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A question we get from lots of people:
‘If I’ve already been to Petra, is it worth making the journey to Hegra?’
I asked myself that very question when we were planning our drive across Saudi Arabia. Hegra was not just ‘out of the way’, it seemed *far*.
The thing is, I loved the ancient city of Petra. We spent three days exploring all the hiking trails on offer; it is definitely one of the most epic places we’ve ever visited across the world. Hegra, in photos, looked to be just as cool (if not even cooler). So, we decided to set off on the extra eight-million-hour drive (maybe be a little less) to the second city of the Nabataean Kingdom in northern Saudi Arabia.
Here’s our take on if the journey to Hegra was worth it (plus some bonus information on how to organise a Hegra tour for yourself).
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IN THIS GUIDE //
Saudi Arabia’s Hegra – Better than Petra?
WHAT ARE THE RUINS OF HEGRA, SAUDI ARABIA?
– WHO ARE THE NABATAEANS?
– IS HEGRA CURSED?
WHERE IS HEGRA
– GETTING TO AL ULA
TICKET AND COSTS FOR THE HEGRA TOUR
WHERE TO STAY IN AL ULA
WHAT IS THE HEGRA TOUR LIKE?
– HEGRA TOUR MAP
BEST TIME TO VISIT HEGRA
HEGRA – IS IT WORTH IT?
HEGRA VS. PETRA
FINAL THOUGHTS – HEGRA VS. PETRA
WHAT ARE THE RUINS OF HEGRA?
Hegra (also known as Mada’in Saleh) is the second city of the mysterious Nabataean Kingdom, a powerful state that flourished in the Middle East around the 4th century BCE to 1st century CE before they were annexed by the Romans.
Despite being nomadic, this Bedouin Arabic tribe had several important, permanent centres, including the famed cities of Petra and Hegra. Petra, the capital of the Nabataean empire, situated in southern Jordan, was the caravan trade route conduit to Europe. Hegra, in the Hejaz region of northern Saudi Arabia and 500 kilometres south east of Petra, was settled by the Nabataeans during the 1st century CE, as a thriving trade hub for the south.
In the present day, Hegra, meaning ‘rocky tract’, is a highlight of any tourist experience in Saudi Arabia. Having been left undisturbed for nearly 2000 years, the government is pushing infrastructure development to encourage visitors, and the site is now easily accessible by the public. Hegra is a collection of more than 110 huge sandstone carvings, straight into the rocks protruding from the desert, showcasing the ingenuity and creativity of the ancient Nabataean culture. These exquisitely preserved rock-hewn carvings were tombs for important officials of the Nabataean tribe and are often accompanied by inscriptions.
Of the 110-plus tombs, most prominent is the 72-foot tall sandstone monolithic of Lihyan Son of Kuza. This enormous, stand-alone rock, although unfinished, is the unofficial image of Hegra, much like the Treasury is to Petra.
WHO WERE THE NABATAEANS?
The Nabataean Kingdom, in existence for half a millennia from 400 BCE, was a wealthy tribe of desert-dwelling wanderers who traded in spices and incense.
Strategically positioned, the Nabataeans controlled the flow of highly in-demand supplies such as frankincense, myrrh, ginger and sugar between the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
Over their prosperous reign, they controlled trading across a huge region, including parts of modern day Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Syria.
In 106 CE, the Nabataean Empire came to an end when their land was occupied and independence was lost to the Romans. At this point, their successes and wealth were gradually lost to history.
There are no direct texts written by the Nabataean people, making it difficult to know much about them apart from whatever can be gleaned from inscriptions left on the tombs. Other civilisations reference them, but as they did not record their own history, information is scant.
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IS HEGRA CURSED?
In Islam, Hegra is also known as Mada’in Saleh, translated as ‘Cities of Prophet Saleh’.
Mada’in Saleh was the home of the Thamud people, who were originally a tribe called Ad (Bani Ad) from Yemen, according to Islamic scholars. They resided in Hegra and became wealthy, cruel and worshipped false idols. Prophet Saleh (PBUH), a son of Thamud, was sent from Allah to change the tribe’s ways and spread the monotheistic word of God. The Thamud did not want to accept the word of Allah and challenged Saleh to evidence his words with a miracle – make a rock split in two, from which a 10-month pregnant she-camel should emerge.
