How to travel Saudi Arabia on a budget
Recent announcement, that Saudi Arabia opens to tourism and even introduced very simple eVisa procedure, took me by surprise. I thought one day it will happen but as it happened I wasn't prepared and I started immediately to search for reasonable budget ways how to visit Saudi Arabia on a budget.
No low-cost airlines to Saudi Arabia
As I write these lines in November 2019, there are no low-cost airlines flying to Saudi Arabia from central Europe. If you want to reach the kingdom cheaply, you'll need to arrive to one of the airports in the nearby countries. The first option that came to my mind was flying to Eilat in Israel, crossing the border to Aqaba in Jordan and then crossing the border to Saudi Arabia.
Travel to Saudi Arabia via Jordan or Dubai?
While it has obvious advantage of low-cost airlines flying to Eilat very cheaply (the return ticket from central Europe goes for about €40), my further explorations showed that this way is not technically possible. Another option I was looking at was flying to Amman or Aqaba in Jordan and crossing to Saudi Arabia from Jordan however even this journey is at the moment only half feasible. The only nearby airport reachable with low-cost airlines from central Europe is the Dubai airport where the prices are not so great as to Eilat or Amman, but still one can get to Dubai and back for below €200 by direct flight.

Riyadh Saudi Arabia Capital
Saudi Arabia e-visa policy
Entering Saudi Arabia by air on e-visa
- King Khalid International Airport (RUH) – Riyadh
- King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) – Jeddah
- King Fahd International (DMM) – Dammam
- Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International (MED) – Madinah
Entering Saudi Arabia by air on e-visa
- The only point to enter Saudi Arabia by road from the UAE on evisa is via the Al Batha border crossing.
- You can use e-visa to enter Saudia Arabia overland from the Kingdom of Bahrain via the King Fahd Bridge border checkpoint
Border crossing from Saudi Arabia to Jordan
UAE - Saudi Arabia - Jordan
The good thing about the expensive Saudi e-visa
The eVisa is expensive, costing over 100 Euro, the good thing is that it is a one-year, multiple entry visa, allowing tourists to spend up to 90 days in the country. So you can keep returning 🙂

Saudi Arabia evisa entry requirements
Together with a valid eVisa you will need to present following documents to Saudi border officers:
- An eligible passport with more than 6 months validity remaining
- Evidence of onward travel to another country
- The address of your accommodation in Saudi Arabia
Can I get bus ticket to/from Saudi Arabia online?
Well, yes you can. So here comes the list of those very usefull links you may need when planning your Saudi adventure:
- SAPTCO - is Saudi Arabia bus company that runs busses between Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Bahrain, Qatar as well as extesive domestic bus route. You can buy tickets online.
- Jett.com - is Jordanian bus company that runs busses from Jordan to Saudi Arabia
- And once you have made up your mind to go apply for Saudi eVisa here.
Bus from DUbai to Riyadh or Riyadh to Dubai
When traveling in Saudi Arabia, please plan well. The country is huge. For example the journey from Dubai to Riyadh takes 14-18 hours and costs 150 SAR one way or 240 SAR return. Riyadh to Jeddah is another 12-14 hours and price 148 to 184 SAR. SAPTCO buses are comfortable, women and families sit in the front, men in the back of the bus.
Wish you a happy journey
Roland
EagleFlyFree.com
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