How to Plan a Saudi Road Trip

As well as lots of mini adventures, my family and I decided that we will do one big road trip every year to celebrate another year spent in Saudi Arabia. Last year after we passed our one year milestone we went on an epic adventure across over 4000 kilometres of stunning Saudi Arabian landscapes. It really was the most amazing adventure for us as a family and the memories will be forever in my heart. In particular Umluj, Alula and Wadi Disah were without a doubt some of the most beautiful and spectacular sights I've ever seen and I wholeheartedly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance.

Road tripping really is the best way to see the amazing landscapes that this country has on offer, however as a family with children who were aged 3 to 8 on our first adventure, it didn't jump out as being the easiest way to travel. Add to that the fact that we have family members with sensory processing disorder who really need a sensory friendly trip in order for us to be able to enjoy it as a family, road tripping does take a huge amount of planning. It is not always easy to plan a road trip here either as there isn't a vast amount of information around. Still, with a little research and planning it really is possible and I hope that everyone who wants to, is able to experience this amazing country by road.

Since I am currently in the process of planning our second road trip I thought I would share with you some of the steps I take to ensure that our trips are super awesome.

Decide where you want to go

First of all; look at a map. Sounds obvious but Saudi is a huge country! It really helps to see it all so that you can decide which area you want to travel to. A great website to help you find out what there is to see and do all over Saudi is the Visit Saudi website. Once you have an idea where to start, make a list of the main cities and towns in the area that you would like to visit.

Plot your route

It isn't essential but I find it helpful to start a new map on google 'my maps' and plot my trip and all the places of interest on it. You can use separate layers for attractions and directions to make sure you don't miss out on anything. If this feels like too much effort then a good old printed map and pen will also work. I like to start by checking the driving time between stops to ensure that the places I have in mind are realistic in the time we have since Saudi Arabia is a huge country with several hours of driving between many places.

Find the things you want to see and do

Once you have plotted a general route, you can use Trip adviser to search 'best things to do in' your chosen destination. You can then plot your chosen places to see on your map in a way that is time efficient to your route. Think about breaking up any long stints of driving with activities that allow you to stretch your legs and work in meal times.

Find accommodation near to attractions

It really helps to book accommodation that is very close to or part of the attractions you wish to see, especially when you only have a day or two to see a place as is often the case on a road trip. I Personally use booking.com to book most of my my accommodation as I like to read reviews of accommodation, see my plans in one place and I like to have the option of cancelling if I need to. With kids you just never know what can happen and I like my trip to be as flexible as possible. Another way of finding more novelty accommodation is to search the location on Instagram where you will often find nice attractions, restaurants or hotels you would like to visit.

Read reviews

I find a lot of information about places I want to visit by reading the reviews on google maps and trip adviser. These are especially useful for checking opening times and avoiding any surprises since google information and even websites are not always up to date.

Don't forget the petrol

When plotting your trip make sure you add petrol and food stops. Most main routes have plenty of petrol stops complete with toilets and fast food outlets and most main cities have no shortage of food and coffee stops but of you are heading a little further off the beaten track you will need to know exactly where you can get petrol or food if you are on a long drive.

Go into the map

Once I think I have planned my road trip, I zoom into google maps and go along the route to see if there are any places of interest along the way that I have missed. If you are passing by anyway you may as well stop to see any places of interest as they come up.

Keep all of your information in one place

I use a table template to plan my road trips and in it I also prepare 'plan B' places to visit in case 'plan A' isn't open or we have extra time. You can download my template here to help you with planning your trip. Once completed with all key information on it, I print it out so that I have everything in one place.

Road trip plan template.docx

Download DOCX • 293KB

Be prepared for emergencies

While plotting your route it is also useful to have an idea where the nearest hospitals are on your trip and also numbers for recovery in case your car breaks down.

Do you have any tips to help out your fellow road trippers? Please let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram and I will share to my stories.

Happy road tripping!