The Prophet met their challenge and a she-camel appeared from the rocks. Instead of caring for the camel, under Saleh’s order, several unbelievers killed the camel.
The Prophet Saleh then told them “Enjoy life for three more days, then the punishment will descend upon you.” However, instead of changing their ways under the promise of retribution from Saleh, nine Thamud men plotted to kill Saleh, but were struck down by birds sent from Allah.
Three days later, with the Thamud unrepentant, Allah sent violent lightning, thunder and earthquakes in the night, killing the Thamud people and all living creatures across the land.
IN RECENT HISTORY
Millennia later, Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), on his way to the Battle of Tabuk, forbade his followers from entering the area around Hegra, allowing them only to drink from the well of the she-camel, fuelling fear of the area.
These hadiths and excerpts from the Quran have acted as a warning for followers of Islam; do not visit Mada’in Saleh.
In the early 1970s, there was even an official fatwa (a ruling based Islamic law) forbidding any visitation, development or excavation of the site at Hegra. It was believed that Hegra was a place of the wrath of Allah, who struck down the Thamud people. There even used to be billboards surrounding the region, warning people to discover Islam, not Mada’in Saleh.
The current government are rolling back the ‘cursed’ reputation of Hegra and are embracing pre-Islamic history across Saudi Arabia in order to increase tourism in the region.
WHERE IS HEGRA?
The site of Hegra is 20 kilometres north of the palm-lined Saudi Arabian town of Al Ula, an ancient settlement, nestled between soaring, honey-coloured rocks.
Surrounding Al Ula is a remote area of desert, with very little in terms of large-town facilities. The nearest major town to Hegra and Al Ula is Tabuk, around 300 kilometres north towards the Jordanian border. To the south, the holy city of Madinah is around 360 kilometres away.
All the routes between these cities are easily travelled by paved, well maintained roads.
Getting to Al Ula for your Hegra Tour
There are several options for reaching Al Ula for a visit to Hegra:
◊ The easiest (but most expensive) is to fly directly into nearby Al Ula International Airport (airport code ULH). The airport is around a 30-minute drive south west of the centre of Al Ula. Flynas and Saudia operate direct domestic flights from other cities in Saudi Arabia such as Riyadh and Jeddah, while FlyDubai connects Dubai to Al Ula.
◊ It is also possible to fly into other cities in Saudi Arabia, such as Tabuk, Madinah or Jeddah and then travel to Al Ula by car or bus. These flights are often cheaper, but then it is necessary to add on the cost of a rental vehicle. The national bus company, SAPTCO, operates bus routes between all major cities, is pretty reliable and good value.
◊ Renting a vehicle and driving from any city that is affordable to fly to is an excellent option since self-driving around Al Ula provides the opportunity to explore the epic scenery in the surrounding region.
CAR HIRE FOR YOUR SAUDI ARABIA TRIP
We always rent our vehicles all over the world, including our recent trips in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco, with Discover Cars. They’re often the most affordable, plus they paid out immediately on an insurance claim we made when our car took some heavy damage in Sicily. We fully recommend them.
If you book through the link below, we make a small profit, at zero cost to you, which helps us write these posts with no advertising! We only endorse products and companies we actually use regularly. For more information, read our position on affiliates.
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TICKETS AND COSTS FOR THE HEGRA TOUR
Tickets should be bought directly from Experience AlUla, the official website, in advance of the date you intend to visit; from there you choose a time slot. Tickets cost 95 Saudi riyals (which is around £21) and includes airconditioned coach transportation to Hegra from an area called Winter Park in Al Ula town. There are also crazy-expensive private Jeep tours – we wouldn’t recommend them – you don’t get any more from your money than the bus really!
Once you’ve paid, you get a QR code and ticket via email.
Note | although slots looked limited online when we booked our tickets, the buses were pretty empty when we arrived, so we’ve got no idea if tickets/slots actually sell out or not (this was during March)
HEGRA VS. PETRA – THE FACTS
Petra: 1985 | UNESCO | Hegra: 2008
Petra > 600 | TOMBS | Hegra: 111
Petra: 10 | HIKING TRAILS | Hegra: 0
Petra: Rose City | KNOWN AS | Hegra: Al Hijr
Petra – 20,000 | MAX INHABITANTS | Hegra – ?
