Built on the rules that trip people up
Every tool bakes in the rules Saudis actually live by: the 5 prayer windows, Friday-Saturday weekend, abaya norms, mutaween expectations, single-gender spaces. You get the *real* operating environment, not a travel-brochure adjacent.
Calculators, not content farms
No "top 10 lists" scraped from press releases. Each page does something with your inputs — gives you a price, a window, a verdict, a route. The text around it explains how to *use* the answer.
Honest about limits
Saudi rules change — Vision 2030 is rewriting parts of daily life monthly. Every tool flags what it can't know (live traffic, current promotions, the exact mutaween posture this week). When in doubt, we say so.
Pilgrimage & Religious Travel
Umrah and Hajj logistics, with prayer times and crowd calendars baked in. None of these are generic "what is Umrah" pages — they answer "what should *I* actually do tomorrow morning?"
Umrah vs Tourist Visa Decision Tree
Which visa for which purpose — including the 2025 dual-entry tourist visa rule.
Ihram State Calculator & Packing
When to enter, what to pack for men and women, the 9 prohibitions no one warns you about.
Tawaf & Sa'i Time Estimator
Realistic minutes based on crowd level, weather, mobility, and the time you arrive.
Haram Boundary Navigator
Where the sacred limits are in Makkah and Madinah, hotels inside vs outside, transit rules.
Jummah (Friday Prayer) Logistics
Pick the right mosque in Riyadh/Jeddah for your gender, language, and arrival window.
Hajj vs Umrah Decision Tree
Cost, duration, physical demand, paperwork — and the verdict for your situation.
Culture, Etiquette & Dress
The unwritten rules Saudi hosts actually enforce. Most online guides copy the 2010 version; we track what has actually loosened (and what hasn't) under Vision 2030.
Saudi Dress Code Compliance Checker
By venue (mosque, mall, beach, government), with a colour-coded verdict per outfit.
Mutawween Encounter Quiz
What to do (and not do) if the religious police approach — 8 scenario drills.
Cultural Sensitivity Scorecard
10 social scenarios, scored out of 100, with reasoning per scenario.
Qahwa & Dates Customs Builder
The 6-step Saudi coffee ritual, the 3-cup meaning, what dates to bring as a guest.
Saudi Hospitality Gift Selector
Right gift for host, driver, business meeting, family visit — including what to *avoid*.
Mixed-Gender Space Navigator
Restaurants, queues, taxis, offices — where mixing is fine, where it's awkward.
Transport & Getting Around
Saudi transport is unusually fragmented: Haramain high-speed rail for the holy cities, Riyadh Metro for the capital, a ride-hailing market with 4 apps, and rules around women driving that change city by city.
Haramain Train Optimizer
Class comparison, station choice (Makkah vs Jeddah airport), pricing windows.
Riyadh Metro Route & Time Planner
The 6-line network from a tourist's view: where it goes, where it doesn't, station access.
Ride-Hailing Cost Matrix
Careem vs Uber vs Jeeny vs Bolt vs Saudi Taxi — same trip, 5 fares.
Driving in Saudi — IDP & Women Travellers
What licence works, what doesn't, and the rental companies that check properly.
Bus vs Domestic Flight Cost
SAPTCO vs flynas vs Saudia vs flyadeal — same route, total door-to-door time.
Land Border Crossing Checklist
6 borders: UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait — what's open, what's needed.
Money, Costs & Practical
Saudi Arabia is mostly cashless (Mada + Apple Pay everywhere), 15% VAT, no service charge, and the riyal is pegged to USD at 3.75 for 35 years running. Yet tourists still overpay — these tools show why.
Saudi Riyal Trip Budget
Daily budget by travel style — backpacker to luxury — with the cultural spend others forget.
Tourist VAT Refund Calculator
GAZT TRS system — what's eligible, what isn't, the 50 SAR minimum.
SIM Card Provider Comparator
STC vs Mobily vs Zain tourist packages — data, validity, registration, 5G.
ATM Fee & Bank-Markup Matrix
SNB, Al Rajhi, Riyad, NCB — and which foreign cards they accept cleanly.
Restaurant Bill Decoder
15% VAT, no alcohol, no service charge, family sections, single-gender rooms.
Souq Haggling Calculator
Opening offer, expected end price, the polite-but-firm Arabic phrases.
Climate, Health & Timing
Saudi has 50°C summers, dust storms, a Friday-Saturday weekend, and Ramadan rules that change the rhythm of every shop, mall, and restaurant. These tools put the right dates on your trip.
Saudi Heat Index & Activity Safety
Wet-bulb risk by hour, region, and activity. The 2-hour outdoor limit you didn't know about.
Ramadan Tourist Activity Planner
When restaurants open, how loud to be, whether your trip overlaps the holy month.
Sandstorm & Weather Window
Shamal wind calendar, dust-storm months by region, what to do when one hits.
Hajj/Umrah Health Risk Calculator
Heat + crowd + walking distance — your personalised risk score.
Friday-Saturday Weekend Planner
Saudis weekend Fri-Sat. What's open Thursday night, what's packed Friday noon.
Saudi Public Holiday Calendar
National Day, Eid, Founding Day — when offices close and prices surge.
Destinations & Regions
Saudi Arabia is 13 regions the size of Western Europe. Most tourists see 2. These tools help you pick which — AlUla, NEOM, Asir, the Red Sea, the Empty Quarter edges — and how to combine them.
AlUla Visiting Strategy
Hegra, Dadan, Elephant Rock, Maraya — order, timing, which day-tour vs which overnight.
NEOM vs Tabuk Trip Optimizer
What's actually open, what's still 2030 vision, and the Tabuk backup that works today.
Asir / Abha vs Central Saudi
20°C summer vs 50°C summer — when to swap one for the other.
Saudi Mall Strategy
Riyadh Park, Jeddah Mall, Mall of Dhahran — which for shopping, which for AC refuge.
Red Sea vs Persian Gulf Coast
Snorkel/dive, women-only beach rules, family sections, NEOM overlap.
Which Saudi Region Is Yours
Answer 8 questions, get the one region that matches your travel style.
Why this site exists
Generic Saudi travel guides still treat the country as it was in 2015 — pre-Vision 2030, pre-tourist visa, pre-Riyadh Metro, pre-women driving. Half their advice is no longer right; the other half was never operational (telling tourists to "ask your male guardian" without saying where he is or isn't required).
Saudi Compass does something different. Every tool on this site takes your inputs — prayer windows, dress code, budget, transport mode — and returns a verdict, a price, or a route. The text around each tool tells you how to *use* the answer, what to do next, and what we don't know.
It is not affiliated with the Saudi government, any Saudi operator, or any tourism board. We pay nothing for placements; we recommend nothing we haven't thought through. Updates happen when the rules change, not on a content calendar.
What we don't do: sell data, run affiliate redirects, push app installs, host sponsored posts, or display anything other than standard display ads (Google AdSense, when approved).
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Privacy Policy
In short: we don't collect personal data. Google AdSense, when active, may set cookies. EEA visitors will see a consent banner.
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Disclaimer
These tools are reference material, not legal or religious advice. Saudi rules change; verify before relying on anything important.
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