The old town of Yanbu — Al-Balad — sits between the modern city and the waterfront, and preserves a degree of traditional Hejazi character that is increasingly rare in Saudi Arabia. The architecture reflects the town's long history as a Red Sea port: coral stone buildings with carved wooden screens (rawasheen), narrow lanes that provide shade, and a few mosques from earlier centuries still in use.
The old town is smaller than the equivalent historic centres in Jeddah or Medina, but it is less heavily touristed and easier to explore without a guide. The lanes near the waterfront retain a working character — workshops, small shops, the smell of the sea. The pace is slower than the newer parts of the city.
Yanbu has been a port since antiquity, used by pilgrims travelling to Medina and by Indian Ocean traders. The Ottoman campaigns of the early nineteenth century and T.E. Lawrence's Arab Revolt operations both used the port — context that makes a walk through the old town feel less like sightseeing and more like archaeology.