Petra: 5th Century BCE | DATES FROM | Hegra: 1st Century BCE
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WHERE TO STAY FOR HEGRA
Although you could technically just about do a Hegra day trip from places like Tabuk, we wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a really long way, the scenery is beautiful around Al Ula and there are lots of other things to see and do. We’d suggest staying at least one night.
While there are quite a few accommodation options around Al Ula, they are pretty much all over-priced. Despite our recommendation to stay overnight, do not spend longer in this region than you must if you’re on a budget.
Dotted about the rocks outside of the town are a few desert Bedouin type camps (think Wadi Rum, Jordan, but with a monstrous price tag and a little bit more luxury). In Al Ula, we stayed in one of these (cashed in a fair few reward points for our stay here because it was completely out of our budget and way over-priced!). There are also some quirky places like Caravan by Habitas, which is a collection of luxury Airstreams hidden between the looming cliffs outside of Al Ula. Cool places like this come with an extreme price tag though!
There are a few more budget accommodation options near Al Ula, but these are also excessively over-priced. Honestly, if you like camping, just do that instead.
WHAT IS THE HEGRA TOUR LIKE?
The Hegra tour starts at Winter Park in Al Ula. The ‘Experience Al Ula’ coach picks you up here and your QR code is checked in a small office, at 26.665225, 37.905181. There are bathrooms, a shaded seating area, plus a Burger King and a Dunkin’ Donuts too.
Introduction | the coach ride to the Hegra site, north of Al Ula, is around 15 minutes long. On arrival, you exit the bus and sit in a slightly strange, but pretty and shady, outdoor waiting area where there are staff members and refreshments. After a short break and a quick explanation of the Hegra tour in English and Arabic (it was around ten minutes for us), a different coach turns up which takes you on a tour around the archaeological site.
Tour bus | The Hegra tour bus stops four times over a short loop, allowing you to get off and explore each area. It then picks up other visitors and moves on to the next point of interest (you can’t go back and revisit a stop). Every ten minutes another bus turns up, so it’s a kind of hop-on, hop-off situation, and you can stay in each area for as long as you want (up to closing time, obviously).
Guides | at each stop, there is an English and Arabic speaking guide (or a ‘storyteller’/’Al Rowah’), mentored by archaeologists, who provides information on the tombs.
Hiking | each area you get to explore is relatively small and there is no hiking allowed. So, you can’t hike from one area to the next, for example, even though they are not far apart.
Eventually, after you’re finished at all four stops, a bus will take you back to the waiting area where you began your Hegra tour. From here, another bus takes you back to Winter Park.
HEGRA TOUR MAP
Below is a Google Map of the places on the Hegra Tour.
To save this map, click the star next to the name.
BEST TIME TO VISIT HEGRA
The best time of year to visit Hegra is during the winter months, between October and April. These months are cooler and the harsh desert sun is less likely to be uncomfortable.
Summer | during the summer, temperatures soar to way beyond 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) and there is little shade at the site.
We visited in March and it was lovely, sunny, warm weather.
Light | if you are looking for the best light on the carvings for photography, visiting in the afternoon provides a better opportunity for this since the most prominent tombs roughly face west. However, there are lots of tombs, all of which face in different directions, so any time of day would be okay. I’d recommend avoiding the unflattering light of midday.
Our chosen slot in March was the last of the day, around 2.30pm. However, in different seasons, the available slot times may change. Also, check what time the sunset is at the time of your visit.
HEGRA : IS IT WORTH IT?
So, having described our experience of Hegra, how did it contrast with our experience at the World Wonder of Petra? Well, there are several things to consider when comparing the sites, so here are a few pros and cons of Hegra vs. Petra:
The Positives
+ The carvings at Hegra’s archaeological site are unique. At Petra, the Treasury (al Khazneh) and Monastery (Ad Deir) are really intricate and elborate – like, epic levels of extraordinary. However, some of the perfectly symmetric carvings and tombs at Hegra were just mind-blowing – often less intricate, but the rocky outcrops and decorative facades are far better preserved than Petra. Plus, the vast, scorched desert background gives some of them a little more gravitas. They just appear to erupt from the ground in some cases.
+ Hegra has inscriptions on many of the tombs in Aramaic (a precursor to Arabic) with intimidating messages to protect the inhabitants:
“may the lord of the world curse upon anyone who disturb this tomb or open it”
These kind of inscriptions are rare at Petra.
