Hegra was the southern city of the Nabataean kingdom, the same civilisation that carved Petra 500 kilometres north. It has 111 monumental tombs cut into freestanding sandstone outcrops, most of them with their facades intact, and it became Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.
Petra receives around a million visitors in a normal year. Hegra receives a small fraction of that, because the country only began issuing tourist visas in 2019. Standing in front of a Nabataean tomb with nobody else in the frame is currently possible here and it is not possible at Petra.
An honest note on where you sleep
AlUla's accommodation is overwhelmingly tented. The valley resorts that appear in most coverage of the destination are luxury camps — canvas villas in the canyons, well built and expensive — and this guide does not cover tents, however good.
What that leaves is a short list. Four properties in AlUla are hotels in the sense used throughout this guide, and one of them is the interesting one. The count reflects the inventory rather than the destination.
If a tented resort is what you want, it is the dominant product here and you should book one knowingly.
The valley
AlUla sits in a 20-kilometre valley of date palm groves between sandstone cliffs, in the northwest of the country about 300 kilometres inland from the Red Sea.
AlUla Old Town is a mudbrick settlement of around 900 houses, abandoned in the twentieth century and now partly restored, at the foot of a hill fort.
Hegra is 20 minutes north, and access is by guided tour with a timed ticket.
Dadan and Jabal Ikmah hold the earlier Lihyanite kingdom's tombs and an open-air library of hundreds of inscriptions in a canyon.
Ashar and the canyons east of the town are where the resorts and the concert venue are.
The four below are the hotels.
AlUla Old Town
At the foot of the fort, in the restored settlement.
Dar Tantora The House Hotel occupies a group of mudbrick houses in the Old Town itself, restored with traditional palm-trunk ceilings and lit by lanterns rather than electric light in the rooms. It is the most interesting place to stay in Saudi Arabia and it is a genuine building rather than a camp.
Dar Tantora The House Hotel
AlUla Old Town · 5★ · $$$$
Restored mudbrick houses lit by lantern rather than bulb
Check availabilityThe valley and Ashar
Along the palm groves, near the sites.
Our Habitas AlUla occupies a canyon site east of the town with modular villas among the rock, a pool and a spa. It sits between a camp and a hotel and it is built rather than pitched.
Our Habitas AlUla
Ashar valley · 5★ · $$$$
Modular villas among the canyon rock with a pool and spa
Check availabilityShaden Resort by Accor sits in the valley with rooms in low buildings, a pool and views to the cliffs, and it is the practical mid-range option.
Shaden Resort by Accor
AlUla valley · 4★ · $$$
Low buildings and a pool facing the cliffs
Search hotels in AlUlaCloud 7 Residence AlUla occupies a residence-style property near the town with apartments, a pool and the best value in AlUla.
Cloud 7 Residence AlUla
Near AlUla town · 4★ · $$
Apartment-style rooms at the best rate in the valley
Search hotels in AlUlaWhat we have left off
The tented resorts in the Ashar and Sharaan valleys, which are the majority of AlUla's luxury inventory and the reason many people come. They are canvas and this is a hotel guide.
What to do
Book Hegra in advance. Access is by guided tour only, with timed tickets, and the number of daily visitors is managed.
See Dadan and Jabal Ikmah, which most visitors skip. Ikmah is a canyon wall covered in inscriptions in several ancient scripts and it is genuinely startling.
Walk the Old Town at dusk, when the mudbrick holds the light and the restored lanes are lit.
Go to Elephant Rock at sunset, which is a 52-metre sandstone outcrop eroded into the shape it is named for, with a firepit area beneath it.
See Maraya, a concert hall clad entirely in mirrors so that it reflects the desert and effectively disappears. It is the largest mirrored building in the world and it is worth the drive whether or not there is a performance.
Practical notes
AlUla has its own airport with domestic flights from Riyadh and Jeddah, and some seasonal international services. Riyadh is about ninety minutes by air.
The season runs roughly October to April. Summer regularly exceeds 40 degrees. Winter nights in the desert are cold.
Saudi Arabia's tourist visa is available online for many nationalities. Dress and conduct expectations are conservative and worth reading before travelling; the rules have changed substantially in recent years and continue to.
Explore 4 & 5 Star AlUla Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Why are there so few hotels?
The destination developed quickly and most of the luxury accommodation is tented camps. This guide covers hotels only, which produces a short list.
Is Hegra like Petra?
The same civilisation and comparable tombs, with a fraction of the visitors. There is no Siq and no Treasury; the tombs stand in open desert.
Is it easy to visit?
Tourist visas have been available since 2019 and the infrastructure is new and good. The rules change; check current requirements.
How many nights?
Three. Two for Hegra, Dadan and the Old Town, and a third for the canyons.