Riyadh holidays

Pull out all your best haggling tricks, and you can bag a bargain at one of Riyadh’s traditional markets. Souk Al Zal is the oldest and most famous, and it’s an ideal place to pick up souvenirs. Weave your way around the oud-scented stalls, and you’ll find heaps of shiny gold trinkets and multi-coloured ceramics to stuff in your suitcase.

Fancy adding a few things to your holiday wardrobe? Riyadh’s got no shortage of shopping centres, where you’ll find lots of high street brands. Al Nakheel Mall’s a good one to bookmark – it’s got an Adidas, a ZARA and even an M&S, so you can pick up a few packs of Percy Pigs to fuel your retail therapy.

VIA Riyadh’s got you covered when you’re in the mood to splash some cash. This luxury retail centre is home to some pretty boujie designer brands, like Dolce & Gabbana and Tom Ford. There’s also a handful of boutique jewellery shops, plus cut-above beauty brands.

A chilled evening in Riyadh is best spent at the top of the Kindgom Center Sky Bridge. Take the elevator up to the 99th floor at sunset, and you’ll get panoramic views of the city during golden hour. Once dusk rolls around, you’ll see all the skyscrapers light up with LEDs. There’s a cinema in the centre if you fancy a film after, as well.

You can’t miss a trip to The Boulevard if you’re craving a big night out in Riyadh. It’s a bit like Times Square in New York – think bustling streets lit up by billboards and the glow of open-late restaurants still dishing out food late at night. Cosplay shows and live music keep the vibes up when daylight dips, and there’s a huge entertainment area with a go-karting track, a snow zone, a wax museum and theatres.

What better way to get a taste of the local cuisine than by trying the national dish? In Saudi, it’s jareesh – a creamy, slow-cooked concoction that combines crushed wheat with meat, yoghurt and broth. It’s flavoured with spices like cardamom and dried black lemon, and you can get red versions made with crushed tomatoes.

If your tummy’s rumbling for something hearty, search out a bowl of margoog. It’s an Arabian stew usually made with chicken or lamb, veggies like aubergine, pumpkin and courgette and – the special ingredient – pieces of fresh dough. They’re tossed in to form pillowy dumplings and soak up all the flavour of the mix while it bubbles away on the hob.

Answer hunger pangs between sightseeing trips with one of these meaty wraps. They’re whipped up by street food vendors all over the city – they fill sauce-slathered tortillas with sliced meat that’s been roasted on a spit. In Riyadh, shawarma’s often flavoured with Arabic spices and a mix of tahini and chilli.

Forget getting your caffeine fix from an Americano – in Riyadh, coffee comes with cardamon, saffron, cinnamon and cloves, and is brewed slowly in a traditional Arabic pot called a dallah. It’s not just the spices that make it taste different, either. Qawha is made with light-roast coffee beans, and is typically served with a side of sticky sweet dates.

This one’s a traditional Middle Eastern sweet treat involving layers of thin pastry and cheese or clotted cream, which is soaked in syrup and baked until everything’s nice and golden. A sprinkle of crushed pistachios is the cherry on the cake.