+ Hegra has significantly less crowds than Petra. Petra can be overwhelmingly busy, which, at times, really made my experience there a little miserable. At each stop on the Hegra tour, generally there was one guide and a few tourists from the bus. It was often silent; and it was rare that you had to stand with, or listen to, other people talk. This experience can also be had at Petra too, but you’d have to hike off far off the main trail.
+ There is no animal cruelty at Hegra. Petra is known for having extremely lax policies when it comes to the welfare of the donkeys, camels and horses and we absolutely hated seeing this during our visit.
+ There are no vendors along the Hegra tour, only a smart little gift store at the waiting area where you can buy your souvenirs. At Petra, there were aggressive, quite physical, sometimes even intoxicated vendors everywhere.
+ Hegra had no resident children around; contrastingly, the child labour situation at Petra was abysmal. There were small children under ten years old driving horse drawn carriages, others begging or offering tours.
The NEGATIVEs
– Although the archaeological site at Hegra covers a pretty large area, there is only a small zone that you have access to explore. Petra, on the other hand, is absolutely enormous.
– On the topic of exploring: you can’t really explore at Hegra at all. Each stop basically just allows you to walk around a large rock with a guide ensuring you don’t go out of bounds.
– There is no hiking at Hegra, at all. There are no trails and strict boundaries on where you can walk. This is a huge negative when comparing to the hiking trails at Petra.
– Accommodation is far more expensive around Hegra and Al Ula than Petra and Wadi Musa in Jordan.
– Hegra is in a really remote part of Saudi Arabia and is harder to get to than Wadi Musa, for Petra. However, there are buses and an international airport at Al Ula so this isn’t exactly a big deal.
MIXED
+/- Petra is expensive, really expensive. Even when included in the Jordan Pass, it’s still eye-watering. However, Hegra is also reasonably expensive for the lesser time (2-3 hours) spent at the site. I’d say that on cost, both Petra and Hegra are equal.
+/- The scenery between the sites is too varied to decide whether one site is objectively better than another. The desert expanse around the tombs at Hegra was visually impacting and really made the carvings stand out. The mountains and hills around Petra, covered in small rock-hewn residences, is also astonishing. I can’t decide which had the better scenery!
+/- Hegra is far better for people with limited physical mobility; Petra is strenuous and great for hikers. It’s subjective as to which is better.
PETRA VS. HEGRA – WHICH SITE WOULD WE VISIT AGAIN?
If we could only visit either Hegra or Petra again, which would it be?
We talked at length about our choice and it’s unanimous:
Petra; it’s just a different beast. Petra is a journey; Hegra is an attraction. They’re incomparable as experiences, apart from the actual carvings which are kind of similar.
Personally, not having any freedom to explore and hike around just knocked Hegra down a notch and made it feel a bit like a slightly clinical, open-air history museum. Petra felt like a multi-day odyssey, voyaging to another world (this might sound a bit over-the-top, but I loved it there despite the significant negatives mentioned above).
It is also beneficial that as more budget-minded travellers, accommodation and food is more affordable at Petra and access is easier.
Although we chose Petra, Hegra was super-cool. It’s worth visiting and when we are next around Al Ula, (possibly at the end of the year!), we plan to visit again. We’d recommend it to anyone wanting to check out beautiful places in Saudi Arabia.
FINAL THOUGHTS – HEGRA VS. PETRA
I guess this post might seem a bit pointless – like comparing two completely different sites from separate countries for no reason. The thing is though, for years, I’d seen pictures of Hegra and in my mind it was built up to be like Petra because of the visual resemblance between the sites.
It’s common for someone to ask ‘what is the best Mayan ruin’ or where has ‘the best Roman amphitheatre’, for example. For me, I asked myself – is ‘Hegra as good as Petra?’.
So, maybe comparing the two Nabataean cities has no extrinsic advantage, but I think it’s worth setting expectations for a visit to both sites. Whether it’s the blatant child labour, crowds or animal cruelty at Petra, or the lack of freedom and scope at Hegra, it’s worth knowing what you’re going to see. Especially since Hegra is so far away from anywhere else in Saudi Arabia. It is advertised by the Saudi government as the ultimate tourist experience in Saudi Arabia, and while it is most certainly worth your time – just do not expect to feel the same as at Petra.
Overall, to answer my question above – we recommend Hegra and Petra and hope you experience both sites. If you have been, do you agree with our assessment?
Have a fantastic day!
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