---
type: Country
title: Saudi Arabia
description: A country that only started issuing tourist visas in 2019, assessed on exactly that basis — modern cities, warm people, no English, no Visa or Mastercard in places, and things Harry says stay behind the curtain.
tags: [saudi-arabia, jeddah, middle-east, tourism, coffee, thobe, hospitality]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T14:30:00Z
---

# Saudi Arabia

Harry's first visit, spent in [Jeddah](/places/jeddah.md) with
[Kieran](/people/kieran.md), framed from the first minute as an assessment: the
country **opened to tourism in 2019**, is spending enormously on it, and the
question is whether it is ready.

He states his position on payment up front — he was not paid to come, and the
opinions are his own. *Obs: the hotel section of the video is a hosted stay he
declares on camera, and the video carries an eSIM sponsorship. Neither provider
is recorded in this bundle.*

## Practical facts

- **Tourist visas date from 2019.** Before that the visitors were pilgrims.
- **Very little English is spoken**, which he names as the single biggest
  practical obstacle for a visitor.
- **Cards are a real problem.** A bike rental in Jeddah would take only the
  domestic card network — **neither Visa nor Mastercard** — and his verdict on the
  spot is that this is precisely what *not ready for tourism* looks like. Carry
  cash and expect to use an ATM.
- **It is not a walkable country**, in the same way that most of the Gulf and much
  of America isn't. Where walkability exists it has been deliberately built, like
  the Jeddah Corniche.
- **May is around 32 °C** on the Red Sea coast, which he finds comfortable rather
  than punishing.
- **No alcohol, anywhere**, including beach clubs and entertainment venues. He
  credits the country for holding the line rather than compromising for tourists.
- **Jeddah over Riyadh.** He arrived thinking Riyadh was the better city and
  everyone he met told him the opposite.

## Culture and daily life

- **Coffee is the national obsession**, second only to oil in his framing.
  Drive-through coffee on every road, alongside the full set of American chains,
  and he gives Saudi Arabia the third-latest average bedtime in the world at
  around half past midnight *(from video – unverified)*.
- **The thobe.** Foreigners may wear it here — he points out that in the UAE it is
  banned for foreigners, which is why he wouldn't there — and the reaction is
  enthusiastic rather than offended. He ends the video calling it a life hack for
  talking to strangers.
- **Food**: half a chicken on an enormous plate of rice for **$9 to $15**, ordered
  before you sit down, eaten on the floor with your hands. Restaurants have
  **private family rooms** so that women can eat unveiled with their own family.
  Eating with the left hand is haram.
- **Not everyone here is rich.** He raises it in the first two minutes as a
  correction to the assumption, and points at the migrant workforce — the shop
  staff, the beach club staff and the hotel staff he meets are Bangladeshi,
  Palestinian, Sudanese, South Sudanese and Somali.
- **On being gay in Saudi Arabia**, recorded as Kieran's account rather than
  Harry's: in practice he found it widely accepted, expected problems and had
  none, and the venue they went to was full. Neither of them generalises beyond
  their own week in one city.

## Is it ready for tourism?

His verdict, given straight to camera at the end: **yes, just about.**

- **What works**: the infrastructure exists, the cities are modern, the events are
  world-scale, and the people are warm, generous and genuinely curious about
  visitors — which, as usual, is what actually decides it for him.
- **What doesn't**: the language barrier, the payment systems, and things he says
  stay **behind the curtain, especially for non-Muslims** — a phrase he uses
  without expanding on it.
- **The honest caveat**: it would not be at the top of his own list, and it is not
  at Dubai's level. He still recommends going.

## Source

- [Inside Saudi Arabia's Billion Dollar Future City 🇸🇦](/videos/OKVUlN2Jjss.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKVUlN2Jjss