Riyadhالرياض

Riyadh sits on the Najd plateau in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula, on the edge of a broad valley, Wadi Hanifah. The area was settled long before the modern kingdom: the old town of Hajr al-Yamama stood here in the early Islamic period, and the name Riyadh, meaning gardens, refers to the oases fed by the wadi. For centuries it was one small walled town among many in central Arabia.

The story that matters for today's city begins at Diriyah, on the north-western edge of modern Riyadh. In 1727 Muhammad bin Saud became ruler there and founded what is called the first Saudi state. Diriyah grew as a capital, but in 1818 forces sent by the Ottoman governor of Egypt besieged and destroyed it. A second Saudi state, with Riyadh as its capital, rose in the 19th century and fell to rivals in the 1890s, and the family went into exile in Kuwait.

In January 1902 Abdulaziz ibn Saud, then in his twenties, led a small band into Riyadh at night and took the Masmak Fortress, the clay-brick stronghold of the ruling rival, in a short fight. That capture began the campaign that unified most of the peninsula. In 1932 Abdulaziz proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh became its capital, a role it has kept ever since.

Oil changed everything. It was discovered in the 1930s, exported in volume from the late 1940s and reshaped Riyadh from a walled town into a sprawling modern city. Old mud-brick quarters gave way to wide avenues, and the city grew north and west. In the 2010s and 2020s the national programme called Vision 2030 has tried to diversify the economy away from oil: a metro, museums, the restoration of Diriyah, a tourist visa from 2019, and mega-events.

Reading Riyadh on the ground means moving between those layers. The clay walls of Masmak and the lanes of Souq Al Zal are the memory of 1902. The mud-brick district of At-Turaif is the first state, now a UNESCO site since 2010. The King Abdulaziz Historical Centre and the National Museum are the 20th-century official story, and the glass towers of Olaya are the present.

Riyadh is a huge, flat, low-density city built for cars. It spreads across a plateau about 600 metres above sea level, with long straight avenues, few natural landmarks and very little on foot between districts. The practical way to see it is by clusters: a small area for a morning, a car to the next.

The old core, Al Batha and Deira, is south of the modern centre. It holds Masmak Fortress, Souq Al Zal, the coffee houses and breakfast shops, and the Great Mosque. The lanes are narrow and the pavements uneven, but it is the most human-scale part of the city and the best place for a first morning. Al Batha is also where the cheaper hotels sit.

Murabba, a little to the north-west of the old core, is the site of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, which includes the National Museum, opened in 1999, and the Murabba Palace, built by King Abdulaziz in the 1930s as his main residence. It is air-conditioned, planned and calm, and it pairs well with the old core in a single day.

The modern spine runs north along Olaya Street and King Fahd Road. It holds the Kingdom Centre, the Al Faisaliah tower, big malls, business hotels and most of the restaurants and cafés. The Kingdom Centre, completed in 2002, is 302 metres tall and has a viewing bridge near the top. This is where most visitors sleep.

Diriyah is a separate world to the north-west. The mud-brick district of At-Turaif has been restored and opened as a heritage site, and the Bujairi Terrace next to it has restaurants and cafés. Further north is the King Abdullah Financial District, and out to the west lies Wadi Hanifah, the valley whose gardens and paths are a pleasant evening walk. Distances are large: Olaya to Masmak is about 25 minutes, Olaya to Diriyah about 35 to 50, more at peak.

At-Turaif, the district of Diriyah that was the seat of the first Saudi state, is the best place in the region to understand traditional Najdi architecture. Najdi buildings are made of mud brick on stone foundations, with thick walls that keep out the heat, narrow windows, wooden doors and roof parapets in a triangular pattern. The compounds are built around courtyards, with rooms that open inward rather than onto the street.

The district was largely left to decay after 1818 and then restored in stages. Today it is a cluster of palaces, mosques and houses set on a ridge above Wadi Hanifah, with the Salwa Palace at its heart. UNESCO listed At-Turaif in 2010, and the restoration has continued with new museums, paths and the Bujairi Terrace restaurants next door.

It is a place to visit in the late afternoon. In the heat of the day the mud-brick walls throw back the sun, and the paths are sand and gravel. From about 16:30 in the cool season the light turns a warm brown, the shadows lengthen and the site fills with families. Buy tickets ahead on the official site and check the last entry time.

The Bujairi Terrace, a row of restaurants facing At-Turaif, is the standard place for dinner. It is expensive by Riyadh standards, so book ahead, especially Thursday to Saturday and during Riyadh Season, and arrange the car home before you sit down.

For more of the same architecture inside the city, the Masmak Fortress and the Murabba Palace are also Najdi in style, and the National Museum has a gallery on the first Saudi state. Outside Riyadh, the historic oasis towns of Al Ula and the Red Sea old town of Jeddah, Al-Balad, are different styles again and each needs its own trip.

