Quick trip to Saudi Arabia: Where to go?
 

I will be in Qatar for three weeks in Oct/Nov and can easily do a few days in Saudi Arabia. Any suggested places to go to get a flavor of the country? Have been to Islamic countries before but not here. Can drive in or fly in and then rent a car but want to see a bit while I am in the region. Thanks. Al

I've been to a lot of Islamic counties and a lot of kooky countries and I've been seriously exploring a trip to KSA. I highly doubt anyone here has been; there doesn't seem to be any trip reports. It's almost impossible to get good info about KSA travel on any internet site, and I'm struggling to figure out how to put together a trip. TripAdvisor's KSA forum is very active, but it's almost entirely Muslims discussing Umrah/Hajj. There are a few blogs / trip reports here and there on the internet, but it's hard to get a sense of the logistics.

For a quick trip, from my research, it seems like Riyadh --> Al Ula --> Jeddah would be the standard itinerary. Seems like it's easier to fly to between all those places. That's what I've been looking into. But I don't know; I've never been.

Ten years ago I was "sort of" in SA, on a ship heading for the Suez Canal. While we stopped at the port of Jeddah to unload freight, we (the lone 2 passengers) weren't allowed off the ship. But I still remember it fondly, never having seen water that color before, the photo below unedited. Good luck on your trip and thinking there may be more for a visitor to enjoy in the UAE.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...50bc991779.jpg

I lived in Saudi Arabia for three years and it's the last place I'd return to for a visit.

Are you a scuba diver by chance?

I can highly recommend Oman as an alternative. Fascinating country.

Agree there seems little info out there, maybe due to lack of general interest in this place. I am not investing much effort since I am not investing much time on the ground there or the money that comes with travel. I may just fly in, get a car and look around and buy something that is locally made and of the culture. The wife is worried about dress code but we have done other Islamic countries and she has a chador we could take.
Maybe drive into Bahrain if it is possible to get another passport stamp!

Never been there personally, but years ago had a job where we were sending people to Saudi Arabia with official passports to assist during the Iran - Iraq war, when they were worried the conflict would spread to SA. Saudi Arabia has never had a tourist industry (except for hajjis), but recently they are trying to change that. My impression is that the northwestern region of the country is where they are concentrating. A new project that is far from completion is the futuristic NEOM:

https://www.neom.com/en-us

We'd often drive to Bahrain from Saudi for a break from, well, Saudi. In Bahrain we could buy and eat pork and drink alcohol. It's far more interesting from a tourist perspective as well. At least it was for those of us expats who lived in Saudi. The souks in Bahrain are well worth a visit - especially the gold souks.

A visitor may choose his places and things to experience, increasing the chance for a positive time. Living brings in a lot more that a visitor misses, both good and bad. Lie is too short to live in such a place when there are more attractive options.
Not a diver.

Since the distances are manageable, we are likely to do a drive in from Doha and head over to Bahrain and see some of SA along the way. We simply have too much time and Doha is not worth a month, for sure.
Have spent two weeks in Oman, saw a bit of the UAE (Dubai, Fujairah) so these are the last two to check out. My wife would spend two weeks in a souq if i gave her the chance!

Not sure I would support that project but they have to find something to spend their hard earned (!!) money on. Less ambitious projects might make more sense to me.

I cannot find this with Ann online search, but is there, or was there not, an area of Saudi that was known as the Happy Valley, or the Green area, or something like that, near the border with Yemen..maybe mountainous and with forests?? And no, I am not confusing this with the long-ago Happy Valley in Kenya...