Top 5 Reasons to add Alula to your travel wishlist right now

With direct international flights to AlUla now launching from Dubai and Kuwait, explorers will now have immediate access to the largest living museum in the world. A land rich in historical, geological and geographical significance, this ancient city, once at the crossroads of The Silk Road and The Incense Route, has only recently been re-discovered by the world.

Here is why you should add Alula to your next travel bucket list.

1. Stay in the new majestic eco-resort, Habitas Alula

A trail-blazer in sustainable hospitality, Habitas brings luxury living to AlUla in an eco-friendly way. Nestled within an ancient oasis in the desert canyons of the Ashar Valley, Habitas AlUla is the true embodiment of the brand’s six programming pillars: music, wellness, adventure, culture, learning, and culinary, all of which are meticulously developed to immerse guests within the region’s authentic culture and natural environment. Habitas AlUla’s facilities include a yoga deck, wellness and fitness centers and a regionally inspired restaurant that uses fresh ingredients from local farms.

As an experience-led hospitality brand, Habitas has created programming that accommodates art and culture walks, canyon trekking, yoga, meditation and breathwork. Guests are also invited to gather and expand their knowledge of this historical region with weekly outdoor cinema screenings featuring regional cultural films and documentaries in addition to open discussion lectures relating to local initiatives, culture, and history.

2. Feast at a Michelin-star restaurant, Maraya Social

One of Britain's best-loved chefs and owner of multiple Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide, Jason Atherton's newest restaurant Maraya Social is located on the rooftop of the extraordinary mirrored bulding Maraya – with views of a landscape that has captivated artists and architects from the nabataean civilization to the present.

Open for dinner from Wednesday to Saturday; the cuisine takes inspiration from AlUla with produce sourced from local farms, all served up in Atherton's signature style.

3. Explore Saudi’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra

Visit Hegra to experience Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here you’ll explore over 110 remarkably well preserved tombs set in a desert landscape, while learning about the ancient people and culture of AlUla.

Along with the wondrous tombs, which were used to lay Nabataean elite to rest, visitors will find wells and stone-lined water channels demonstrating the civilisation's expert craftsmanship. Roman influence is also present in the form of defensive walls, gates and towers that once encircled the city.

4. Experience Alula’s thrilling events lineup

Alula’s events calendar is jam-packed with experiences that feed all the senses from music to art, heritage, adventure, culture and food.

Winter at Tantora, the very first music and arts festival in the Kingdom returns – now in a six-week format. A stunning Candlelit Symphonic Concert at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra will set the tone for the festival season as the opening event.

Book your tickets now to see Faia Younan as she takes to the stage at Maraya. You will be awed by how she embraces her modern musical arrangements, poetic lyrics filled with purpose and sentimental voice.

From February 2021, the AlUla Arts festival will bring together exhibitions and encounters created by a diverse array of artistic talents, in celebration of AlUla’s legacy as a cultural crossroads.

Throughout March, Alula’s cultural oasis will become a focal point for wellness during the Alula Wellness Festival.

5. Get off your feet – and into the sky

AlUla is such a noteworthy destination because of its layer upon layer of human history and a wealth of natural wonders waiting to be explored. Few locations can boast such a rich combination of heritage, culture and natural beauty.

Visitors can also explore Alula by hot air balloon, zipline, 4x4 safari, helicopter and even a vintage aircraft – a chance to experience Alula’s openness, vastness and magic from above – from mazes of dramatic rock formations to rolling, sand-swept dunes to a valley cloaked in palm and citrus groves to millennia-old clues in basalt lava flows.