THE SOLO DRIFTER | Riyadh: Royalty and Ra’ad

I am currently based in Riyadh but apologies if I haven’t written as much about the capital as I have about other cities in Saudi Arabia. With so many new activities and places to explore, keeping up with everything is quite a challenge! Every day, the city surprises me with something new.

Let’s start with the latest developments in Riyadh. This part of my Saudi Arabia Travel Guide series is a work-in-progress, and I look forward to sharing my past trips here and upcoming activities.

Sports Boulevard

The Sports Boulevard inspires residents of Riyadh to adopt a healthy lifestyle through participation in various sports, such as walking, cycling, and horse riding.

The project offers an innovative combination of sports with cultural, artistic, and environmental opportunities, creating a modern destination for the residents.

Wadi Hanifah

The area stretches 29.5 km from Madinah Road in the south to Sadd Al-Alb in the north, passing through the Diriyah Gate area. It features dedicated pathways for pedestrians, horse trails, and cycling tracks for biking enthusiasts.

Promenade

The area has different attractions. The Cycling Bridge is an icon of sustainable mobility. It extends over 900 meters in length and more than 4 meters in width, connecting the Promenade to Wadi Hanifah. The Room is a central pavilion within the Promenade, serving as a peaceful retreat for reflection and connection. It transforms the vibrant energy of the park into a serene oasis. The Thread is an elevated walkway that provides visitors with an interactive experience. It allows them to navigate between levels and viewpoints across the Promenade. The area features various ground seating options, offering a balanced blend of activity and leisure for visitors of all ages.

Sands Sports Park

Embrace the challenge and beauty of sports in the vast desert, and prepare for countless exciting adventures along diverse pathways, all in perfect harmony with nature. It has different features like the Najdi Flower Loop, a professional cycling track which features a total distance of 15km, with a 5km external loop and a 10km internal loop. It also has Jogging Pathways for 20 km. The 8km Mountain Biking Trail caters to Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced riders, plus a Leisure Loop for casual riders and families.

Other Tracks

PNU Internal Cycling Loop is also open for residents and visitors. Under development are Urban Wadi, Entertainment Destination, Athletics Destination, Wadi Al Sulai, Environmental Destination and Al Rimal Sports Park.

Riyadh Public Transport

Riyadh significantly opened its transportation system last 2024.

Honestly, this is the most important development in Riyadh for me. I don’t like driving so having metro is one of the best options for me.

There are six lines.

Line 1 or Blue has 24 stations from SAB Bank to Ad Dar Al-Baida. It is connected to Red Line (Line 2 – King Saud University to King Fahd Sports City) at stc station; Orange Line (Line 3 – Jeddah Road to Khashm Al-an) at Qasr Al Hokm station; Yellow Line (Line 4 – Airport Terminal) and Purple Line (Line 6 – An Naseem is the last station) at KAFD station; Green Line (Line 5 – Ministry of Education) at National Museum.

Tickets

If you are an Uber patron like me. Maybe in a month, it would cost you 2,000 riyals. But with the metro, you can spend only 350 riyals in a month (maximum). Tickets are priced at 4 riyals for a two-hour pass. This means that you can use the pass within two hours within the transport network which includes Riyadh bus. There is a three-day pass which would cost you 20 riyals, seven-day pass for 40 riyals and a 30-day pass for 140 riyals. There is also first class tickets priced at 10 riyals for a two-hour pass, 50 riyals for a three-day pass, 100 riyals for a seven-day pass and 350 riyals for 30-day pass.

When I first used the metro in November 2024, I was only using a prepaid card which I loaded amounting to 100 riyals. The metro ambassadors introduced me to an unlimited one-month pass which costed me only 140 riyals. When I realized that there is a growing number of metro commuters, I decided to take first class pass for a month.

The metro and buses are clean. It gives you comfort to arrive at your destination plus the peace to avoid traffic.

How to buy tickets

You can use your phone or iWatch to pay your rides. You can also buy a card using the machines in each metro or bus station. You also have the option to put your name in the card – just go to the ticketing booth and give your Iqama or national ID to the staff but ensure that you have installed the Darb app on your phone and you have an account there as they will link it to your account. Darb helps you navigate the metro and bus stations from your location to your destination. You may also buy passes using the app.

Saudi Arabia Travel Guide
Al Bahah
Asir Region
Jazan
Hejaz, including Jeddah
Sharqiah (Eastern Region)

About the Author

Paul Michael JaramilloChief Executive Editor

PJ is a CPA, writer, storyteller, environment and youth advocate. As a writer, his articles on national development were published in a Spanish newspaper and local news network Rappler. As a storyteller and environment advocate, his documentary films on mining and environment were featured by ABS-CBN News and GMA News. He launched his career as a CPA at KPMG in the Philippines in late 2015. He started his professional journey as an external auditor of a global workspace provider (the largest audit client of KPMG in the Philippines), global bank, leading MFCG in the Philippines and a number of shared service centres. As an auditor, his team won the KPMG Asia-Pacific Data & Analytics Challenge and coached the Philippine team that placed third to the KPMG GlobalRunner Cup. More than two years later, he led KPMG in the Philippines’ Network of Audit Innovators and Data & Analytics Champions and its academic arm, while serving as a member of the KPMG Asia-Pacific Audit Digital Transformation Workstream. He served as a member of the Audit Methodology Group and Root Cause Analysis Team of KPMG in the Philippines. He was a regular training facilitator of KPMG on audit methodology, innovation, data and analytics, professional standards and regulatory updates. He also served as a coach for newly promoted supervisors. PJ was also the Firm’s System of Quality Management Implementation Manager and a Workforce of the Future Champion. He was also a Sampling Specialist of the Firm. In 2019, PJ was a member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA)’s Technical Working Group on Audit Methodology. PJ led in developing some of the innovative solutions of KPMG in the Philippines. Above all, PJ is a people investor. He invests on people who have potential and talents. That makes him a coach and mentor to some young professionals in the profession and served as a People Committee member of KPMG in the Philippines. He leads advocacy projects that help communities. He produces vlogs thru his YouTube channel, PJspirations which features stories of different individuals. As a volunteer, he is the Academic Master and Head Coach of PREMIER International Learning and Development Center, which provides coaching, mentoring, training and learning programs and platforms that promote growth and development in every individual’s life and career. He is also with the Middle East and Caspian regions of KPMG as a member of its Professional Practice group and Audit L&D for the Saudi Levant Cluster, providing subject matter knowledge and guidance on audit methodology, and learning and development programs to its offices. He is a proud Ilocano and a graduate of Northwestern University.

He also conducts #IamRemarkable sessions, a program initiated by Google for women and underrepresented groups.