Asia > Saudi Arabia > Riyadh (RUH)
The Car or no Car advice for Riyadh can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Riyadh ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Riyadh ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Riyadh?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
📍 Getting Around Riyadh — the Reality
Riyadh is huge and low-density.
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Distances between districts are long
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Major roads and highways define movement
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Walking between neighbourhoods is rarely practical
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Summer heat makes outdoor movement challenging
Even relatively short trips on a map can feel substantial on the ground.
🚇 Public Transport: Improving, but Not Yet Transformative
Riyadh is investing heavily in public transport, and the direction of travel is clear.
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The metro network is extensive and modern
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New stations are reshaping key corridors
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Buses are being integrated alongside rail
However:
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Coverage is still uneven for visitors
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Many destinations remain far from stations
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Last-mile access often still assumes a car
For now, public transport supports some trips rather than replacing driving entirely.
🚇 A Metro That Appeared Almost Overnight
What makes the Riyadh Metro remarkable is not just its scale, but the speed of its rollout. The city went from having no metro at all to a fully operational six-line system in the space of just a few weeks, with services opening between December 2024 and January 2025.
Rather than expanding gradually over decades, Riyadh effectively launched an entire metropolitan rail network almost at once. By global standards, this is unprecedented — and it underlines just how ambitious the project was, both technically and politically.
🏙️ Iconic Stations — but Riyadh Is Still a Car City
Some of the metro stations are striking pieces of architecture in their own right, most notably the Zaha Hadid–designed station at the King Abdullah Financial District, which has quickly become a landmark as well as a transport hub.
These stations signal modernity and intent, and they undoubtedly improve the city’s image and mobility options. However, they don’t alter the underlying urban reality.
Riyadh’s vast size, low density, and extensive sprawl mean that even a six-line metro cannot fully replace the car. For now, the metro is a powerful addition to the transport mix — but Riyadh remains, fundamentally, a car-oriented city.
🚗 Why Cars Still Dominate
In practical terms, renting a car offers:
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Door-to-door convenience
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Air-conditioned travel in extreme heat
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Easy access to business districts, malls, and sites
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Flexibility across a very spread-out city
Driving in Riyadh is generally straightforward, with wide roads and clear layouts, even if traffic can be heavy at peak times.
🏙️ What Works Without a Car
There are situations where you might manage without driving:
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Staying in a single district
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Trips with arranged transport
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Using hotels, taxis, and ride-hailing exclusively
But this tends to be managed mobility, not spontaneous exploration.
🌍 Beyond the City
If your plans extend beyond central Riyadh:
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Day trips into the desert
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Visits to heritage sites and landscapes
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Exploring rapidly developing areas around the city
A car quickly becomes essential.
⚠️ Things to Keep in Mind
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Traffic can be intense during rush hours
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Distances are deceptive
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Walking infrastructure is improving but inconsistent
Riyadh is evolving fast, but it hasn’t yet reached the point where visitors can easily rely on transit alone.
Conclusion: should you rent a car in Riyadh?
Yes — for now, it’s usually the easiest option.
Riyadh is moving toward a more transit-friendly future, but today it remains a car-oriented city. Renting a car gives you flexibility, comfort, and realistic access to what the city offers.
💡 Rule of thumb:
In Riyadh today, wheels still win — but watch this space. 🚗