Saudi food is centred on rice, meat, bread and dates, and it is served generously. The national dish is kabsa, rice cooked with chicken or lamb, tomato, dried lime and spices, served on a large platter to share. Mandi, from the Yemeni tradition, is meat slow-cooked in a pit or oven over smoky rice. Jareesh, a stew of cracked wheat with meat, is a Najdi speciality.

Breakfast is more modest and very good. Foul, stewed fava beans dressed with oil, lemon and chilli, is eaten with tamees, a thick flatbread baked in a tandoor-style oven, alongside eggs, cheese and karak tea. Breakfast shops in Al Batha do it all quickly and cheaply, and most close by late morning.

Coffee is a ritual, not just a drink. Saudi coffee, qahwa, is a pale, cardamom-spiced brew served in small handleless cups from a pot, dallah. The host pours a little into the cup, you drink it, and it is refilled until you shake the cup gently from side to side to say you have had enough. It is almost always served with dates, of which the country grows dozens of kinds, from soft sukkari to prized ajwa.

Riyadh also has a large modern café and restaurant scene, with specialty coffee, desserts and international cooking, and it is where the young population goes in the evening. Because there is no alcohol anywhere in the country, cafés, mocktails and juice bars fill the space that bars fill elsewhere, and many stay open very late. Shisha lounges are also popular.

Practical points: restaurants and cafés pause for about half an hour at each of the five daily prayers, and during Ramadan they open after sunset. Eat with your right hand, accept coffee when it is offered, and check whether a service charge and 15% VAT are added to the bill. Fast food is also a genuine local favourite: Al Baik, a Saudi fried-chicken chain, has queues at lunch.

Saudi Arabia is a conservative country with its own laws, and it helps to know the main rules before you go. Alcohol is banned and it is illegal to bring it in. Drugs carry severe penalties. Public displays of affection, and any behaviour that could be read as an insult to religion or the state, can lead to trouble. Drones need a permit, and photographing government buildings, military sites and airports is not allowed.

Dress is modest. In 2019 the government told visitors, including women, that an abaya is not compulsory, but loose clothing that covers shoulders and knees is expected in public. Men should avoid shorts in most settings and women should bring loose long trousers or skirts and tops with sleeves. A light scarf is useful for mosques, although non-Muslims do not normally enter working mosques.

Prayer shapes the day. There are five prayers, and at each one shops, cafés and some attractions pause for about 20 to 30 minutes. Times change through the year and are listed in phone apps. Friday is the main day of prayer and the start of the weekend; many places open late on Fridays.

During Ramadan, the month of daytime fasting, it is illegal to eat, drink or smoke in public between dawn and sunset, even for visitors. Opening hours shift to the afternoon and late evening, and after sunset the city comes alive with family meals. Eid al-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha are long public holidays when hotels, flights and roads are busy.

Gender rules have relaxed. Women can travel and stay in hotels independently, and can be in most public places without a male companion. Some older restaurants and coffee houses keep separate sections; the practical approach is to ask at the door. Public behaviour is calm, hospitality is warm, and visitors who follow the basics are treated with courtesy. Check your government's travel advice and the current visa rules before you book.

Riyadh has a hot desert climate. From October to March the days are warm and pleasant, around 20 to 30 degrees, with cool nights that can fall to single figures in January. From May to September it is very hot, often 40 degrees and above by the afternoon, with strong sun and little shade. Outdoor sightseeing in the summer is a morning-and-evening activity, and the middle of the day is for air conditioning.

Spring brings dust storms. A shamal wind can lift fine sand and cut visibility to a few hundred metres for a day or two. They are more of a nuisance than a danger, but they can spoil a viewpoint visit and irritate asthma. Rain is rare but heavy when it comes, and flash floods can turn low roads into rivers within minutes.

For getting around, use ride-hailing cars. Uber and Careem both work in Riyadh, prices are low by Western standards, and the fare and driver are shown in the app. Between clusters, count on 20 to 50 minutes depending on traffic. Roads are wide and fast, drivers are assertive and pedestrian crossings are few, so do not plan on walking except within a cluster.

A new metro network has been opening in stages since late 2024, with six lines planned, and a bus network is expanding. Check the current lines, stations and hours on the day before you rely on them. The airport, King Khalid International, is about 35 kilometres north of the centre, and the ride to Olaya takes 35 to 60 minutes.

A workable first trip has three anchors: a morning in the old core with Masmak Fortress and Souq Al Zal, an indoor midday at the National Museum, and Diriyah in the last light with dinner at the terrace. Add the Kingdom Centre and a mall on the last day. Plan around prayer times, the season and the car, and the city becomes easy.