Tourism in Saudi Arabia

Museums

• National Museum of Saudi Arabia : This is the most famous museum in Saudi Arabia. It is established in 1999 and located in Riyadh as a part of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre. The museum is highlighting the prominent history of the Arabian Peninsula and its historical role in Islam expanding as well as the history of Saudi Arabia. The Museum holds many ancient manuscripts that are traced back to many ancient civilizations. Indeed Saudi Arabia is considered one of the richest countries in regards of the number of ancient manuscripts.
• Al-Zaher Palace Museum: It is a historical museum established in 1944 and exhibits the history of Makkah and various archaeological collections for different periods of Islamic history in the region.
• Al-Madinah Museum: It exhibits Al-Madina heritage and history featuring different archaeological collections, visual galleries and rare images that related to Al-Medina. It is also includes the Hejaz Railway Museum.
• Jeddah Regional Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Jeddah : it exhibits various collections including artifacts of the stone age back to the Acheulean period, elements illustrating the rise of Islam, and a collection of ethnographic items portraying the modern culture of the region.
• Nasseef House in Jeddah : a historical building in Al-Balad, founded in 1872. later, In 2009, it was transformed into a museum and cultural center.
• Royal Saudi Air Force Museum in Riyadh : This museum displays the history of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
• Masmak fort: is a clay and mud-brick fort, was built around 1865.
• Makkah Antiquities and Heritage Museum: The museum was originally a royal guest house and went by the name of Zaher Palace. It was later converted into a school, followed by which it was converted into a museum.
• Tabuk Castle: is an ancient castle in Tabuk, the capital city of the Tabuk Region in northwestern Saudi Arabia which dates back to 1559.The castle has been rehabilitated and transformed into a museum open to all visitors.
• Dammam National Museum is located on the 4th floor of the Dammam Public Library, opposite the Muhammad bin Fahd Stadium on the cross lane from the Dammam-Khobar Highway in Al Toubaishi district. A must for visitors to the region, the museum focuses on the country's history, culture, and inhabitants through displays of relics and remnants of handicrafts.
• Museum of Buraidah
• Dhahran Exhibition Center is geographically located in the center of the Gulf area; its particular key source market is wide and covers the Eastern Province, the Saudi Arabia market, Bahrain, Kuwait and all the Gulf area. At Dhahran Expo we host a diverse mix of corporate, trade and consumer projects incorporating exhibitions, conferences and events. Our venue is internationally renowned and became synonymous with outstanding events that are well known in the field.
• Folk Village
• Al Ahsa Museum
• The Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition

  World Heritage Sites

• Al-Ahsa Oasis : The Al-Ahsa Oasis is a serial property comprising gardens, canals, springs, wells and a drainage lake, as well as historical buildings, urban fabric and archaeological sites.
• Mada'in Salih is a pre-Islamic archaeological site located in the AlUla sector, within the Al Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia. A majority of the vestiges date from the Nabatean kingdom. The site constitutes the kingdom's southernmost and largest settlement after Petra, its capital. Traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found in situ, while accounts from the Qur’an tell of an earlier settlement of the area by the tribe of Thamud in the 3rd millennium BC.
• At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah, a town in Saudi Arabia located on the northwestern outskirts of Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family and served as the capital of the first Saudi dynasty from 1744 to 1818. Today, the town is the seat of the Diriyah Governorate, which also includes the villages of Uyayna, Jubayla, and Al-Ammariyyah, among others, and is part of Ar Riyad Province.
• Historic Jeddah: Historic Jeddah was as a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes, channelling goods to Mecca. It was also the gateway for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca who arrived by sea.
• Rock Art in the Hail Region: This property shows numerous representations of human and animal figures covering 10,000 years of history.

  Main festivals and events

• Jenadriyah: It is an annual cultural and heritage festival held in Jenadriyah near Riyadh. The festival hosts various cultural and heritage events such as Al Janadriya Operetta, Saudi Ardah, and Camel racing.
• Souk Okaz: It is an annual cultural event held in Ta'if. it was known as an open market in the ancient past. Nowadays, Souk Okaz combines more than 150 attractions of heritage and cultural events, theater performances, and arts and crafts.
• Historic Jeddah Festival : is a celebration that takes place in the historical Al Balad district of Jeddah. The festival exhibits the culture and heritage of Jeddah.
• “Winter at Tantora” festival : an annual festival held in the old town of AlUla, in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
• Ha’il International Rally
• Al Qassim Date Festival : is the largest date festival in the world held in the central Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.
• King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival is an international festival organized by the Saudi Falcons Club and witnesses the participation of a group of falcon owners in the Kingdom and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

  Religious tourism

Saudi Seasons

1. Riyadh season.
2. Jeddah season.
3. Eastern province season.
4. Taif season.
5. Al Soudah season.
6. National Day season.
7. Al-Diriyah season.
8. Al-Ula season.
9. Hail season.
10. Ramadan season.
11. Eid Al-Fitr season.

    Other sites

Arrivals by country

Future prospects