Saudi Arabia Luxury Holidays: AlUla, the Red Sea and Riyadh from the UK

Saudi Arabia luxury holidays from the UK usually join up three regions. Riyadh gives you the capital and the Najd escarpment, AlUla the Nabataean tombs of Hegra, and the Red Sea coast a new set of island and desert resorts. Every package below starts in Riyadh or Jeddah, the country’s two main international gateways, and moves on from there by domestic flight or private transfer.

Flight time from London

About 6 to 6½ hours direct from Heathrow to Riyadh or Jeddah.

Time difference

GMT+3 all year: 2 hours ahead of the UK in summer, 3 hours ahead in winter.

Entry for UK passports

Tourist eVisa; passport valid for at least 6 months from arrival.

Currency

Saudi riyal (SAR), pegged to the US dollar.

UNESCO World Heritage sites

8 across the country.

Is it safe to travel to Saudi Arabia right now?

The FCDO travel advice for Saudi Arabia is the reference point for any booking. Its latest update, on 20 September 2026, sets out the following.

• The FCDO advises against all travel within 10 km of the Yemen border, and against all but essential travel between 10 and 80 km from it.
• The all-but-essential warning now also covers the cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait in Aseer province.
• Since 13 July 2026, the Houthis in Yemen have launched missiles and drones at cities, airports, military and energy sites across the country. Named targets include Riyadh, Jeddah, Yanbu, Abha, Jizan and Najran, plus shipping in the Red Sea.
• Since 8 July 2026, Iran has carried out strikes and retaliatory attacks across the region against US military and civilian infrastructure.
• Airports and airspace could close at short notice.

AlUla, Umluj and Al Wajh sit outside the areas the FCDO advises against, but every route to them passes through Riyadh or Jeddah.

In practical terms, three things matter. Your travel insurance must remain valid, and travelling against FCDO advice can invalidate it. You should be prepared for a flight to be rerouted or retimed if airspace closes. And the advice can change after you book, so leave room in your plans to move dates. The decision to go is yours to make on the current advice, not on reassurance from anyone selling the trip.

Where to go on a luxury Saudi Arabia holiday

A first trip rarely covers more than three bases. Each one below maps to a package we run, and each has a different reason to be on the list.

AlUla and Hegra

AlUla is the reason many people look at Saudi Arabia at all. Its centrepiece is Hegra, the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed in 2008. UNESCO counts 111 monumental tombs cut into the sandstone, 94 of them with decorated facades, dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.

The builders were the Nabataeans, the same people behind Petra, and Hegra is their largest conserved site south of it. Unlike Petra, the tombs stand apart as separate outcrops across open desert, so you move between them by vehicle rather than on foot through a single gorge.

Two older sites sit close by. Dadan was the seat of the ancient Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms, with tombs cut into the cliff above the site. Jabal Ikmah is a narrow canyon whose rock faces carry inscriptions in several ancient scripts.

Elephant Rock is a free-standing sandstone formation shaped like its name. AlUla Old Town is a restored mud-brick settlement with a short walking route through its lanes. Our 11-night Riyadh, AlUla and Red Sea tour covers Hegra, Dadan, the Old Town and Elephant Rock, with Banyan Tree AlUla as the base.

The Red Sea resorts

The Red Sea Saudi luxury resorts are a new cluster on the coast between Umluj and Al Wajh, north of Jeddah. Several have opened since 2023, some on private islands and some inland among the dunes. The area has its own airport, Red Sea International, although not every package uses it.

Two of them feature in our packages. The St. Regis Red Sea Resort sits on the Ummahat islands, with overwater and beach villas. Six Senses Southern Dunes is a desert property set back from the coast, suited to a quieter few days after sightseeing.

Our Jeddah and Red Sea twin-centre holiday pairs The Ritz-Carlton, Jeddah with the St. Regis, linked by included private transfers. It suits travellers who want beach and reef time more than archaeology. The water here holds coral reefs, and the islands are the draw for snorkellers and divers.

Riyadh and Diriyah

Riyadh is the capital and the usual first stop. Its heritage core is At-Turaif District in Diriyah, on the city’s outskirts. This mud-brick complex was the first seat of the Saudi royal family and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010.

The most-photographed day trip is the Edge of the World, part of the Tuwaiq escarpment within a day’s drive of the city. Here the plateau ends in sheer cliffs above a wide plain. The last stretch of the drive is off-road, so it is done with a guide and a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Our Riyadh and Jeddah holiday includes the Edge of the World and a stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre. An included domestic flight then takes you to the Shangri-La Jeddah.

Jeddah’s Al-Balad

Jeddah is the Red Sea port through which pilgrims have long travelled to Makkah. Its old quarter, Al-Balad, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2014 as Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah. The draw is its coral-stone tower houses with carved wooden balconies, known as rawasheen, and its souks. A half day on foot, with a guide, covers the main lanes and restored houses.

What does a luxury Saudi Arabia holiday cost?

As well as the flights, every package includes private transfers and daily breakfast. The figures are the lowest per-person prices from October 2026 onwards.

Two things move the price most. Economy fares on all three routes step up from January 2027. Business class on the Red Sea twin-centre climbs above £10,000pp in December. Prices change with travel dates, departure airport and room type. ATOL 10713.

The 5-night trips suit a first look at the country or a shorter break. The 11-night tour is the one to choose if AlUla is the main reason for going, since it is the only package here that includes it.

When is the best time to go?

Visit Saudi recommends October to March for AlUla and the interior, when days are warm and nights in the desert can be cool enough for a jacket. Riyadh follows the same pattern. Summer is a different country: inland averages reach around 45°C, and Jeddah is hot and humid from June to September.

Spring brings the most rain and the chance of sandstorms, so April can be changeable. The Red Sea is a year-round diving and snorkelling destination, although summer shore temperatures make the resorts better for water time than excursions.

AlUla also runs a winter calendar of events. The AlUla Skies Festival, with hot-air balloon flights over the canyons, runs from 6 to 15 November 2026. Winter at Tantora, a festival of concerts and heritage events in the Old Town, ran from 18 December 2025 to 10 January 2026. Its 2026–27 dates have not yet been confirmed.

Rules to know before you go

Several rules differ sharply from the UK, and breaking them can mean a fine, detention or deportation. The FCDO sets out the points below.

Reports in 2025 that alcohol would be sold at hundreds of tourist venues from 2026 were denied by a Saudi official, and the ban still applies.