The laidback city of Jeddah - with architecture inspired by the Red Sea coral - is a great introduction to fascinating Saudi Arabia. The adventure continues with the incredible historical site of Madain Saleh, the ancient pilgrimage stop Tabuk and then a visit to futuristic Neom. In Jordan, a 4x4 jeep safari takes you across the colourful sands of Wadi Rum with its stark rock formations, before we spend a day marvelling at the awe-inspiring Petra.
There's time for a float in the salty Dead Sea before we discover more about the region's immense history as we travel to Amman. Welcome to Saudi Arabia. Your first day is a free day for you to arrive, check in to your hotel and introduce yourself to the local area.
You can meet your Tour Leader and your group this evening, when they arrive into the city. On Day 2, you will have your Pre-Departure Meeting in the morning, after which you have a free day to explore Jeddah , one of the more cosmopolitan and relatively liberal cities in the Kingdom. The city's architecture takes inspiration from the Rea Sea's spectacular underwater coral, and you can spend your time here exploring a more laid-back Saudi, the maze-like markets, or perhaps you might fancy some scuba diving - use your free time as you choose!
The city's architecture in Jeddah takes inspiration from Rea Sea's spectacular underwater coral , and you can spend your time here exploring a more laid-back Saudi, the souqs or perhaps you might fancy some scuba diving - use your free time as you choose! From here we head to Medina , the "City of the Prophet". Medina is where the founder of Islam, Muhammed, was given refuge after being forced from Mecca. While the central area of the city is off limits to non-Muslims, we are still able to visit many major sites and our guide will help explain different sections in more detail.
Today we head to explore the other Nabataean masterpiece, the incredible Madain Saleh , often dubbed the "second Petra", but many believe to be better than Petra. There are some great photo opportunities with the red rock mountains contrasted against the black basalt. Travelling onwards, we visit the oasis of Tayma , the oldest known settlement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and possibly the entire Arabian Peninsula. The Oasis owes its existence to the natural wells that still exist today - the Haddaj Well apparently dates back as early as the 6th century!
