It is possible to travel to Yemen as a tourist, but only to certain areas. Yemen has a complex geopolitical make-up, both historically and still to this day.
It means that travelling to Yemen isn’t necessarily straightforward and there are parts of the country which are extremely dangerous, while others can be visited with the right support and reasonable care.
Understanding this is an important aspect in preparing for a trip to the country.
Many of the news headlines surrounding the conflict over recent years have been largely focused on the North and Western part of the country – an area contested between the internationally recognised governments and the Houthi government. This is an area, which does carry serious risks to travel in.
There isn’t the same security situation across the whole country though and regions further east, such as the Hadramout, do provide a better security landscape – albeit there have been power struggles and tensions there too.
That means that travel in some parts of Mainland Yemen is possible, with the right guidance and support, from an experienced tour operator, such as Untamed Borders.
The security landscape can change quickly in Yemen and there are a lot of factors at play. To help you understand why Yemen faces these challenges, we’ve provided an overview, explaining how the country ended up in the situation it faces today.
If you have any questions or would like more information about travelling in Yemen, please email our specialist team on – info@untamedborders.com
Northern Yemen’s early years
Yemen is one of the oldest centres of civilisation in Arabia. Long before the modern state existed, southern Arabia was home to powerful kingdoms such as Saba, Qataban, Hadramawt and Himyar, which grew wealthy from caravan routes and the trade in frankincense and myrrh.
The area was known to Greeks and Romans as Arabia Felix — “Fortunate Arabia” — because it was greener, richer and more agriculturally developed than much of the peninsula.
The modern political problem is much more recent. Yemen was not divided into North and South because of one ancient ethnic split. It was divided largely because of imperial history, geography and different political systems.
The north was centred on the highlands around Sana’a. For centuries, much of northern Yemen was influenced by the Zaydi imamate, a form of Shia Islamic rule rooted in the northern mountains. The Ottomans controlled parts of Yemen at different times, especially towns and strategic areas, but after the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918, Imam Yahya took power in what later became North Yemen.
In 1962, army officers overthrew the imamate and created the Yemen Arab Republic, usually known as North Yemen. This triggered a civil war between royalists, backed mainly by Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and republicans, backed by Egypt. By 1970, the republican state had survived and Saudi Arabia recognised the Yemen Arab Republic.
Southern Yemen
The south developed very differently in modern times. Britain captured Aden in 1839 because of its strategic position on the route to India. Aden later became a British crown colony, while much of the surrounding territory was organised as British protectorates.
This gave the south a very different political culture from the north: Aden was a port city connected to empire, trade, labour movements and anti-colonial politics, while the north remained more highland, tribal and imam-led for much longer.
Britain withdrew in 1967 after an armed anti-colonial struggle, and the south became independent as the People’s Republic of South Yemen, later renamed the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. It became the Arab world’s only Marxist state and was closely aligned with the Soviet Union. So by the late 1960s, there were two Yemens: a more conservative, republican North Yemen, and a socialist, Soviet-aligned South Yemen based in Aden.
Why is it called North Yemen and South Yemen, rather than West and East Yemen?
On paper it’s completely understandable why you might be confused about the North and South Yemen titles. Much of the two large landmasses are west and east of each other.
However, it’s important to note where the major population centres are in both areas. The capital, Sana’a, is in the north, a long-way from the port city of Aden, further south.
These were the two centres of power and why the North and South Yemen titles exist. This is despite commanding land masses far away, particularly in the case of the authorities in Aden, whose control spread east to the Omani border.
They are historic titles, which are still referenced today when describing Yemen’s political structure.
Unity and its collapse
North and South Yemen officially united in May 1990, creating the modern Republic of Yemen. The timing was not accidental. The Cold War was ending, the Soviet Union was weakening, and South Yemen was losing the support that had helped keep it afloat. At the same time, both states had reasons to believe unity could bring economic and political benefits.
But the unity was fragile. The armies, economies, political parties and patronage networks of the two former states were never properly integrated. Many southerners felt that unification quickly became northern domination rather than an equal merger.
Tensions exploded in 1994. Southern leaders declared secession and tried to re-establish an independent southern state, but Saleh’s northern-led forces captured Aden and defeated them.
Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled North Yemen from 1978 and then unified Yemen from 1990 until the Arab Spring period. His system relied on balancing tribes, military commanders, political parties, Islamists and regional powers. It held the country together, but often through patronage rather than strong institutions.
In the far north, the Houthi movement emerged from the Zaydi heartland around Sa’dah. The Houthis were partly a religious revival movement and partly a political-military response to marginalisation, corruption and the spread of rival religious influences. From 2004, the Saleh government fought several wars against them.
The Arab Spring
In 2011, protests linked to the Arab Spring forced Saleh to step down. He was replaced by his vice president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, under a Gulf-backed transition plan.
A National Dialogue tried to redesign Yemen’s political system, including proposals for federalism, but the process failed to satisfy the main armed and regional factions.
In 2014, the Houthis took control of Sana’a, helped in part by an alliance of convenience with forces loyal to former president Saleh. In 2015, Hadi fled, the Houthis advanced south, and a Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily to restore the internationally recognised government.
