Saudi Arabia - Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking in Saudi Arabia

Hitchhiking to Saudi Arabia

Recent reviews in Saudi Arabia

24.13402, 51.57035

So, unfortunately truck driver from previous spot was indeed driving to Dubai, but the politics of his company did allow only driver in the cabin while crossing, so he had to drop me off just before the border. And although crossing in feet is not allowed, I decided to walk all the way to the checkpoint, and I was lucky!

I came through 3 police checkpoints, telling then my hitchhiking stories, because they were surprised I came with a huge backpack by feet. Just be funny and play it cool. These guys are bored at the border and were happy.

When I reach the border customer, they indeed told me I am not allowed to go, but unlike on Jordan - Saudi Arabia border, they didn't leave me with no help, and a nice border worker went asking bus drivers to get me through the border, and one of them agreed to take me all the way to Dubai and they put me there for free.

It was a pleasant border crossing experience with 0 problems

rating: 5/5, wait: 5 min 💬, ride: 510 km →

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 20:04

24.38286, 47.08456

Lol, that was random.

It's a crowded gas station somewhere there, the first truck driver from Syria I asked was going all the way to Dubai. Prepare for your ~10 hours drive. So lucky. But still, be careful about the heat

rating: 5/5, wait: 5 min 💬, ride: 1045 km →

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 13:06

24.49942, 46.93877

It's getting very very hot. Had to hide in the tunnels under the highway to cool down. It's ok spot on the highway. Got a very nice man driving me to a crowded gas station where truck drivers go to Dubai from. But it was very hot, I mean it.

rating: 4/5, wait: 15 min 👍, ride: 25 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 11:41

24.57216, 46.828

Cars go fast, but there are some space for cars to pull over for the whole length of the road. Managed to get a ride to the next highway cross. Yuppie.

But it's very very hot. Make sure you have enough water with you, sun cream protection and some head cover.

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 16 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 10:41

24.60723, 46.77405

Asked around at the gas station and got a young nice guy drive me a little bit further.

rating: 5/5, wait: 5 min 👍, ride: 8 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 10:03

24.65289, 46.68815

Its the place where drivers enter highway. Pathetic, but a nice taxi driver stopped by me and it was too hot and I was to desperate, so I negotiated that he drives me to the gas station for 20 Saudi Arabia rupi, so I can hitchhike in Dubai direction.

rating: 3/5, wait: 15 min 👍, ride: 13 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 09:37

24.67534, 46.65352

No. Just no.

This highway has no place to stop and cars go faster than 120 km/h, no chance. Further down the road not better, at some point police officers told me to disappear from the highway to avoid problems

rating: 1/5, wait: 45 min 👍

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 08:40

24.69933, 46.65142

No, just don't. Hitchhiking inside Riyadh is nearly impossible, anomaly amount of taxi drivers that stop by you even if you are not hitchhiking and just look like foreigner.

rating: 1/5, wait: 15 min 👍

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 07:25

24.59371, 46.5472

Was hitchhiking back to Riyadh.

A lot of traffic. But be careful about people asking for money or hitchhiking a taxi. I hitchhiked a taxi by accident, but then told that I am a stupid tourist and was confused, so the driver didn't charge me anything thankfully

rating: 4/5, wait: 5 min 👍, ride: 18 km ↗

―bogdanpanov, Mon 23 Jun 2025, 06:09

27.6139, 41.84726

So, good and bad news, I start with a bad one.

This road mostly has truck drivers, but the problem with them is that, they are extra paranoid about backpacks and that you may have something illegal with you, I had few truck drivers stop for me, but when they saw my backpack, they were just saying "no" and driving away.

So I would suggest to focus on hitchhiking cars, even if it means to step on the highway directly so they can see you better.

Waited for almost 2 hours when it was getting dark, a nice man going to Riyadh stopped by me! And once again, it was a nice experience. He invited me to visit his village and eat food there at his family place, so just sit and enjoy the hospitality. Also because we were driving in a night time he allowed me to sleep in the back, so I came to Riyadh well rested(it's been ~5 hours ride, so was a long nap) and when we arrived he hosted me at his friend's place because I had no hostel or anywhere to go.

Locals are very very nice. I've never been to other country where it would be this easy to travel hitchhiking. People make this experience unforgettable.

rating: 4/5, wait: 100 min 👍, ride: 727 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sun 22 Jun 2025, 18:09

27.66499, 41.76798

Hitchhiking in Saudi on the highway is not a problem, did it in front of the police and no one cared.

Here mostly local traffic, but they can give you a short ride to next highway cross, after which there are mostly vehicles that go to Riyadh. All these crosses have bridges under which you can hide from the heat(it was 45 degrees when I was hitchhiking)

Nice Arab man stopped by me, gave me money, offered food & place to sleep at his house(normal in Saudi Arabia, 90% of drivers are this hospital)

Saudi Arabia is the best!!!

