-square-kilometre sweep of canyons and escarpments that was once a heavily grazed rangeland has now become a flagship protected area, leading the way with landscape-scale eco-system , restoration and rewilding, setting a global benchmark for sustainable conservation and responsible tourism.
Over half a million native saplings – acacias, desert shrubs, hardy grasses – now bring green back into the sand, while reintroduced Arabian oryx, along with sand and mountain gazelles and Nubian ibex pick their way across terraces that not long ago were bare.
In 2024, Sharaan was admitted to the IUCN Green List and designated as a national park, bringing global recognition that its ecosystems are being restored to exemplary standards. At its core sits the next chapter of AlUla’s wildlife story: an Arabian leopard breeding and rewilding centre due to open in 2026, part of a wider programme that has already doubled the number of leopards in captivity and endowed a US$25m fund for their future.
Guided four-wheel drive safaris and hiking routes such as the Acacia Trail keep visitors on designated tracks, pausing at viewpoints like the Dancing Rocks to watch light pour across the rugged sandstone. Itineraries from Abercrombie & Kent, Corinthian Travel and Wild Frontiers build in time here, pairing Sharaan’s wilderness with AlUla’s archaeological sites for a far fuller picture of the valley’s past and future.
Same traditional Saudi welcome, even more ways to meet the people
AlUla’s most memorable encounters are often the simplest: a tiny cup of cardamom-laced qahwa pressed into your hand, or a Rawi – one of the destination’s trained local storytellers – pausing in the shade of a date palm to recount how caravans once lined this very track with incense and silk. That warmth has always defined AlUla, but what’s now changed is the variety of settings in which you can feel it.
In the Old Town, Dar Tantora by The House Hotel has turned a cluster of mud-brick homes into a low-impact boutique hideaway, lit only by candles and cooled by age-old passive design. Stay here and your neighbours are local artisans, whose ceramics and textiles line the lanes outside, and chefs drawing on oasis produce. Out by Hegra, The Chedi’s opening has brought understated luxury and a refined spa to the kingdom’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, its restaurants working closely with AlUla farmers and foragers.
Dining, too, has become a way into the community. Try oasis-to-table dishes at seasonal outposts from international names such as Annabel’s and Alain Ducasse, which have joined homegrown favourites in the Oasis and along the pedestrianised Old Town boulevard. Here family-run spots serve torounge-bright citrus salads and slow-cooked lamb under the stars.
Future lodge projects – from Aman Hegra to eco-conscious retreats in Sharaan – are being shaped around the same principle: that every pool, plate and pillow should bring you closer to the land and the people, not seal you off from them.
A sky full of stars
As the last glow drains from the cliffs, AlUla’s most ancient storytellers take over: a sky so dark you can trace the Milky Way from horizon to horizon. Low light pollution and huge swathes of protected land have made AlUla one of the world’s rising astro-tourism hubs, a status now cemented by Dark Sky Park certification for AlUla Manara and the remote Gharameel Nature Reserve – the first such designation in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region.
Join an astronomy guide out among Gharameel’s spindly sandstone pillars and you’ll sit around a simple fire while constellations are mapped out above you and stories of Nabataean navigators and Bedouin folklore unspool. Elsewhere, AlUla Manara’s programme folds in art, science and performance beneath the stars, from telescope-assisted sky tours to night-time photography workshops that make the most of the inky heavens.
More ways to explore by land and sky
Six years ago, exploring AlUla largely meant a chauffeured 4WD between heritage sites. Today, the immersive experience options feel far richer – and far slower. Dawn might find you rising over the Hegra tombs in a hot air balloon, which can be arranged privately via specialist operators such as Exodus and Intrepid.
Back on the ground, purpose-built trails thread through Sharaan and the surrounding reserves. The Acacia Trail arcs between wind-sculpted towers and shade-giving trees alive with birdsong, while the Heritage Oasis Trail leads you through many farms right the way from Old Town to Dadan. These include Daimumah’s regenerated farms, where you can pause with farmers to taste freshly picked citrus. More ambitious hikers tackle the Twisted Maze canyons or the Hidden Valley night walk, following the soft sands by moonlight.
For those who prefer four wheels, ranger-led 4WD safaris delve deeper into Sharaan’s interior, while cycling paths skirt volcanic harrats and palm groves. Many group tours with Wild Frontiers or Corinthian Travel now include a blend of these softer adventures with time at Dadan, Jabal Ikmah and Hegra.
Art in AlJadidah
Between the mud-brick lanes of Old Town and the palm gardens of the oasis, the compact district of AlJadidah is a walkable cultural quarter where contemporary art and centuries-old heritage jostle for space. Murals climb the facades of former merchants’ houses, while cafes spill onto cobbled streets and the world’s largest hand-painted carpet unfurls across a public square.
At its centre sits Madrasat Addeera, a former girls’ school now humming with the tap of looms and clink of jewellery tools as local women relearn traditional crafts through Turquoise Mountain’s training programmes. A few steps away, Design Space AlUla offers rotating exhibitions and hands-on workshops for architects, designers and curious travellers, exploring how global ideas can be filtered through the valleys’ geological palette of ochres and charcoals.
The forthcoming Museum of the Incense Road will trace millennia of trade routes that once converged here, blurring galleries and desert gardens in a design by Asif Khan, while a new Contemporary Art Museum will showcase collections inspired by the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and wider desert worlds.
The annual AlUla Arts Festival is always a highlight, and the 2026 event, set to take place between 16 January and 14 February, is expected to be the most exciting one yet, with Desert X AlUla 2026 bringing bold art commissions into the landscapes. Installations by both local and international artists that are inspired by AlUla’s incredible natural beauty and heritage will be displayed.
This will set the scene for the arrival of Wadi AlFann – the Valley of the Arts in 2028 – which is meanwhile preparing to unveil monumental land-art commissions by artists such as Manal AlDowayan and James Turrell, turning an entire wadi into an open-air gallery.
Make it happen
Photography: Experience AlUla
AlUla International Airport (ULH) can be accessed from the UK airports over Dubai, Doha and Amman with Emirates and flydubai, with Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian. Daily domestic flights from Riyadh and Jeddah provide further itinerary options. A Saudi tourist visa can be applied for online taking less than 10 minutes or a visa can now also be granted on arrival.
