If you are deciding where to stay in Taif and your plan includes days out in the mountains, the choice usually comes down to three kinds of base: a hotel in Taif city itself, a resort or hotel up at Al Hada to the west, or one at Al Shafa to the south-west. A city base keeps every outing a moderate drive in one direction or the other. A mountain base puts one area on your doorstep and pushes the other further away. The right answer depends on which outings matter most to you, how you are arriving from Jeddah, and who is travelling.
This guide is for visitors flying into Jeddah who plan to spend a few nights in Taif, also written At-Taif or Al Taif, and want to use it for day trips. It sets out what official sources say about Al Hada and Al Shafa, how each base changes the arrival transfer and every outing that follows, what the mountain road and the weather mean for your plans, and how to book the journeys once the base is settled. It does not recommend particular hotels; it helps you choose the area first.
Where to stay in Taif: the three kinds of base
Taif is not one compact resort. Saudipedia’s entry on Taif Governorate describes it as the largest governorate in Makkah Province, with the city at about 1,800 m above sea level. The same entry names the two mountain areas most visitors ask about:
- Al Shafa (also written Al-Shafa, Ash Shafa or Al-Shifa), approximately 25 km south-west of the city, at about 2,500 m above sea level;
- Al Hada (also Al-Hada), about 20 km west of the city, known for its twisting mountain road.
Taif Municipality’s own structure reflects the same split. Saudipedia’s page on Taif Municipality lists separate sub-municipalities for al-Hada and al-Shifa alongside the north, south, east and west parts of Taif. For a visitor, the practical point is simple: “a hotel in Taif” can mean a city address, a place on the Al Hada side or a place out at Al Shafa, and those lead to quite different days.
A city base
A hotel in Taif city sits between the two mountain areas. Neither Al Hada nor Al Shafa is on the doorstep, but neither is at the far end of a long cross-country drive. City hotels also tend to be what people mean when they book “Taif” from Jeddah, and the InterContinental in Taif is one of the popular locations already listed in the Jeddah Cabs search.
An Al Hada base
A base on the Al Hada side puts you close to the escarpment, the viewpoints and the top of the mountain road. Outings to Al Shafa and into the city then become the longer drives, and the route summary will show which roads they use.
An Al Shafa base
A base at Al Shafa puts you in the highest of the three areas, among farms and mountain scenery. It makes Al Shafa itself an easy morning, and it makes Al Hada and the city the longer outings.
A Taif base for Al Hada and Al Shafa: which outings matter most
The quickest way to choose is to write down the outings you actually intend to take, then see which base serves them best. A Taif base for Al Hada and Al Shafa together is usually the city, because it sits between them. If one area dominates your plans, a base there can make sense.
Some typical outing lists and the base that tends to suit them:
- Mostly Al Hada: viewpoints and walks near the escarpment. An Al Hada base or a city hotel on the western side.
- Mostly Al Shafa: farms, higher mountain scenery, cooler air. An Al Shafa base.
- Both, plus the city: souqs, heritage sites, parks. A city base.
- Rose season: Saudipedia notes that rose cultivation is concentrated in al-Shafa, al-Hada and several valleys around Taif. The Jeddah Cabs guide to planning a Taif rose visit around confirmed access covers that trip; the base question is which farm you have arranged to see.
If your Al Hada plans depend on a ticketed attraction, such as a cable car ride, check that it is operating on your dates before you choose a base around it. The Jeddah Cabs note on building a Taif outing around a reservation explains why a confirmed booking should come first.
Comparing the three bases
The table below compares the practical effect of each base when you are weighing where to stay in Taif. It does not rank them; it shows what you gain and give up.
| Factor | City base | Al Hada base | Al Shafa base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Hada outings | About 20 km west of the city | On or near the doorstep | A longer drive; check the route summary |
| Al Shafa outings | About 25 km south-west of the city | A longer drive; check the route summary | On or near the doorstep |
| City sights and shopping | On the doorstep | A drive into the city | A drive into the city |
| Arrival from Jeddah Airport | Typical Taif transfer | Depends on the hotel’s position; check the route summary | Continues beyond the city; check the route summary |
| Weather to plan for | About 1,800 m, cooler than Jeddah | Mountain weather; the al-Hada road can close in fog or rain | About 2,500 m, the highest and coolest of the three |
| Suits | Mixed plans, first visits, shorter stays | Views and escarpment walks | Farms, cool mountain air, a quieter stay |
We do not publish journey times, and our live route checks do not include every mountain hotel. The most reliable way to compare is to enter your shortlisted hotels, one after another, in the transfer finder and read the route summary for each outing.
