Travel Guide Al Hofuf

Al Hofuf is the capital of the governorate of Al-Ahsa, one of the largest in the country, as it includes a large part of the Rub' Al-Khali desert. The city has in its center an old historical district with its adobe palaces, its alleys full of history and venerable houses, its old Koranic schools, its souk rebuilt after burning in 2010 and its handicraft market. It is surrounded by modern neighborhoods, without any charm, and lined with wide avenues housing endless rows of shopping malls and coffee shops. While the city is steadily gaining on the desert and gradually absorbing the surrounding towns and villages, the center still reveals the atmosphere that must have prevailed when Saudi Arabia was only a fledgling nation. Al Hofuf has been awarded the Unesco label of "creative city", especially for its preservation of traditional crafts and folklore. The city is full of small typical markets, such as the Bedouin market or the Qaisariya souk. Basketry items are made by women working from their homes. Easy to reach by train from Riyadh or Dammam, Hofuf is definitely worth a 2-day stopover, for its city and for the natural sites nearby, including the Al-Ahsa oasis, the largest in the world. The oasis stretches to the north and east of the city, so much so that Al-Hofuf and Al-Ahsa tend to merge. But the city of Al-Hofuf and the region of Al-Ahsa are two distinct entities.