Also known as Ad-Deerah, the village is built on a higher part of the valley to escape the floods. AlUla Old Town is overlooked by Musa bin Nusayr Castle - which is said to date back to the 10th century. The old town has hundreds of houses, shops and four town squares and was a popular stop on the pilgrimage route between Damascus and Mecca. The city is built with houses attached to each other, to act like a fort, and at some points in history the gated settlement physically opened and closed the gates each morning and evening. You can take a tour around the old town with a guide to soak in the history, plus there's an outdoor market to explore

Athr Gallery opened recently in the city's new art and culture precinct, AlJadidah. As one of AlUla's first perma- nent cultural structures, the dedicated exhibition space is found within the AlUla Design Gallery, and the inaugural exhibition focused on the themes of human nature, ecology, the inner self, country and representation, so get ready for a lot of fascinating culture shows coming up.

Surrounded by lush date palm groves and citrus trees, this picturesque and serene oasis is a charming place to spend an afternoon. You'll find it nestled within the Wadi AlQura (or Valley of Villages) and there are plenty of other crops grown including wheat, barley, olives, figs and oats.

As the Kingdom's first UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of currently six in Saudi Arabia), Hegra is one of the most jaw-dropping locations on the planet, and is fully deserving of a full-day excursion. With more than 100 well preserved tombs, it's a massive historic area that only recently opened to tourists. The area dates back to the first century BCE as it was originally a trade route for pilgrims heading to Mecca. The rock formations are absolutely incredible and include Face Rock - which looks, as you'd imagine, like the profile of a face. Don't miss a trip to Qasr Al Farid, which is more than 22m high and built as a tomb for Lihyan, son of Kuza. It's one of the most amazing natural sights you'll see, so don't forget your camera. The Nabataean civilization left behind 111 preserved tombs, so history buffs, you're in for a treat.

You'll find three spiralling rock formations known as the Ragasat (the Dancing Rocks) around 45 minutes from the Ashar Valley. The three huge pillars are a marvellous sight so take a moment to soak it all in. Just along from here in the Ragasat Valley there's Jabal Al Rukkab, where you'll see more ancient rock carvings, thought to date back around 2,000 years.

The outdoor library, as it is known, has more than 500 rock carvings, in five different languages - Aramaic, Dadanitic, Thamudic, Minaic and Nabateaan. In the east of the area is Naqsh Zuhayr, which has some of the oldest Islamic inscriptions dating back to 644CE. Just ten minutes drive away is Dadan, the ancient Kingdom of the Lihyanite and Dadanite civilisations that well-worth a trip.