Back in March, I posted about my trip to Khobar and Bahrain along with a detailed step by step guide of the requirements and the journey. This morning I drove to Saudi again but this time I headed to Riyadh. I left my apartment in Salmiya around 6:20 AM and made it to our office in Riyadh by 12:40 PM. This included a bunch of tops along the way for treats, fuel, bathroom breaks and photography. Not too bad.
The most surprising thing was the fact that 95% of the trip was on a two-lane two-way road. Right after I entered Saudi, Google Maps made me exit the main road onto a small side road. I thought it must have mixed up or that this small road would lead to the large highway but it didn’t. The road stayed that way till I got to Riyadh. It was pretty freaky at first since cars would be speeding toward me going over 120km/h and I’m just hoping they don’t hit me head on. But after an hour into the trip, there were no more cars on the road. It was very serene.
It was such a nice drive and the scenery was pretty nice in some parts. There was one long strip of road that lasted maybe two hours where there was nothing around except for red sand dunes. No people, no gas stations, no buildings, nothing. It felt great being out there alone.
The trip didn’t feel like it was 6 hours long and I would definitely recommend it if you like to drive.
30 replies on “Road Trip to Riyadh”
Please bring back the wide roads of Al Khobar and the Eastern province with you on your return.
Hi Mark
What was the Visa process like to enter Saudi these days?
I already had multiple entry visa so process was easy for me.
There were only two cars at the border and everything was fairly quick.
Did you at least have cell phone signal in those two hours with no buildings/gas stations? What do you do in the heat if your vehicle breaks down or there’s an emergency?
yeah there was phone signal
Actually I just remembered that there was also Internet because I had a conference call on zoom
Oh cool, Kuwait roaming data?
Yup with zain
if you have time visit Al Baha City Saudi Arabia. one of the places where the weather is pretty chilled like 24 degree Celsius during the day and 12 or 10 in the night. Sounds crazy where riyadh jeddah would be above 45 degree.
It’s an 9 hour drive in the opposite direction of Kuwait 😅😅
https://248am.com/mark/kuwait/where-in-kuwait-can-i-find-matabbag-مطبق/
Worth passing by Dammam on the return just for this 😍
That I can do! Find me one on the route back to Kuwait from Riyadh. Heading out now from here lol
It’s fairly common in all regular Mata’ams, there are plenty anywhere in Dammam… you’ll have to drive 5 min max into the city because the Riyadh – Kuwait highway just grazes the outside of Dammam (unless there are some restaurants along the route)
“This included a bunch of tops along the way for treats” – ayo hol’ up
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Any update on the speeding ticket from your last trip?
Last I checked still hadn’t shown up
You took the faster and emptier road. There is another road through Damam which is longer but is much safer and has many amenities on the road.
Can you show me on the map? I’m heading back now a slightly different route which skips the middle part that was a dead zone, this one has fuel stations along the way but the other one was faster
That’s right. Google maps will not give you the safest way.
Try not to choose the shortest way or try to check other available ways using another navigation apps like “HERE WE GO”. they are much better than google maps when it comes to navigation.
You can see it on Google maps on the right of Riyad which is called Damam Road (80). This will take you heading to Damam and you’ll just turn a left before arriving to Damam to head to Kuwait.
Ah that’s the one I just took. I preferred the other road, a lot more fun to drive on.
They say theres’s another route through dammam I never used it cause google maps always took me on the one you went on
It’s dangereous cause camels cross a lot. Thank fully you’re traveling during the day but at night it is insaneeee cause there’s no street lights until you reach riyadh. I went once in rain at night and it was the most challenging 6 hours driving ever
I just drove back from Riyadh yesterday and made it door to door in 4.5 hours. Set cruise on 200 km though ✌️
Why do you keep going to Saudi?
Work
I am planning to visit Damman via road from Kuwait, base on your experience please advise
Any particular car check of needed?
Any items to keep in the car? I am planning a small gallon of water, drinking water and biscuits.
Which internet pacakge to take so can use map throughout they journey?
Any other advice
Check my previous post which I’ve linked to
Dears can we have google maps to go from riyadh to kuwait via damam road.. maps doesnt give an option to take damam road.
Add damam as a stop before kuwait