Home to a lovely, historic city, bustling fairs, skyscrapers, young hipsters, and many natural beauties simply beyond the city, Riyadh is quite different. Below are 11 must-visit places to enhance your experience of Riyadh.
11. Masmak Fort
Controlling the Old City center, Masmak fort is among the many mud-brick forts you can find throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Yet, this one is incredibly big and holds a gorgeous museum that showcases the history of Riyadh.
Built-in 1865, the fort was in the exact area where the Battle of Riyadh happened, a battle that helped Ibn Saud recapture Riyadh, hence creating the Third Saudi State, which developed into contemporary Saudi Arabia.
The entryway is free.
10. Deera Square
Just throughout the Masmak Fort area, you discover Deera Square, commonly called Chop Square by Westerners.
This is where public executions, such as beheading, occur and you can actually base on the precise spot where they really stroll and take place over the blood drainers, where you can see dried blood permanently stuck onto them.
A long time earlier, executions used to occur here practically every Friday after the primary prayer but, today, they are ending up being less and less frequent, to the level that, obviously, they hardly take place once a year.
Immigrants might also go to executions and, actually, if the authorities saw you wandering around, they would put you in the front to pity the individual to be carried out.
Please note that this is among the delicate places to visit in Riyadh, so be respectful and don't remain around the blood drainers for a very long time or the regional authorities might approach you.
Remember that, in Saudi, the web is censored and, if you want to access obstructed sites, you will require a VPN.
9. Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque
One of the biggest mosques in Saudi Arabia is found right next to Deera Square.
As non-Muslims, we believed it would be impossible to get in but we still gave it a try and they enabled us to visit it, consisting of the hoping hall, which can accommodate around 17,000 worshippers.
It's significant and definitely worth a checkout.
8. National Museum of Saudi Arabia
From the Stone Age males to the very first understood Arabian Kingdom in 5300 BC and the history of the trip in Capital, the National Museum takes you through the Arabian Peninsula's history and location over millennia.
It only costs 10SR and enables yourself around 2 hours to visit it.
The museum should be open every day, all day until 8 pm, except on Friday, when it is only open from 4 pm.
7. Sky bridge at Kingdom Center
The Kingdom Center is one of the most iconic buildings in Riyadh.
This steel-made and 99-story high-rise building, which appears like a bottle opener is open to the general public and you can in fact go to the top.
Part of the structure is the 4 Seasons high-end hotel and the ground floor has a high-end shopping mall where you will see a great deal of Saudi ladies shopping in the many expensive shops.
The cost of going to the top is 60SR.
6. Ad Diriyah Old City
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What utilized to be where the first Saudi State was established in 1744 is today a newly renovated, enormous ruined city, filled with museums, where many occasions and activities occur.
In fact, in December 2018, Advertisement Diriyah held the Formula E occasion, the very first occasion ever celebrated that enabled travelers to get a travel visa to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Some females wearing the standard method, during a cultural celebration in Advertisement Diriyah-- Go To Riyadh
Apart from the race, they likewise arranged some cultural events focused on showing the standard, local culture to all global visitors and, as far as I understand, more occasions will take place.
Ad Diriyah district is big, so save half day at least. The location is surrounded by plenty of cafés and restaurants, so you do not require to worry about that.
5. Edge of the World
This is the most popular place to visit around Riyadh. A 300-meter rocky cliff that neglects a massive desert plain, visible as far as the eye can see, the Edge of the World is an amazing location to enjoy sundown.
It is found around 90km from Riyadh and, as soon as you get in the valley, you will drive through camel herds, Bedouin camps and, if you are lucky and you come throughout the rainy season, in December and January, the landscape will be remarkably green.
We recommend you come here on a weekday, as it gets quite crowded on weekends.
We came here in a routine vehicle and, when we returned, all the locals informed us that we were crazy, as there is a big possibility of getting stuck in the sand, but we didn't experience any issue.
Nevertheless, it is hugely recommended to utilize a 4 × 4.
4. Go eat at Turki Al Awal Ibn Abdelaziz Roadway
From modern food trucks selling hipster hamburgers to traditional chai stalls run by local Saudi men, this exceptionally long food street is the place where the younger generation of Saudis hang out, specifically throughout the night on weekends, when the road is definitely loaded. For us, this was one of the most pleasurable things to do in Riyadh, while sitting next to the chai stall.
3. Qusur al Muqbil Old City
In my viewpoint, among the top things to see in Riyadh is visiting an incredibly random mud-brick deserted village which we discovered by the simple possibility when we were searching for the camel trail on the map, these ruins contain an ancient mosque and an old palace made of mud whose columns still stand.
There are no signs and no one looking after it, making it even more special because you can climb over all the buildings to make the best images.
2. Camel Path
There are many camel tracks around Riyadh, yet, Camel Path 1 (location on the above map) is the most spectacular because it is located in an awe-inspiring location, as you can see it from a cliff.
A camel path is absolutely nothing besides a camel caravan that was used by the camels to go up the various hills on their way to Riyadh.
This place is really quite similar to the Edge of the World and the views from it are also spectacular, with the small difference that here you do not see an endless plain but you in fact see quite rocky mountains.
The Camel Path is another of the really great things to do around Riyadh.
1. Red Sand Dunes
Well, like in a lot of Gulf Monarchies, a safari trip to the desert is something you can't miss out on, and, simply 75km of Riyadh, you can discover some quite cool dunes that turned red during the lovely light of sundown.
You don't need a 4 × 4 since you can park beside the dunes and then stroll but, if you wish to venture deep into the dunes, you won't just need one however likewise some previous sand driving experience.
Some companies can schedule a complete desert trip, consisting of sleeping in a Bedouin camp and falconry.
