Ideas please... Day or overnight trip. Interested in cultural aspects.

I think the area known as 'Ali Baba's Caves' is an over-nighter from here.

http://www.demotix.com/news/182376/ali-baba-caves-hofuf

I google it, click on the link above .. and whose FACE do I see?  Our very own musicman!!!!!!!!!!!

The closest to Riyadh is the Eastern region, Hofuf (Ali Baba Caves), Dammam, AlKhobar and Jubail. You can eve do a days trip with a possible overnights stay since the driving can be tiring. Approx 400-500 km one way.

The Corniche in Dammam, Khobar and Jubail are also nice places to picnic and get wet in the Arabian Gulf. Food is splendid.

Oh yes, Allie, that was us looking for treasure amongst Ali Baba's booty some years back.

Madain Saleh is another place to visit in the North West but its a long way from Riyadh.

MusicMan, you shocked me mentioning 'Madain Saleh'. As I know it's considered a prohibited & cursed place since couple of centuries. Also the authorities won't allow anyone close in the area after dawn.

Did anyone actually go there?

Many people are still going there, its not forbidden. but its better to go on groupes,its more save.
its really a nice place to go.

Thanks Allie and Musicman.
We are looking at M S towards the end of the year.

Guys, there are planned tours t MS by so many Travel/Tour Operators these days that are widely andopenly advertised everywhere.

Who believes in this hocus pocus anymore? ts the 21 Century, wake up and Live!

It's a long overnight trip, with camping the only accommodation option but Wahba Crater is definitely worth checking out.

It would also b nice to visit the Empty Quarter if there are anu facilities available to camp out there, even for a single night. So many wonderful stories written about them from those brave adventurers who have taken the challenge to cross it on camel back in the early days and 4X4 in recent times.

See this link:

http://www.wynn.org/EmptyQuarter/

"Arabian Sands" by Wilfred Thesiger is a fantastic read about his escapades in the EQ in th 1940s.

Link: http://www.roadjunky.com/article/1061/a … ook-review

For safety reasons most people who do visit the empty quarter go to the piece near the UAE border.  If the Saudi police find you in the empty quarter they will immediately escort you back to Riyadh. 

Consider driving across the border into UAE and then down to the Liwa Oasis.  There is a sealed road heading off into the high dunes from there.

You end up not far from where you would if you approached from the Saudi side (dunes very similar) and the authorities want you to be there!

There are a few more places you can go where there is a huge meteorite crater. I forget the name of the place.

Also, there is a location some where called the 'Valley of Jinns" by the locals. Something wrong with the gravity there i figure. Your car will reach speeds of around 120 inspite of having the ignition turned off....il get back to u with names later. Its Alive!!! Its Alive!!!!!!

The largest and easiest to access crater is Wahba.

There are another 7 old volcano cones within a days drive of it, but there aren't roads to them, so you need properly equipped 4wd with at least 2 spare tyres per vehicle if your thinking of going there.

German expat friends of ours, Gerhard and Elisabeth Henrich, who have been living and working in Riyadh for decades, are into what they call DEGREE CONFLUE which implies that,

"The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures, and stories about the visits, will then be posted here.
"

which may be seen on their website at:-

confluence.org/index.php

Saudi Arabia: confluence.org/country.php?id=9

Hello! Have you been to Madaine Saleh? What is the best way to go there from Riyadh? Plane, car or bus? Do we need visitor permits?thanks.

mounmouny wrote:

Many people are still going there, its not forbidden. but its better to go on groupes,its more save.
its really a nice place to go.

I would advise you not to try to go there on your own. 

I can give you the name of an expat tour group, if you PM me.

I also have a referral of a Riyadh Tour Company who has a good reputation in arranging group tours for Expat around Riyadh and Saudi.  She has arranged a few for people on my compound and they all speak very well about the organising and the experience.  These are single people and families, so that's good to know.  PM me for the details if you want them.

Just been to the Alkhobar Corniche - very nice, relaxed atmosphere - beautiful beach at half moon - recommended

although you can do a day trip would recommend an overnight stay its just over 400km from Riyadh (took just under 4 hrs)

Alliecat and GowiththeflowUK

Hubby and I are very interested in doing some expat tiki touring ourselves.  Will be PM'ing for your contact details.