Until 2019, visas to enter Saudi Arabia were largely restricted to pilgrims and expatriate workers, but the kingdom is now hoping to attract tourists as part of its effort to diversify its oil-dependent economy. Its dismal human-rights record might well put you off, said Lisa Grainger in The Sunday Times, but there have been some modest improvements. Amnesty International still reports arbitrary detentions, death sentences for rights advocates, and other horrors, but Riyadh's "mausoleum- like" Deera (or "Chop Chop") Square hasn't seen a public beheading since 2022, and women can now drive without a male chaperone.
As a Zimbabwean, I have "witnessed the negative effects of international isolation on a country", so I decided that I would visit. The visa form told me I must respect the country's "Islamic traditions" – which meant "covering up" and abstaining from alcohol – but I was allowed to wear a swimsuit at the pool, leave my head uncovered, and travel alone with a male Saudi guide.
My trip started in Riyadh. It is a city of glitzy shopping malls and traffic jams, but the nearby mud-walled city of Diriyah is beautiful. Heavily restored since its listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2010, its old centre, At-Turaif, is a "maze of old buildings and museums" that gets very lively in the evenings – "a bit like Covent Garden", but without the drunks. I was also impressed by the "subversive" art on display at the "polished" Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale. At the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, which is the site of Mohammed's tomb, pilgrims gather in diverse traditional attire, lending the scene a timeless quality.
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And the ancient site of Hegra is unmissable. The second- largest city of the first century Nabataean kingdom (after Jordan's Petra), it includes 131 "magnificent" rock-cut tombs, and there are some luxurious new hotels nearby, which are good bases for desert adventures including hiking, e-biking and air ballooning.
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