What had begun as an internal political crisis turned into a much wider war involving local militias, tribal forces, separatists, regional powers and international diplomacy.
Modern Yemen
Saudi Arabia saw the Houthis as a hostile force on its southern border and as a movement with growing links to Iran. The United Arab Emirates also played a major role in the coalition, particularly in southern Yemen and along the coast.
What followed was not one simple war, but several overlapping conflicts. At one level, it was a struggle between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government. At another level, it became part of the wider regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. At the same time, older Yemeni divisions continued to matter: north versus south, central government versus tribal and regional power, and local communities versus outside-backed armed groups.
Aden was retaken from the Houthis in 2015 and became the temporary base of the internationally recognised government. But even in the anti-Houthi camp, unity was fragile. Southern separatists, local militias, tribal forces, Salafi groups, military commanders and political parties all had different priorities. Some wanted to defeat the Houthis and preserve a united Yemen. Others wanted to restore an independent South Yemen, which had existed before unification in 1990.
This southern issue became increasingly important. In 2017, the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, was formed. It became the most powerful southern separatist movement and built influence in Aden and other parts of the south, with support from the UAE. Although the STC was nominally part of the anti-Houthi side, it repeatedly clashed with forces loyal to the internationally recognised government. This meant that Yemen’s anti-Houthi camp was often divided against itself.
Meanwhile, in the north, the Houthis consolidated their control over Sana’a and much of the populated highlands.
The war caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Air strikes, ground fighting, blockades, economic collapse, displacement, food insecurity and disease all took a devastating toll. Millions of Yemenis were displaced, and large parts of the population became dependent on humanitarian assistance.
In 2022, there was an important shift. President Hadi transferred his powers to a new Presidential Leadership Council, or PLC. This was intended to unite the anti-Houthi side under a broader leadership structure. Around the same time, a UN-brokered truce brought a major reduction in fighting. Yemen entered a period of uneasy calm rather than full peace.
What is the political situation like in Yemen today?
Since then, the conflict has remained unresolved. The Houthis still control Sana’a and much of northern and western Yemen.
Along with tensions between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government, the Houthis have also played a role in the wider Middle East conflict over the past 5 years, firing rockets towards Israel and towards ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. In response Israel, the US and UK have targeted Houthi controlled areas of Yemen with airstrikes.
The internationally recognised government, represented by the PLC, is based around Aden and other non-Houthi areas, but its authority has often depended on alliances with local and regional forces. The STC and other southern groups have continued to influence politics in the south, especially around Aden and the former South Yemen.
In 2025 and 2026, tensions inside Yemen’s anti-Houthi camp became much more visible. The Southern Transitional Council, or STC, had been part of the Presidential Leadership Council, however, the STC’s long-term aim remained the restoration of an independent South Yemen.
By late 2025, the STC was increasingly frustrated with the PLC and began pushing more openly for southern self-rule. It expanded its control into parts of eastern Yemen, including Hadramout and al-Mahra, two strategically important regions with strong local identities and significant economic value. This alarmed the PLC and its Saudi backers, who saw the move as a direct challenge to the authority of the internationally recognised government.
In early 2026, Saudi-backed forces loyal to the PLC counter-attacked and retook many of the areas seized by the STC, including key positions in the Hadramoutt. The crisis exposed the deep divisions within Yemen’s anti-Houthi coalition, particularly between Saudi-backed government forces and UAE-backed southern separatists.
The result was that the STC’s position inside the PLC was seriously weakened, and some STC-linked figures were removed or sidelined. The UAE’s forces withdrew from Yemen and now the Saudis and the PLC are in control of much of the south and east.
Yemen remains politically fragmented.
Where can tourists visit in Yemen?
Untamed Borders takes guests to the Hadramout region, along with the Yemeni island of Socotra.
These parts of the country are sparsely populated and controlled by the PLC, backed by Saudi Arabia, separate from the Houthi controlled north-west of the country and a long way from the main areas of conflict.
The security situation in the Hadramout differs greatly from the Houthi controlled region and we have been organising group and private trips here since 2019.
Our group road-trips in this part of Yemen take you into the dramatic wadis, which weave through the region, with steep cliff faces, date palm lined wadi floors and ancient mud-built villages.
It’s a stunning part of the Middle East, which is home to remote communities and some of the most prized honey on earth. We also cross the country’s desert, to the nation’s eastern coastline, near the border of Oman. Here you have unspoiled beaches and small fishing communities, providing a real contrast to the landscapes found further inland.
The Yemeni island of Socotra lies around 400 kilometres off the coast of Mainland Yemen. This has allowed the island to remain largely unscathed from the conflict found on the mainland. There have been political tensions, but not the humanitarian crisis found elsewhere, which has allowed us to organise group and private trips since 2017.
Socotra is coined the “Galapagos of the East” due to its immense biodiversity and range of beautiful landscapes – including white sand beaches, mountain ranges, canyons, dense forests, cave networks, sand dunes and fresh water pools. It’s also home to unique plantlife and wildlife, found only on the island, plus it has protected marine nature reserves.
As of June 2026 we don’t take guests to other parts of Mainland Yemen, due to the security challenges elsewhere.
For the latest information and to find out more information about our services in Yemen and Socotra, please email – info@untamedborders.com.