Soudah Cable Car & Viewpoints

The Asir highlands behind Abha are unlike anywhere else in Saudi Arabia: green, forested with juniper, wrapped in cloud for much of the summer, and cold enough at night that people light fires. Jabal Sawda, above the town, is the highest point in the Kingdom at around 3,000 metres. The cable cars run out over the edge of the escarpment where the mountain falls away towards the Tihama plain.

There is more than one cable car

This confuses almost every first-time visitor, so it is worth setting out plainly. Several separate lines operate in the area, each with its own station, its own route and its own ticket price:

• The Souda line, running from the high plateau down the escarpment towards the villages below. The longest and the most dramatic.
• The Green Mountain line, in Abha city itself, a short hop up to the restaurant on Jabal Thera with the illuminated green summit.
• The Al Habala line, at the hanging village site south of Abha, dropping to the ledge where a community once lived reachable only by rope ladder.

When somebody quotes you a price or an opening time for the Abha cable car, ask which one they mean. We are deliberately not printing a single fare here, because the lines differ and because published figures disagree. Buy at the station and you will know.

The ride and the views

The Souda descent is the headline. You leave the plateau and the ground simply disappears beneath you — terraced fields, stone watchtowers and juniper forest dropping away thousands of feet. The old stone architecture of Asir, flat-roofed with projecting slate courses, is best seen from above.

At the bottom there are viewpoints, cafes and access towards the heritage villages. Rijal Almaa, the restored stone village with its painted interiors, is one of the region's finest sights and sits within reach of a day out here.

The mist is not a problem, it is the point

From roughly June to September, moist air off the Red Sea rises up the escarpment and condenses over Souda. The result is fog, drizzle and a landscape that looks nothing like the popular image of Arabia. Locals come here specifically for it.

The practical consequence: your view may be a white wall. Some days it lifts by mid-morning; some days it never does. Take the ride anyway — floating through cloud is its own experience — but do not plan a photograph you have to have.

When to go

Summer, which is backwards from the rest of the country. July and August are the peak, when the Asir is green, cool and busy with Saudi families escaping the heat elsewhere. That also means queues at the stations and hotels booked out.

Spring and autumn are quieter and clearer. Winter is cold, sometimes below freezing at night, with occasional snow on the high ground — rare enough that it makes the news when it happens.

Practical notes

• Tickets are sold at the station, not online. Arrive early on Fridays, Saturdays and through the summer holidays.
• Lines close in high wind and heavy fog. It happens; have something else in mind.
• Bring warm layers and a waterproof, whatever the forecast says for the rest of Saudi Arabia.
• Three thousand metres is high enough that some people feel the altitude mildly. Take it slowly on the first day.
• You need a car up here. The plateau roads are long, winding and not walkable between sights.

What else is up there

Souda Park's summit trails and picnic grounds, the Asir National Park, the hanging village at Al Habala, the painted stone houses of Rijal Almaa, and Abha's own old quarter and dam lake. Half a day covers the cable car alone; two or three days do the region justice.