Intrepid launches 12-day women’s expedition to Saudi Arabia

Intrepid Travel has introduced a 12-day Saudi Arabia Women’s Expedition, designed to offer an authentic and transformative travel experience while empowering women and supporting female-owned businesses in the destination.   

The tour will be exclusively led by female leaders and guides, aiming to showcase a different side of the country beyond the luxury resorts and high-end offerings.

Starting in Riyadh and finishing in Jeddah, groups will stay in a female-owned boutique hotel, heritage property and desert camp, directly supporting a total of nine female-owned and operated businesses.  

“This new trip has been a year in the making, as we challenged ourselves to create a trip in Saudi in line with our values that would be a genuine force for good,” said Jenny Gray, product manager, Women’s Expeditions, Intrepid Travel. “With tourism to Saudi focused on vast ultra-luxury offerings, we wanted to balance that by creating something completely unique in Saudi Arabia: a trip putting local women’s voices centre stage. With activities like joining a cooking class with a local female chef and getting pampered at a women-owned salon, the trip will give our travellers the chance to see a side of Saudi few get to experience.”  

Five departures available

A limited run of five departures, each with a maximum of 12 travellers, will start on 26 November 2024. The 12-day trip will start at $7,975CAD.

Highlights include: 

• Visit Madinah – the second holiest site in Islam, after Mecca – with a local female guide. Non-Muslims have recently been allowed to visit the holy site up to the perimeter 
• Take a sunrise visit to the Nabataean site of Hegra, the southern capital of the Nabataean kingdom, guided by a local ‘rawee’ or storyteller 
• Take a bullet train to Jeddah and explore Al Balad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Saudi’s first female guide  
• Head to a female-owned, female-only salon for a spot of pampering. Chat to the locals and learn how these types of businesses have created opportunities for the women who live here 
• Meet two sisters running a local citrus farm near Alula, sample their produce and have lunch under the trees  
• Visit an abeya shop to learn how women are modernising this staple piece  
• Jump on a boat and cruise the Red Sea, snorkel, swim, and enjoy a barbeque lunch before ending the day on a private female only beach. 

For more information, visit intrepidtravel.com.