Are you tired of visiting the same vacation spots? Do you want to experience new adventures somewhere your friends and favorite travel vloggers have yet to try? The answer may be a place you’ve never considered touring — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
With over 432,000 Filipinos employed in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2023, the Middle Eastern State is often seen as an employment haven for Overseas Filipino Workers. However, it has become more than this.
Saudi Arabia has quickly become an entertainment spot through its investment in tourism and non-oil sectors. It boasts huge sporting events such as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and the WWE Crown Jewel Championship (they even have Cristiano Ronaldo playing for one of their football clubs!).
The state has also held concerts featuring Post Malone, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Steve Aoki, and Linkin Park. But how did it change from its conservative and modest atmosphere to an open environment of celebration and ambition?
With Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, most people see the country’s character as one of discipline and adherence to religious principles. This included regulations on social behavior, dress codes, and gender roles with public gatherings mostly restricted to male attendants.
The government’s Saudi Vision 2030 program, however, opened the state to a more flexible and vibrant society. The vision outlines a modern Saudi Arabia with a diversified economy and less reliance on oil while embracing its cultural traditions. This has led to investments in the tourism and entertainment industry.
Having more destinations to accompany its oldest tourist spots such as the Edge of the World and Riyadh’s Sand Dunes, the capital city has become an attraction for people all over the world.
In 2023 alone, the country reached an extraordinary achievement of 100 million tourists.
So here’s a look into some of the exciting places awaiting the curious in Riyadh, the heart of Saudi Arabia.
Pro tip: visit Saudi in the winter season to experience the desert’s cool temperatures to supplement the experience!
Riyadh Seasons
You cannot go to Riyadh without visiting the exhilarating festivities that Riyadh Seasons offers. In the winter season, this project becomes the center of Riyadh entertainment.
Typically held from October through March, it provides seasonal events in dispersed zones. Here’s a look at some of them:
Boulevard City is the perfect starting point for your Riyadh journey. As a free-admission amusement park with country-themed destinations, the mini-city has nine subzones with various music events, sports, performing arts, and restaurants.
Its multi-themed experiences range from stepping into the ring in the WWE Experience, racing with your friends in Doos Karting, or testing your skills in the Squid Game Virtuals. Last season, you could step into Hogwarts through their Harry Potter: A Riyadh Season Adventure experience.
If you want to crank it up a notch, you can visit Boulevard World. Without spending more money on plane tickets, this park allows you to journey through different civilizations with cultural exhibitions, restaurants, and shops from Japan, India, France, the USA, and more.
Boulevard World has so much to offer, and you’ll need multiple days to complete the whole adventure. The attractions include the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids of Giza, Pagoda-inspired tower replicas, and even King Kong!
You can also try out Wonder Garden, a seasonal-themed amusement park to enjoy rides for a family experience or a fun date night.
For the 2024-2025 season, it adopted a magical garden theme filled with vibrant flowers, flamingos, and butterflies to color your holiday.
Riyadh malls
Other than the Riyadh Seasons, tourists could also shop around the extravagant malls that offer everything you could ask for.
Riyadh’s malls are famous for their retail options from luxury brands to everyday wear and various restaurants offering cuisines from all over the world. Visitors can also watch the latest blockbuster hits in their charming cinemas.
Whether it’s the all-inclusive Riyadh Park Mall, the vast Al-Nakheel Mall, or the lavish Kingdom Centre Tower, Riyadh’s malls have got it all for you.
Diriyah
If you want to get away from the bright shops and the crowded malls, you can visit Diriyah, a UNESCO world heritage site that showcases Saudi Arabia’s rich history.
Aside from its stunning nature and unique architecture, Diriyah offers live performances, galleries, and festivals. It also has restaurants that provide incredible views of the birthplace of Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh metro
Getting around isn’t a problem, either. While the Philippines may have some old mass transit systems that have limited routes, the Riyadh Metro is quite the opposite.
The capital just finished its first rapid transit system offering six lines and a whopping 85 stations. As the longest driverless metro in the world, Riyadh’s high-tech trains boast speed and efficiency at a fair price of SAR 4 (P62) for two hours. You can travel to any of their stations in any of their metro lines so long as it’s within two hours of your ticket purchase.
The metro lines are divided by color. Using the Blue Line, you can travel to Al-Olaya, the busy business and shopping hub where the Kingdom Centre is located.
The Yellow Line is connected to the King Khalid International Airport with stops at Terminals 1-2 and 3-4. You can literally take the train to the airport!
The Purple Line can take you to Riyadh’s neighborhoods and suburban hubs, while the Red Line reaches the King Fahd Sports City Stadium, which will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup. It’s also where K-pop king BTS performed in 2019.
Projects to look forward to
Even with all the destinations, Saudi’s ambition flourishes as it aims to pioneer more projects and events in the entertainment industry.
King Salman Park is slated to be the world’s largest urban park. The Riyadh Sports Boulevard mega-project will also be “divided into seven zones catering to different activities like cycling, arts and culture, environmental sustainability, and more.”
Construction has already begun for the Mukaab, a $50-billion investment for the world’s largest building designed as a perfect cube.
The Kingdom is clearly pulling out all the stops to become a center for tourism. So, start booking your tickets to Riyadh where ancient traditions meet modern ambitions filled with the friendliest people ready to greet you salam alaykum! – Rappler.com