A Tourist's Impression of Saudi Arabia
Riyadh Airport
Even though I live relatively close to Saudi Arabia, I have never had the chance to go there although I once had a layover in Riyadh back in 2017. For many years, Saudi Arabia was all but closed to tourism except for people going on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj and Umrah). This was done in order to preserve the culture. However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is more progressive than his father and predecessors and wants to open up Saudi Arabia in an effort to reduce the Kingdom’s dependence on oil production, diversify its economy, and build more tourism infrastructure.
When I heard that Saudi Arabia was opening for tourism, I immediately jumped at the chance since I was not sure when I would next have the chance. I was originally scheduled to travel to Spain in January 2023, but the more I thought about it, the more Saudi Arabia kept appearing in my mind. In the end, I decided to cancel my Spain trip and instead head to Saudi Arabia.
Here are my general impressions of Saudi Arabia as a tourist:
1) Easy E-Visa Access
With this new push to increase tourism, Saudi Arabia has granted e-visa/visa on arrival for nationals of several different countries (the US being one of them). Applying for the e-visa was very easy. You simply provide the basic information that most other visas require and pay the fee of 535 Saudi riyals ($142.67). When I applied, I was approved for a visa within about five minutes, and it is good for one year with multiple entry. When it came to travel day, I made sure to have a couple printed copies of the visa. This was important since the visa was checked by airport staff before being allowed to board.
2) Very Friendly and Hospitable People
One thing that I noticed in Saudi Arabia was that everyone I met was extremely friendly and welcoming. As I walked around, many people asked where I was from, and when I told them, they were very welcoming and often said “Welcome to Saudi Arabia” or something along those lines. On a couple of occasions, I got offered some Arabic coffee and a chance to chat for a bit. Unlike other countries I have been to, in none of those cases did it seem like people were being overly-friendly in order to get something like in other places (i.e. Egypt). The Saudis that I met all seemed genuinely friendly and hospitable and did not ask for money or anything like that.
3) Beautiful Nature
In my opinion, the most amazing part of Saudi Arabia are the nature sites. While people often classify Saudi Arabia as a desolate place (it is), there were some truly amazing nature sites, such as the “Edge of the World” (or at least the part that I saw) and Al Qara Mountain, which is in Al-Ahsa (a couple hours from Riyadh). Because I was only in the country for one week, I did not have much chance to wander all over the place, but I can easily see how the nature in other parts of the country are just as beautiful from what I saw.
4) Interesting Modern and Historical Sites
Despite being a sprawling city, Riyadh is home to some buildings that have amazing and aesthetically pleasing architectural designs. This is most apparent in Kingdom Tower, Faisal Tower, and Al Majdoul Tower, which curves upward. During my time in Riyadh, I had the opportunity to go to the Skybridge at Kingdom Tower both during the day and at night. I also went to the top of Faisal Tower at night, and both of these sites provide amazing views of Riyadh. In my opinion, these are absolute must-do activities during a visit to Saudi Arabia. For visitors who want something more historical, it is possible to visit Murabba Palace, which showcases material from the life of King Abdulaziz, who founded the Saudi state. It is also possible to visit Masmak Fort, which is in old Riyadh. During my time there, the National Museum and Diriyah were both closed but are apparently worth visiting. If I have a chance to visit Saudi Arabia in the future, I definitely plan to check out those two places.
5) Not as Restrictive
For decades, Saudi Arabia was known for its extremely restrictive rules regarding how people act in public and its treatment of women. As part of an attempt to change its image to the world and a more forward-thinking Crown Prince, some of the more restrictive rules have been lifted. During my time in Saudi Arabia, while most of the women wore the black abaya and niqab (covers the face except for the eyes), there was a decent amount of women who simply wore the hijab, and there was even a significant number of women who did not wear any hair covering at all. This would have been unthinkable a few years ago. In addition, throughout the day and at night, I frequently saw women out on their own with no males, and they were mixing at cafes. While I am sure it is much more conservative in small villages and towns, I did not notice anything particularly restrictive while in the country. Even the locals I talked to said that things have changed significantly from ten years ago, so maybe Saudi Arabia is genuinely trying to change its image, which is something I support.
