Hegra is Saudi Arabia's paramount tourist attraction and one of the few boasting of an excellent infrastructure ready to handle mass tourism. Correction, it's actually the only place in Saudi Arabia where mass tourism is practiced. Tours are booked in advance and the choices are endless - just choose how much time and money you want to give Hegra. We opted for the classic three-hour guided bus tour, but you can spend a full day here, go privately on a jeep and have a picnic amid the desert sights.

The area of today's archaeological reserve was inhabited between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, according to inscriptions found on the rocks. It is from this period that the historical name Mada'in Saleh originates. Later it was one of the centres of the Lycian kingdom, and around the first century AD it was settled by the Nabataean civilisation, which transformed Hegra into a vibrant city, the second most important after Petra. They carved their typical tombs with monumental facades into the large rocks in the middle of the desert, which are a major attraction today. In addition, the Nabataeans created a complete irrigation infrastructure that used the water from the oasis and made it possible to grow crops. The Nabataean kingdom lay on the trade route and had a monopoly on the trade of spices, myrrh and frankincense. In 106 AD it was annexed to the Roman Empire and Hegra (along with her more famous sister Petra) became part of the province of Arabia.

Our visit started by parking the car in the huge car park, check-in an hour before the actual tour. In the air-conditioned waiting room lady checked our tickets and showed us the bus that will have taken us to the visitor centre in Hegra. The journey takes about 45 minutes. The visitor centre, nicknamed The Welcome Village consisted of a gift shop and nice outdoor seating - they offer free water or pomegranate juice. The mid-November weather was ideal, about twenty-three degrees, the wind blew pleasantly. I presume it's much worse in summer. Onto the bus again, this time with a guide and a local national park ranger, who will make sure we don't touch the tombs and go inside - there's practically nothing there anyway, bar various twisted lines scratched onto the walls and ceilings of some of the tombs. There is an option of walking up to the threshold of tombs of Qasr al Bint and having a look around from there. The reason for these limitations is that there is still active archaeological research going on at Hegra.

The first stop is Qasr Al-Farid, translated as the Lonely Castle. Don't be fooled by the name, it's not a castle, but a tomb - of Lahyan ibn Koz, built around the first century AD. Apart from it, there are 110 others in the entire archaeological park, 94 of which are decorated. But this is the largest - it is 22 metres high. It is also exceptional in its loneliness - all the other tombs were built in groups, several side by side. An interesting feature is the sand dune just opposite the entrance to the tomb, where you can climb up and take some panoramic shots.

We continued on to the Jabal Albanat or Qasr al Bint cluster of tombs, in which 29 richly decorated tombs carved into the sandstone massif lie.Some of these tombs were made for women, and some contain various warnings and curses to whoever wants to enter the tomb and perhaps steal something from it. Then we took a break from the tombs and stopped at the Jabal Ithlib stone grouping. Many shrines and religious symbols have been found carved into the rocks in this area. These vertical stone carvings are called baetylae (singular baetylus) and represent Nabataean deities. Similar to Petra, although on a significantly smaller scale, there is a natural passageway between the stone walls - the Siq. On its right side there is a large hall carved into the rock - Diwan. The Diwan was an example of a space called a triclinium (supper room) in which ceremonial ritual feasts were held. The Diwan is the largest example of such a space at Hegra, although other dining spaces have been found across the site. Around three of the walls are benches carved into the rock, where diners reclined to eat, drink and talk. The open front of the diwan suggests that the activities that took place here had a public element.

The last stop was Jabal Alahmar, 18 tombs in the red-coloured sandstone massif for which it is named. At this point in the visit, the sun began to dip lower towards the horizon, making a wonderful play of light and shadows.

One last stop at the visitor centre for those who didn't have time to buy souvenirs and then we took the bus back to the car park. Around five in the afternoon we boarded the bus, another forty minutes later we've arrived back at the parking lot, and we used the last fifteen minutes of sunlight to get to the place where we spent the night: a tent city on one of the terraces on the side of the local hills. AlUla and the surrounding area have a number of accommodation options, and glamping in its various forms is very popular here. Our two-person tent with both light and electric heating cost about 85 euros per night. There are both cheaper and much more expensive options (e.g. the extreme high-end is Habitas Alula). I was happy with the glamping, the toilet and showers in a separate room, although pretty basic, ran hot water and we had a kettle in the tent so we could make tea to enjoy with a book in the evening overlooking the surrounding countryside, followed by a gorgeous pink dawn after waking up.

Hands down the best World Heritage Site of Saudi Arabia, one everyone will enjoy.