AlUla and Hegra

Hegra, Mada'in Salih, was the southern city of the Nabataeans, the traders who built Petra, and around a hundred and eleven tombs of the first century BC and first century AD are cut into isolated sandstone outcrops across the site, their facades carrying the stepped crowsteps, urns and eagles of Nabataean funerary architecture, with inscriptions naming the owners and the penalties for reuse. Qasr al-Farid, unfinished and standing alone, is the best known. Around it AlUla holds Dadan, capital of the earlier Lihyanite kingdom, the Jabal Ikmah inscription canyon, the mud-brick old town, and the oasis itself. Access to the archaeological sites is by booked guided tour only.

What you actually see

• The Hegra tombs - the carved facades cut into the sandstone outcrops.
• Qasr al-Farid - the unfinished tomb standing alone.
• Dadan and Jabal Ikmah - the Lihyanite capital and the inscription canyon.
• AlUla old town - the mud-brick quarter and the oasis below.

When to go

October to March; summer here is extreme. The AlUla season runs through the winter with a programme of events that fills accommodation. Sites must be booked in advance and tours sell out.

Honest expectations

Independent visiting is not permitted at Hegra; everything is by booked timed tour with a guide. Prices are high by regional standards. Tomb interiors are mostly closed. The area is being developed rapidly and construction is visible.

Nearby

Khaybar lies south; Tayma is northeast.