6) Interesting Glimpse of Traditional Life
One of my favorite parts of visiting Saudi Arabia was visiting Souq al Zel in Riyadh on Friday evening and seeing the antique market. In fact, it was interesting for me come upon an auction for old Saudi banknotes that was taking place at that time. Since I collect banknotes myself (not professionally), I watched it for a bit. The entire auction was done in Arabic, but I was able to get the general gist since I do have basic knowledge of the Arabic numbers. I also found it interesting to see old advertisements for Pepsi-Cola in Arabic along with many shops selling Oud, which is wood used for perfume and incense and can be extremely expensive but pleasantly aromatic.
7) Extremely Expensive Tours
While I was generally impressed by Saudi, the day tours I took were not to expectations. I originally had three day tours scheduled, but only two actually happened. The third one got cancelled due to heavy rain in the desert. One thing I can say that I was not a fan of was the price of the tours. In my opinion, the tours are EXTREMELY overpriced and almost extortionate and for a solo traveler and pretty much out-of-reach for a budget traveler. For example, the two tours that I did as a single traveler cost me a total of $1500. For what the service actually was, this was completely overpriced and not worth the price. In addition, the company I did these tours from was definitely misleading with one of the tours. My word of advice is to definitely do your research before booking with a company and be aware that the price will be probably be higher than you might expect. This is something that I genuinely hope the Saudi Tourism Authority will address in the future.
8) Questionable Taxi Drivers
There are questionable/shady taxi drivers in every city and country in the world, so it is not unusual for there to be these types in Saudi Arabia as well. While all taxis come with a meter, some drivers will try to convince people to not use the meter, or they might say the meter is broken, so they will give a price. From what I read, it is always best to insist on the meter, which I did. In general, I found taxis to be quite expensive, and sometimes the drivers began the meter before I even got inside, or they set it to different starting rates despite the fact that it is supposed to be the same rate for night and day and weekday and weekend. I personally can’t help but think some of the taxi drivers took advantage of my lack of knowledge of Riyadh streets since it sometimes seemed like they took longer ways to run up the meter. Unfortunately, since a lot of places are not close in Riyadh, choices for transportation are fairly limited. However, the government is building a metro, so that should hopefully make traveling easier and more accessible.
9) Lack of Tourist Infrastructure
Since Saudi Arabia has recently opened up to mass tourism for the first time, it is not surprising that there is a lack of tourist infrastructure and a lot of contradictory information floating around online. For example, some places online say a place is open, but when you get there, it is closed. For someone who visits Saudi Arabia in the near future, this should be something to expect. However, I am willing to bet that within the next few years, the tourist infrastructure will be more improved, and service will hopefully be more consistent.
10) Definitely Worth Visiting
Even though Saudi Arabia has often had an often negative reputation in the media for a variety of reasons, it is clear they are trying to change their image. This was most apparent by the fact that during a visit to Al Qara Mountain, I was given a gift box that had various items, such as dates, Arabic coffee, various postcards, the Vision 2030 goals, and most uniquely, a copy of the Koran in English along with a book called “This Is Islam.” In addition, after I left the country, the government sent me a survey via email asking me to give feedback on my visit. Of all the countries I have been to, this is the only country that has sent me an email survey requesting feedback on the visit, and how they can improve. This is truly unique and shows they seem genuinely intent on becoming a popular tourist destination on par with Dubai or other places.
Overall, I found Saudi Arabia to be more interesting than I was initially expecting it to be. While it is obvious that the country is trying to really change its image, especially in the eyes of westerners, it still has a long way to go in a variety of ways. However, it will be very interesting to see what Saudi Arabia will be like in five or ten years from now. I will be genuinely curious to see if the country will continue to try and open up.
Have you been to Saudi Arabia recently? What did you think of it?
