Hand-picked tours, honest local detail and everything you need to plan unforgettable days in Riyadh — and the cliffs, dunes and old Najd villages an easy drive beyond it.
Until 2019 Riyadh was a city almost no tourist saw. Today it issues e-visas online, runs one of the world’s newest metro systems and spends its winters hosting concerts, festivals and championship fights. Underneath the cranes it is still the heart of the Najd: a plateau city of palm-filled wadis, mud-brick forts and long, hospitable evenings over cardamom coffee and dates.
A good visit balances three things. The heritage: Diriyah’s UNESCO-listed At-Turaif, Masmak Fortress, the old souqs and a superb National Museum. The modern city: the Sky Bridge at Kingdom Centre, the towers of KAFD and the entertainment districts of Riyadh Season. And the desert, which begins where the suburbs end — above all the cliffs known as the Edge of the World. This guide covers all three, with the practical detail that first-time visitors to Saudi Arabia actually need.
From a walk around the old souqs to a 4x4 run to the Edge of the World — real GetYourGuide products with live prices, real reviews and free cancellation on most.
Desert trip from €28 The most-booked experience in Riyadh, and the cheapest way to reach the Edge of the World without your own 4x4. An afternoon departure, a rough track across the plateau, time to walk along the cliff edge for sunset, then the stars come out before the drive back to the city.
Desert trip from €40 Our pick of the many Edge of the World tours: close to a thousand reviews with a near-perfect score. The drive is the same rough track everyone uses, but the pacing is good, the guides know where to stand for the light, and there is time to explore the rim on foot before the sun drops into the plain.
Walking tour from €29 A short, sociable walk through the oldest part of the city with a local guide: the fortress where modern Saudi history began, Deira Square and the covered lanes of Souq Al Zal, with a pause for cardamom coffee. Inexpensive, easy to fit into an evening and the best introduction to old Riyadh.
Desert safari from €78 A half-day desert safari to the rust-coloured dunes off the Makkah road. Hotel pickup, a session on quad bikes, a camel ride and time to watch the sand change colour at sunset. Closer to the city than the Edge of the World and far less bumpy, so it suits families and anyone short of time.
Heritage tour from €174 Diriyah is easy to reach on your own but much richer with someone to explain it. This small-group tour covers the mud-brick palaces of At-Turaif, the galleries that tell the story of the Al Saud, and the restaurant terraces of Bujairi across the wadi. Check on the booking page whether entry tickets are included.
Desert trip from €49 A longer take on the classic trip that adds a short cave stop and a meal in the desert after dark. A good choice if you want the evening taken care of rather than arriving back in Riyadh hungry at ten at night. Hundreds of reviews and consistently good marks.
Desert safari from €77 The most complete of the half-day dune trips: a 4x4 drive over the dunes, quad bikes, a sandboard to try and a camel ride, finishing at sunset. Review numbers are still modest, but every one of them was top marks when we checked.
City tour from €133 A fuller day in historic Riyadh by car, linking the old quarter around Masmak with King Abdulaziz’s palace at Murabba and the park-like historical centre around the National Museum. A good choice when you would rather not juggle taxis, opening hours and the midday heat yourself.
Real-time prices and open dates, straight from GetYourGuide.
The essential places in and around Riyadh — each with its own guide to what to do, how to get there and which tours cover it.
Diriyah & old Riyadh The mud-brick birthplace of the Saudi state
On the edge of Wadi Hanifah, a short drive from the centre, Diriyah was the first capital of the Al Saud. Its At-Turaif district — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of mud-brick palaces — has been restored as an open-air museum, with the restaurants of Bujairi Terrace facing it across the wadi.
Diriyah & old Riyadh Where the story of modern Saudi Arabia begins
A squat clay-and-mud-brick fort in the middle of old Riyadh, with four round towers and a thick palm-wood gate. In 1902 the young Abdulaziz Ibn Saud stormed it and retook the town — the first step towards the kingdom. Today it is a small museum.
Diriyah & old Riyadh Arabia’s story, from meteorites to the modern kingdom
The National Museum of Saudi Arabia is the best museum in the country and the one indoor sight in Riyadh that nobody should skip. It stands in the gardens of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, beside Murabba Palace, the mud-brick residence King Abdulaziz built outside the old walls in the 1930s.
Modern Riyadh The view from the top of Olaya
The tower with the hole in it is Riyadh’s emblem. A steel sky bridge spans the gap at the top, roughly 300 metres above Olaya, with views over the whole grid of the city. Nearby stands Al Faisaliah, the pointed tower with a golden globe near its tip.
Desert & day trips A 300-metre cliff over an ancient seabed
North-west of Riyadh, the Tuwaiq escarpment ends in sheer cliffs that drop to a plain stretching to the horizon. It is the great day trip from the capital — but the last stretch is a rough off-road track that needs a proper 4x4, and access rules and gate times change.
Desert & day trips Quad bikes and sunsets an hour from town
The rust-red dunes off the Makkah road, west of the city, are Riyadh’s desert playground: quad bikes for hire, camel rides, sandboarding and a soft, warm sunset. An easy half-day even without a 4x4.
Riyadh is enormous and traffic is heavy. Olaya is central, KAFD is on the metro hub, the Diplomatic Quarter is green and calm, and Diriyah puts you beside the mud-brick walls.
The hotel inside Kingdom Centre itself, occupying the middle floors of Riyadh’s best-known tower, with the mall below and the Sky Bridge above. The classic luxury address in Olaya.
The long-established grand hotel at the foot of Al Faisaliah Tower, now under the Mandarin Oriental flag. Polished service and a location in the middle of Olaya’s business strip.
A design-led hotel inside the King Abdullah Financial District, with the district’s walkways, restaurants and metro interchange around it. The livelier, younger option in the north.
The airport, the e-visa, the new metro, Uber and Careem — and how to cross a city this size without losing half a day.
Month by month: the winter festival season, the brief spring, the fierce summer, and how Ramadan changes the rhythm of the city.
Dress and etiquette, money, food and coffee, safety, advice for women travellers and a three-day itinerary.
Riyadh pairs the birthplace of the Saudi state with one of the great desert viewpoints of Arabia. Compare city tours, Diriyah visits and 4x4 desert trips and book in a couple of taps.
Yes, particularly if you are curious about a country that was closed to tourism until recently. Diriyah, the National Museum and the Edge of the World are world-class, the food scene is excellent and the city is changing fast. It suits travellers who like culture and big landscapes more than those looking for beaches or nightlife.
Three days cover the essentials: one for old Riyadh and the National Museum, one for Diriyah and the modern city, and one afternoon and evening for the Edge of the World or the Red Sand Dunes. Add a fourth for a heritage-village day trip or Qiddiya.
Most visitors do, but citizens of several dozen countries can get a tourist e-visa online or on arrival. Rules and the list of eligible nationalities change, so check the official Saudi visa portal before booking. Details are in our getting here guide.
Modest, loose clothing that covers shoulders and knees, for men and women alike. Foreign women are no longer required to wear an abaya or to cover their hair, though you will need a headscarf to enter a mosque. See the travel guide for more.
Only with a proper 4x4 and off-road experience — the final stretch is a rough, unsigned desert track, and access is controlled by gates with changing hours. Most visitors book one of the 4x4 tours from Riyadh.
From November to March, when days are mild, nights are cool and Riyadh Season is in full swing. Summer, from May to September, is extremely hot. See when to visit.
