The Art of Travelling Saudi Arabia

The Art of Travelling Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a land of diverse culture and landscape. Before, Saudi Arabia only used to grant visas to Muslims for the pilgrimage purpose but now the kingdom has started to offer tourist visas to boost their tourism industry. Saudi Arabia has been working on their tourism industry to digress their economic dependency on the oil industry and immerge as the biggest tourism destination in the Middle East. This is the reason why Saudi Arabia has started to highly invest in the tourist attraction sites and is working on preserving the ancient monuments. Muslims can now book Umrah packages and visit all these tourist sites along with performing Umrah. Umrah packages are quite convenient and allow you to choose the itinerary of your own choice.

Planning a trip to Saudi Arabia and packing accordingly is a quiet challenging task on its own. There are several factors that can either make your trip a successful one or ruin it completely. This guide describes certain methods that you can opt for in order to make sure that your time in Saudi Arabia is enjoyable and you don’t spend your days worrying about the situations that you might occur due to the mismanagement.

Getting to Saudi Arabia

There are a lot of way to travel to Saudi Arabia but the quickest and most affective one is to travel through air. There is a whole bunch of international airports that include Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Tabuk and Abha. The point that you choose to arrive at will depend on the flight routes from your departure points and the region that you want to explore. Usually, the online portals show you all the cheapest routes to a destination country and has the prices for all the regional budget Saudi Airlines such as Flynas and Flyadeal.

Best time to visit Saudi Arabia

There are a lot of factors that determine that whether your trip will be enjoyable or disastrous. One of the most important factors is the time at which you choose to travel to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The overall best time to visit Saudi Arabia is outside of the summer season as the desert is arid and has a pretty dry and hot weather throughout the year. The weather is usually pleasant around the winters and mountains also have a quite breezy and cool atmosphere. Several other factors that you must consider in order to have a peaceful and serene experience are mentioned as follows.

1. Geography

The kingdom experiences temperature of up to 40 degrees in summers along with snowy mountains, extreme rain, blanketing fog and much more. If you want to visit a specific region, it is suggested that you check regional forecast.

2. Summers

It is better to avoid visiting Saudi Arabia at the peak of the summer as the temperatures can reach up to 40 degrees and you have to face extreme heat due to the arid desert climate. The winter season is best to travel to Saudi Arabia as a tourist as the temperature will be moderate and you will be able to visit the ancient monuments that are mostly situated in the desert a few miles away from the city. This is why performing Umrah in December is the best option as the crowd density is at an all-time low and the temperature is quiet moderate. British pilgrims can book Book and Umrah visa online through an authorized agency.

3. Mountains

The Asir mountains in the south are lovely in summer and they are also a popular spot for Saudi Arabian residents that are escaping the heat of the summer. Before you visit the mountains, you must check the weather forecast, as the weather could be quite unpredictable and it could be incredibly rainy. This could result in flooded roads and extreme dangerous fog in the mountains. There could sometimes be snow in the mountains while driving through a village.

4. Language in Saudi Arabia

Arabic is the main language of Saudi Arabia but a lot of people speak fluent English so it is quite convenient to get around. If you are someone who is travelling to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the first time, you can opt for the Google Translate as it works quiet well with the camera and photo option.

There are many small local shops that do not have signs in English, unlike the equivalent places in Qatar, UAE and Oman.

Where to stay in Saudi Arabia

In major cities, Saudi Arabia has a whole range of hotels of all standards. In places like Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, there are high-end western options ranging from budget apartments and guesthouses. The concept of hostels is not quite common in Saudi Arabia but there is a huge variety of hotels that you can choose from depending upon the prices, location and amenities that they have to offer.

1) Hotel prices

The accommodation options of a generally high quality can be found in Saudi Arabia. In comparison to the neighboring countries, the hotels in Saudi Arabia were slightly costlier than in the neighboring countries of Jordan and Oman but are slightly on the cheaper side in Qatar and UAE.

2) Smoking Rooms

Some hotels provide you with the smoking rooms as smoking is a quiet popular pastime in Saudi Arabia and often many rooms will have accommodated smokers in before you. You can talk to the hotel staff in advance about this and ask for a non-smoking option.

3) Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is not only popular, but is a fantastic option in Saudi Arabia. You must consider this option if this is something that you are comfortable with and are looking to save some money. Hospitality is next level in Saudi Arabia and couch surfing is an incredible way to experience this.

The true craft of travel in Saudi Arabia is embracing the contrast. It is a place where one can explore ancient petroglyphs in the morning and dine at the Michelin-star restaurant in the evening. It requires practice, and respect for a culture that is moving quickly into the future along with deeply honoring its past. You must navigate the strict cultural norms while embracing the authentic Bedouin hospitality along with exploring the ancient heritage sites and experiencing the rapid modernization of the state under the Vision2030.

Guest Article.