How your base changes the arrival from Jeddah
Your base decides where the Jeddah Airport transfer ends, and in Taif that is a long journey either way. In our live route checks, King Abdulaziz International Airport to the Taif InterContinental was about 197 km by road; the return journey to the airport was about 187 km, because road distances differ by direction. A mountain resort beyond the city will add distance on top of that.
Arriving by day or by night
A mountain base is a harder place to reach at the end of a long flight in the dark, particularly in fog. If you land late, a first night in Jeddah or in a city hotel, with the move up to the mountains the next day, can make the arrival calmer. The Jeddah Cabs guide to making your first Taif night the destination works through that decision in detail.
Naming the destination properly
“Al Shafa” and “Al Hada” are areas, not addresses. Type the hotel’s full name, choose the correct result and check the pin in the route summary. If the hotel’s own map pin and its name point to slightly different places, say so in the booking notes. The page on travelling from your Jeddah flight to your Taif address covers the transfer itself.
If anyone in your party is not Muslim
The Al Hada road links Taif with the Makkah side of the mountains. Saudi law prohibits non-Muslims from entering Makkah; the Saudi Press Agency, reporting a Makkah Police statement, referred to “laws that prohibit entry to Makkah for non-Muslims”. Say in the booking notes if any member of your party is not Muslim, so the driver plans a lawful route for the arrival and for any outing. This is a routing matter, and the booking team can advise.
The mountain road, fog and weather
The mountain areas are part of Taif’s appeal, and they are also where the weather can change a plan.
The Al Hada road
Saudipedia’s entry on Aqabat al-Kurr, the al-Hada road, gives its total length as 87 km in four sections, the last running about 20 km from al-Hada to Taif. It describes a two-lane road separated by concrete barriers, with retaining walls, rockfall protection and roadside stopping areas. It also notes that the road is frequently subject to temporary closures, especially when fog forms and in rainy weather, which sometimes causes rockfall.
That matters if your base is on the Al Hada side and your outings or onward journey depend on the road. A closure is not something the driver can plan around in advance, so leave slack in any day that uses it.
Cooler air, colder nights
Saudipedia notes that the governorate’s summer highs average no more than about 30°C and winter minimums reach about 3°C. At Al Shafa, some 700 m higher than the city, expect it to be cooler again. Pack layers for early starts and evenings, especially for children and older relatives.
Large vehicles
According to Saudipedia, the al-Hada road is the only road in Makkah Province on which trucks and large buses are prohibited throughout the year. If you are travelling as a big group in a coach, do not choose a base whose outings depend on that road. Ask the booking team what is possible for your vehicle before you commit.
Taif hotel area for day trips: how each outing is booked
Whatever base you choose, each outing is built from the same pieces. Seeing them clearly helps you judge which Taif hotel area for day trips makes the booking simplest.
Two journeys, not an open-ended car
A journey in the booking system has one pickup place and one destination, and the two must be different. So a day out from your hotel to Al Shafa and back is two journeys: hotel to your chosen place, then that place back to the hotel, each with its own pickup time. The Jeddah Cabs guide to giving a Taif outing one anchor place shows how to plan an Al Shafa day that way.
Stops along the way
You can add up to 8 stops to a journey, visited in order. A stop is a short pause, not a wait of hours. Each vehicle class has an included waiting allowance, not currently shown in search results; if a stop will be more than a few minutes, ask the booking team to confirm in writing what is included.
The base sets the length of every journey
This is the heart of the decision. A base close to your favourite area shortens the journeys you take most often, and lengthens the rest. A base in the middle keeps everything moderate. Four outings from a base at the wrong end of Taif add up to a lot of extra driving.
