A Guide to Visiting Saudi Arabia

I spent five nights total in Saudi Arabia. This included two nights in Jeddah and three nights in AlUla. I personally wanted to see the Old Town area of Jeddah as an architecture and interior design buff.

The historic quarters of Old Town did not disappoint. Nevertheless, unfortunately since we visited during Eid holidays, many of the shops were not open during the day. We stayed until after 6pm and some shops opened up, but many took the first two days off during the holiday to spend with their family and friends. I still rather enjoyed exploring, especially having the area mostly to ourselves for a bit of time.

The next few days included not only relaxing and enjoy the Habitas AlUla resort, but also exploring and visiting sites such as the UNESCO Heritage site Hegra, the mirrored building Maraya, which is the biggest one in the world and experiencing the Andy Warhol Fame exhibition also on display in Maraya.

Additionally, it was nice to explore the ancient old town of AlUla which also included the AlUla Arts Festival made up of posters and artwork from artists throughout the region.

While staying at the AlUla Caravans resort I enjoyed the dining options which included cool food trucks featuring pizza and local cuisines. There was a coffee food truck available also.

Another really cool dining experience which I partook in was a fine-dining experience at Maraya Social in AlUla. It is home to a Michelin-starred chef that curates dishes from seafood to lamb. It also features inventive cocktails and drinks on offer.