Great news for those who plan on visiting Saudi Arabia soon for religious or tourism related purposes: the city of Medina now offers a great and simple way that allows you to get in a bit of historic sightseeing in a short time. Stylish red double-decker buses, which were introduced in 2017, now drive visitors through the city of Medina along two routes and 12 stops along the best attractions of the city.
According to Saudi Gazette, the project was made possible by the efforts of the Authority to Develop Medina, which aims to promote tourism and enable pilgrims to visit historical and tourist sites during their time in Saudi Arabia. The hop-on, hop-off tour is an hour-long trip that takes visitors to the Prophet's Mosque, Al-Baqeea graveyard, Al-Manakha Square, Al-Salam Gate, the Uhud battleground, the Qiblatain Mosque, the location of the Battle of Al-Khandaq, the Quba Mosque, and the Quba Road, in addition to other commercial and heritage sites.
The tour service starts every day after the Fajr prayer from the Prophet's Mosque and is available throughout the day until after Isha prayer. As part of the tour are tourist guidance available in eight languages, Arabic, English, French, Urdu, Turkish, Indonesian, Persian, and Malay, with four more languages to be added in the future. Visitors can listen to information regarding each location and anecdotes related to Prophet Mohammad’s life using earphones they are provided.
Over the past two years, Saudi Arabia has been advancing efforts aimed at developing religious and non-religious tourism as part of its diversification plans. Guided by the objectives laid down in Vision 2030, the country’s ambitious blueprint on diversifying its oil-dependent economy and transition it into a knowledge-based one, Saudi Arabia has been looking towards the untapped potential of its already lucrative tourism sector.