A worked example: one family, two possible bases
Omar and Leila Haddad are flying into Jeddah from Birmingham with their children, aged nine and twelve, and Leila’s mother, who walks slowly and feels the cold. They have four nights in Taif in early April. Their list is: one day at a rose farm near Al Shafa that Leila has already contacted, one afternoon at the Al Hada viewpoints, and one evening in the city.
Option one: an Al Shafa resort. The rose farm is close, and the resort is quiet. But the Al Hada afternoon becomes a longer outing, and the city evening needs two journeys into town and back. The arrival from Jeddah also runs beyond the city, and their flight lands in the evening, which would mean a mountain arrival in the dark with a tired grandmother.
Option two: a city hotel. Both the farm and the viewpoints are moderate drives in different directions. The city evening is on the doorstep. The arrival ends in the city, which is simpler after an evening landing.
They choose the city hotel. They book the Jeddah Airport to Taif transfer, then two journeys for the farm day, two for the Al Hada afternoon, and no journeys at all for the city evening. For five travellers with five large cases, the search offers seven-seat vehicles and larger; they choose a Hyundai H1 family van class for the arrival, and a smaller class for the outings when the suitcases stay at the hotel.
If their list had been three days of farms and walks at Al Shafa, the resort would have been the better choice. The base follows the list.
One base or two?
On a longer stay, some visitors answer the question of where to stay in Taif with two answers and split their nights: a city hotel first, then a few nights at a mountain resort, or the reverse. That can give you the best of both, but the move between hotels is its own journey, with all the luggage, and it has to fit check-out and check-in times. The Jeddah Cabs guide to treating a Taif hotel move as its own journey explains how to book it.
Two bases are rarely worth it for a stay of two or three nights. The move uses up half a day. For five nights or more, with a clear split between city and mountain plans, it can work well.
Booking the journeys once the base is settled
Choose the base before you book any outings. Every outing journey starts or ends at the hotel, and the pickup place cannot be changed online later.
The rules that apply to each journey:
- Notice: online bookings need at least 48 hours’ notice before pickup.
- Minimum: each journey has a minimum booking value equivalent to £40.
- Payment: Jeddah Cabs may take only a deposit online, 30% for a single journey, 40% for a multi-leg booking and 50% for a return, with the balance paid in cash to the driver. The checkout shows both amounts.
- Status: payment secures a provisional request. The booking team updates the status within 1 to 12 hours, and a journey is booked only when it reads Confirmed.
- Changes: only the pickup time can be changed online, through “Request a new pickup time” in your account. An approved change carries a £5 rescheduling fee, converted into your booking currency and added to the cash paid to the driver. The place, destination, passengers and vehicle cannot be changed online.
- Cancellation: bookings are subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept) if the customer cancels. If we or the transport partner cancel or cannot supply the journey, you receive a full refund for the affected journey.
Because a customer cancellation is subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept), it pays to settle the hotel before booking journeys that start from it. The Jeddah Cabs page on the Taif to Jeddah Airport journey covers the last leg once your stay is planned.
Your Taif base checklist
Before you book the hotel and the journeys, work through these:
- List every outing you intend to take, and mark the one that matters most.
- Note which area each outing is in: Taif city, Al Hada or Al Shafa.
- Check any attraction, farm or cable car is open or confirmed on your dates.
- Shortlist two or three hotels and enter each one in the transfer finder to compare the route summaries for your outings.
- Look at your landing time and decide whether a mountain arrival after dark is sensible for your party.
- Tell the booking team in the notes if anyone in the party is not Muslim, so routes are planned lawfully.
- Count passengers and bags for the arrival, and separately for outings when the suitcases stay behind.
- Pack warm layers for mountain mornings and evenings.
- Book each journey with at least 48 hours’ notice and check that each reads Confirmed.
Deciding where to stay in Taif is really deciding which drives you want to be short. Once the base is chosen and your outings are listed, use the Jeddah Cabs transfer finder to enter your hotel and each destination, and compare the vehicles that fit your party.