Folks, it was hard to imagine what Riyadh was going to be like before I visited it earlier this year. I had a bit of an idea about Jeddah, but my first stop in Saudi Arabia was the capital, in the middle of the country and seemingly far from anything. So I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get.

I did know that it was a city famous for appalling traffic, and indeed this is exactly what I faced on my way to the hotel arriving at the bus station at 7am in the morning after an overnight bus from Dubai. I stayed at the Dabab by Warwick which was decent enough without being particularly outstanding – there should be a review in the works sooner or later so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I took a few hours sleep as I had very little on the bus, but didn’t want to waste my time in Riyadh so was soon up and about to try and see a thing or two in the rest of the day with only one more day to get into the Saudi capital.

They were working on and I am sure are still working on a metro system in Riyadh and here and there you see where the stations are. In fact, of all the cities I have visited in the past, Riyadh in February 2023 takes the cake for the city MOST under construction that I have ever seen. There is a clear feeling that the Saudis are transforming their country right now – they are building a futuristic megacity in the north that you may have heard of. So it’s not surprising that the capital is undergoing a serious facelift right now. A metro is definitely going to help transport in the city.

I used a mixture of Uber (and the one Careem trip) along with the local buses, run by SAPTCO who are the biggest bus company connecting cities in Saudi and beyond. Luckily there was a bus stop pretty much outside my hotel. My first destination was the Kingdom Centre, the tallest building in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom Center and the ‘Globe’

The bus went through what at least felt like a ‘downtown’ and past the impressive looking Al Faisaliyah Centre, which is an impressive modern building with a large ball at the very top of it known as the ‘Globe Experience’. I feel like one tall building is enough per city, and I had decided already on the Kingdom Centre, but I would pass the globe a number of times when I was in Riyadh and it’s an unmistakable landmark of the city!

The Kingdom Centre is this tall building attached to a very swanky shopping mall with shops you might not expect to see in Saudi – such as Victoria’s Secret. To go up the tower it costs 69 Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) or around $18USD. So that’s about what you would pay to go up a tall building here in Australia. They did have the stipulation if no cameras, which is always annoying. I mean, it’s just views of the city you’re going to photograph right? And YET – phones are absolutely and you are more than welcome to use the cameras on said phones. The view is definitely awesome and you get a sense of Riyadh as a long, thin city. Unlike places in Dubai, it’s not very busy and there was no wait time for me. The lift I think is a super fast one!

King Khalid Grand Mosque

From there I went to the King Khalid Grand Mosque. There are obviously a plethora of mosques in the Saudi capital, what prompted me to choose this one I am not sure, it seemed close by but in the Riyadh traffic took 40 minutes to get there from the Kingdom Centre. A few years ago you couldn’t set foot in a Saudi mosque, now that rule is relaxed although I don’t think, as a non-Muslim, every mosque in Saudi Arabia is open to you, but there are mosques that are open to visit and even photograph. In Morocco most mosques are closed to non-Muslims as a contrast.

This one is quite peaceful, not the biggest, or the boldest, but it was peaceful and had a sense of beauty. Waiting for an uber back into town, I got chatting to some friendly mechanics across the road which was cool. And then back into town I had a female Uber driver – unexpected yes, but considering a few years ago females couldn’t drive at all in Saudi Arabia, perhaps this was evidence of change? Talking to my Uber driver of earlier in the day he was young and very happy with the changes and the ‘liberalisation’ of Saudi Arabia and said the Prince was full steam ahead of it and those who opposed it were… well not going to be tolerated I guess. I finished the evening just doing a bit of walking downtown before taking the bus back to the hotel.

Alsafat Square & Masmak Fortress

The next day I was out and about again and taking a bus in the opposite direction from my hotel this time to start my day of touring with a visit to the Masmak Fortess. Turns out it was a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the fortress, across some very busy roads in the middle of all the construction. And then I got a bit lost. But I got there in the end.

Soon though I found myself in the big and empty Alsafat Square. This part of town looks specially manicured for tourists, historic but all restored. Right next to the square was the Iman Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque, also quiet and closed. The square had some functioning fountains and palm trees, waiting for the tourists to come it seemed.

Masmak Fortress, dating back to the 19^th century, was not far away. It’s a classic fortress structure constructed with mudbrick. Inside was well conditioned and a bit of a museum, all in all it wasn’t a great visit, but it did shine a little light onto the city’s past, which to be fair is kinda hard to see with all the skyscrapers and new buildings around.

The National Museum

So I walked a lot through Riyadh. A LOT! And this was in many ways the bulk of the day. I passed the Riyadh Water Tower which apparently is a landmark about town, had a shave at a barber’s on my way to the impressive National Museum.

It’s right next to a small amusement park (closed) and I think is part of the university. A large modern building, friendly staff and lots to see and learn about Saudi Arabia and Islam, as well as a section on the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, not to mention a chance to learn a bit about the prophet Mohammed and the history of the religion, so this one I thought was definitely worth it.

Given another day I would have headed out to the east side of town where there is a large park and apparently a number of impressive mosques. But I think I got a good sample of what the city is like. I wasn’t really planning on visiting Riyadh originally, I was going to fly in and out of Jeddah as a side trip from Dubai before crossing the Arabian Sea to Iran, but concerns about getting the visa and unrest in Iran at the time of preparation had me going in another direction, so I took the chance to cross by land and to take a glimpse at this city! I’m glad I did.

Next week I’ll be sharing a bit of Jeddah with you, probably over 2 or 3 posts as there’s a bit there including a snorkelling excursion into the Red Sea. Thanks for popping by today, take care wherever you are, and May the Journey Never End!