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 10 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sun 22 Jun 2025, 16:16

27.79421, 41.60429

Omg, I can't even say how lucky I am. I was hitchhiking there at night with no hope for a ride and I was late to a rally event in Hail, when a legend stopped by me!

An Indian traveler guy, my best friend now stopped in the middle of the night to a complete stranger, I told him the situation and he changed his route to drive me to a rally and go fast so I get on time! I couldn't believe my luck!

This guy just saved me. I got to a rally on time and had a great evening watching show and seeing finals.

I was just going along the highway with my thumb up. I think in a day time this spot is even better. At night here's also good light so drivers easily see you

rating: 5/5, wait: 15 min 👍, ride: 34 km ↓

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 21:27

29.63748, 39.84415

help pls. spot in direction of Hail. The only good about it is that there's a bridge where you can hide from sun and where some truck drivers hide to cool their vehicles.

Most of the cars are local traffic, delivering hay to local farms. Truck drivers go to Hail, but all of them are afraid to pick you up, because they think:
a) You're illegally in country
b) You have drugs with you
c) That you don't speak Arabic

I waited almost two hours for at least someone to stop and then had to prove to driver that my meds are not drugs, my camera has no illegal recordings and show my passport and visas, because they were paranoid about spontaneous police control.

After that I had 4 hours of sex talks, it was uncomfortable, but as they mentioned, it is normal in Arab culture to talk about sex and porn, and they were just curious about how it is in Europe.

But hey, at least I got to Hail, right?

rating: 3/5, wait: 100 min 👍, ride: 334 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 16:18

29.81248, 39.6492

Good spot near gas station, but worked for me only for a short ride to a safer place under the bridge, which protects you from extreme sun.

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 34 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 15:11

31.00091, 37.67895

I'm not kidding. I got so much food offer that I started to refuse food because I am so full. Another driver invited me for a meal at local diner, couldn't eat anymore so got some food for later. Hitchhiking is easy

rating: 5/5, wait: 5 min 👍, ride: 336 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 10:09

31.25895, 37.42593

Prepare that in Saudi Arabia you will never starve and have a lot of food. There are not many tourists in Saudi and locals are very curious and want to learn more from you. Expect a lot of heartful discussions(through translator) and a lot of food offers every step. Hitching a ride is easier than anywhere

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 46 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 09:07

31.36467, 37.31432

Just go along the highway with your thumb up and someone will stop by you in a few minutes

rating: 5/5, wait: 5 min 👍, ride: 18 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 08:05

31.44588, 37.15527

Saudi Arabia is so welcoming. Here is a gas station but you can hitchhike on the highway directly. Drivers stop anywhere unlike in Europe. Everyone are interested in travelers and will try to help you in any way possible, you won't wait long for someone to stop for you.

Also, here is Mosque where you can sleep. If there's no one, don't freak out just go there and sleep on the floor, it's ok and acceptable. When arab man asked me what I was doing there, I told him that I am a traveler from Poland and in need for place to sleep and everyone is ok with that, just be respectful.

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 22 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Sat 21 Jun 2025, 07:13

Recent reviews mentioning Saudi Arabia

24.13402, 51.57035

24.65289, 46.68815

27.66499, 41.76798

31.84777, 36.74514

Not much of the traffic but people are friendly and stop for you almost always. Got a ride to the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border after 10 mins of waiting. Driver gave me some Jordan money to cover transit to Saudi Arabia, as crossing border by walking is forbidden

rating: 5/5, wait: 10 min 👍, ride: 58 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Fri 20 Jun 2025, 17:14

31.53742, 37.06834

Crossing border to Saudi Arabia is very tricky. It's forbidden to cross by walking, so you need to find a car, but most people refuse because they are afraid you may have something illegal with you.

I ended up at this station and asked people around for help. There are people that would get you through border if you pay, but I got lucky and met Jordan family who gave me a meal and decided to pay to one "smuggler" to help me cross the border if I also help with his "scheme" of buying cigarettes per person at local Duty Free to sell them in Saudi. So had to buy cigarettes using guys money and say at the police check that I buy them for myself.

It was one of the weirdest and stressful experiences, mostly because no one speaks English and translator not always translates good. Prepare for a lot of police checks, not understanding a thing in Arabic. Just smile and play it cool. It took us 4 hours to cross the border in the middle of the night. It felt like the most illegal experience of my life, even though I was legally there with visa and etc.

After that I asked if I could sleep in Mosque near gas station right after the border and I was told that it was ok, so could sleep in normal conditions, not in my tent and charge all my gadgets.

It's stressful but it is worth it. Saudi Arabia is very nice and welcoming! Prepare for the best trip ever!

rating: 5/5, wait: 80 min 💬, ride: 16 km ↘

―bogdanpanov, Fri 20 Jun 2025, 18:15