Jeddah Tours and Trips

Good overview of Saudi Arabia. Loved Hegra area. Recommend the tour. Felt tour guide could provide more upfront info about the plan activities so that the whole group is in the know. However, overall a good tour leader.

I was glad to get an impression of Saudi Arabia which seemed more relaxed than I expected and women better treated than what we used to hear in the western media. There are long distances between places visited but it is worth it. Hegra was a highlight though not up to the standard of Petra. The nearby art exhibits in the desert and mirror covered auditorium were also highlights. Apart from Hegra, historical sites were heavily reconstructed (inevitable for mud bricks) so no romantic ruins. Visiting permitted religious sites was interesting, especially Medina. Our guide was excellent though, unusually for Explore, not a native Saudi (the pay isn't high enough for them!?!)

Daniel was a great leader Trip was enjoyable - lots of variety, feel we got a good taster of the country There is one long drive (think it was 10hrs) but totally worth it to get to the mountain area Is a popular trip so group size was 16 but we had a comfy bus for the drive between overnight stops One suggestion - rather than use a bus for the city tour in Riyadh and spend a lot of the day in traffic, could use the new metro (me and another pax user it later in the eve & it was super easy, clean and quick)

Excellent support from Explore in the booking process and last minute changes when BA cancelled the outward flight at 18 hours notice . I travel with several soft adventure companies every year and Explore's pre trip support is one of the best

I picked this itinerary as compared to others it seemed more comprehensive - there were differentiators like the snorkeling day (enjoyable) and the mountain trip that other tours didn't include. However as my main motivation was Al Ula's Nabatean sights and we were there for 2 hours only, I've come away feeling like I've paid over £400 a day for a fortnight to sit on a National Express coach. there is a LOT of driving and, while I did know that in advance, I don't think I realised that we'd get to most places after dark and that eg at Al Ula the campsite was about 1h 20m drive from the town's sights - ie 9 hours of extra driving over 3 nights. Similarly in the mountains the hotel was 2 hours drive beyond the only sightseeing we did, so 6 hours driving was added for 2 nights in a hotel. It may be that there is a chronic lack of accommodation for a group of 16. The accommodation was all very comfortable but lacking character - large international hotels. Again that may be because tourism is relatively new. I can't fault the Explore staff both on the phone and the guide and driver in Saudi, and the guides at the various sights; but it is frustrating to arrive pretty much everywhere after dark, sometimes not until 9pm. I (I'm not being funny) did enjoy the petrol stations - we saw a lot of them and some were quirky. I know they don't use internal flights on grounds of cost but as everything we did was cheap when we got there (food, Ubers, taxis, metro) I'm slightly struggling to see how the tour could cost as much as it does. if it's the cost of the bus then putting internal flights in instead probably wouldn't add that much cost.