Holiday in Riyadh

About Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital of a country in radical change — a 4.2 million metropolis in the midst of the Arabian desert, transforming from an ultra-conservative city closed to tourists into one of the world's most ambitious travel destinations. Since Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas in 2019, Riyadh is opening up at breathtaking speed: concerts by international stars, Formula 1 races, wrestling events, and Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the country from oil into the entertainment and tourism industry. The old town of Ad-Diriyah, the birthplace of the Saudi dynasty and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is Riyadh's historical jewel: mud-brick palaces and fortresses in Najdi style, which have reopened as a cultural district with museums, restaurants, and galleries after years of restoration. The Masmak Fortress in the heart of the city marks the place where in 1902 the young Abdulaziz ibn Saud conquered the city, laying the foundation for modern Saudi Arabia — a dramatic storm, the spearhead of which is still stuck in the wooden door. The National Museum of Saudi Arabia, one of the best museums in the Middle East, spans 28,000 square meters and covers 7,000 years of Arab history — from prehistoric rock art to the pre-Islamic kingdom of the Nabataeans to the founding of the modern state. The Edge of the World (Jebel Fihrayn), a dramatic cliff 90 kilometers outside the city, offers perhaps the most spectacular view in Saudi Arabia: a 300-meter deep cliff drops vertically into an endless desert plain stretching to the horizon — at sunset, a sight that takes your breath away.