Famous Landmarks in Saudi Arabia: 9 Sites Worth Seeing
Six days across a country that only opened to tourists in 2019: Riyadh and the restored mud-brick birthplace of the Saudi state, the tomb-carved desert of AlUla, and Jeddah’s coral-stone old town on the Red Sea, three flights, three different Arabias. See the full itinerary.
From the same hand-researched library as our Saudi Arabia itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital of the Saudi transformation, a once-closed desert city now building at astonishing speed, with a brand-new metro underneath it. Its historic anchor is Diriyah: the restored mud-brick city where the first Saudi state was declared in 1727.
1
Murabba Palace
The mud-brick court palace King Abdulaziz completed in 1938 as his residence and seat of government, preserved in the King Abdulaziz Historical Center’s palm park, Najdi architecture at royal scale, from the eve of the oil era.
Riyadh
2
Masmak Fortress
The 1865 mud-and-straw fort whose 1902 capture by the young Abdulaziz began the kingdom’s unification, a spearhead from the raid is still lodged in the door. Reopened in 2025 after a museum-grade restoration; mornings are its quiet hours.
Riyadh
3
Kingdom Centre Sky Bridge
The 99th-floor bridge spanning the capital’s bottle-opener tower, 300 meters up. It opens from midday, so go toward dusk and watch the city grid ignite toward the desert.
Riyadh
AlUla
AlUla is the Nabataeans’ other city: Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, holds 111 monumental tombs carved into desert monoliths, Petra’s craft without Petra’s crowds. Around it: a living oasis, dark-sky desert, and canyons of ancient inscriptions.
4
Dadan
The cliff-carved tombs of the Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms that ruled the incense road centuries before the Nabataeans, including the famous lion tombs, visited with a rawi storyteller-guide.
AlUla
5
Hegra
The Nabataeans’ southern capital: 111 tombs cut into freestanding outcrops between roughly 100 BC and 100 AD, crowned by the lone four-story Tomb of Lihyan son of Kusa. Visits run as guided, timed tours. Book ahead and take the earliest slot for the light.
AlUla
6
Elephant Rock (Jabal AlFil)
A three-story sandstone elephant raised by wind alone, ringed by sunken fire-pit seating, the desert’s sunset amphitheater.
AlUla
Jeddah
Jeddah has been the gate to Mecca since 647 AD, and a thousand years of pilgrim trade built Al-Balad: a UNESCO-listed old town of coral-stone tower houses and carved wooden balconies. It remains the kingdom’s most easygoing, sea-facing city.
7
Al-Rahma Mosque
The white “floating mosque” built over the Red Sea on stilts, its dome and minaret doubled in the water at high tide, non-Muslim visitors are welcome outside prayer times.
Jeddah
8
Historic Al-Balad and Nassif House
The UNESCO old town’s coral-stone tower houses with their green latticed rawashin balconies; Nassif House, where King Abdulaziz stayed in 1925, anchors the quarter. Restoration is ongoing, a few lanes are scaffolded, and the district is very much alive.
Jeddah
9
King Fahd’s Fountain
The world’s tallest fountain, throwing Red Sea water more than 260 meters over the harbor, visible from most of the Corniche after dusk.
Jeddah
Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full Saudi Arabia itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.
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