Overnight Family Escape to Abha: Your Comprehensive Guide to Mountain Roads and Gingerbread Castles

Last month for Eid, when a lot of expat families decide to take advantage of the long weekend and seek a break from the hustle and bustle of Riyadh and seek an escape to the seaside, we set our sights to one of the last big tickets on our Saudi Arabian bucket list - the breathtaking mountains of Aseer region.

Day 1

We set out to the airport packed with a fully charged iPad, books and plenty of stickers early in the morning, to land in Abha after an easy 90 minute flight that the children handled really well. We picked up our car from Key car rental without a hitch and off we went.

Our first stop was the cable car... that – to the great disappointment of our boys – wasn't running. Personally, I couldn't have been more relieved, however, as neither Husband nor I had any desire to be stuck in a glass cage with three hungry children in the scorching sun. Don't be fooled – although Abha is up in the mountains, it still gets really hot during the daytime. I packed some light layers anticipating cooler temperatures, but we didn't end up needing them.

Because we still had the entire afternoon ahead of us, we grabbed an easy lunch of shawarma wraps, drove around Abha Dam Lake and took in the scenery, before heading to Shamsan Castle, that was also closed. We still had a quick run around, and took in the views of Abha and the mountains.

The first truly fantastic little gem we discovered here was Al Mushayt Palace, that the boys lovingly renamed as "Gingerbread Castle". It really does look like one, with its gingerbread coloured walls and white, icing-like painted towers.

By late afternoon we still had enough energy left to wander through what quickly became our favourite place in Abha, Al Muftaha Art Village. It's a buzzing, beautiful little cultural spot housing artisan shops, independent cafes and a very convenient drop and go soft play. We peeked into the little cafes, stocked up on souvenirs and enjoyed a nice dinner in one of the hole in the wall restaurants. We rounded our day off with a hot cup of karak tea, watched the boys chase each other under the last blooms of the jacarandas, marvelled at the bats coming out after sunset, then finally made our way to our hotel.

Day 2

The next morning we woke up nice and early, ready for breakfast. We went to a popular local breakfast restaurant, Al Areesh, which conveniently opens at 6AM, and tried pretty much everything on the menu. As we hit a hard language barrier, we scrolled through their Instagram and ordered whatever looked good. No regrets, everything was fabulous and freshly made. After breakfast, we set off on a scenic drive to Rijal Almaa. Beautiful sunshine, mountain roads, gorgeous valley views and a three year old with car sickness... It was an important reminder to always pack extra clothes, as we changed him in a lay-by asking ourselves why we didn't just go to Bahrain again.

At Rijaa Alma, we quickly changed our tune, the fresh air made everything better. We walked the stone steps of this tiny historic village, I loved taking in the rich architectural heritage while our 5 year old was taking pictures.

Next stop: a local honey refinery, where we could've sampled rich, floral honey had the queues not been too long. Instead, we ended up buying more jars than we probably should have to carry back in our suitcases. Before heading to the airport, we squeezed in a stop at the friendly Al Qatt Museum, where the children loved the traditional Aseeri painting technique of bright geometric patterns.

We wrapped up our trip with a late lunch at Shandal Restaurant. It offers warm traditional rice dishes, a lovely outdoor terrace dining. It wasn't too long before it was time to head to the airport, hearts full, bags sticky with honey jars, ready to return to Riyadh.