My partner and I booked a private 3x day tour in Al’Ulah. We have been on several private tours before and the other tour companies always provide either an English speaking driver/guide or an English speaking guide and a driver. 

No English speaking guide - SJH Tours wrote there would be an English tour guide service throughout the tour. This was only partly true as our driver/guide only spoke very limited English, but the tours operated by Experience Alula provided a good English speaking guide. 

The tours to Hegra and Dadan/Ikmah were operated by Experience Alula. Our driver dropped us off at the Winter garden where we would depart on an air-conditioned bus with the other tourists for a few hours. Experience Alula provided a very good English speaking guide who accompanied us during the tour. 

My partner and I were quite upset to fine out our driver who spoke very little English was also our guide for the three day tour. We understand that the older generation never learnt English and it’s very difficult for them but it’s even more important that SJH Tours provides a guide that speaks English reasonably well to tell us about this  very interesting and historic place.

Driver/Guide - Mujahid was a friendly driver/guide, he took good care of us, drove safely and kept the car clean. His English was very limited and it was difficult to communicate about the schedule when we were leaving/being picked up etc so often resorted to translator apps to help us communicate. Mujahid tried his best to tell us about the sites in his very limited English but it was a real shame that SJH Tours didn’t provide an English speaking guide to answer our questions and tell us about this very interesting, stunning area. 

We were early coming back from our tour and had some time before our flight so Mujahid was very kind and hosted us for a local experience drinking coffee/tea with his friends. We were very grateful that Mujahid kindly hosted us and allowed us an insight into his life as a local. 

Emails and organisation: Unfortunately, SJH Tours took a few weeks to reply to our initial emails to book the tour and we had to use a booking agent to contact SJH on our behalf. This lack of response never gives a foreign tourist confidence in a tour company. 

Vehicle - The V8 4WD was perfect for the 2x of us. The vehicle had great air conditioning, was very clean, well maintained and had lots of power to drive through over the sand. 

In hindsight we would have hired a car and driven ourselves around Al’Ulah. It would have been much cheaper. That said, on the third day in Al’Ulah we drove up the valley and to other unknown areas which we did appreciate have a driver for. But, we would have booked SJH tours just for a 1x day tour