Riyadh is a long way from anywhere, so odds are fairly high you'll be arriving by plane.

By plane

1 King Khaled International Airport (RUH IATA) (about 35 km (22 mi) north of the city). A large, architecturally striking structure in white and desert brown, hypermodern when opened in 1983, it has aged reasonably well but remains a famously boring place to get stuck in: just a small and very cramped shop in Terminal 2 and a few cafes including chains such as Starbucks and Costa as well as local outlets. Terminal 4 is used by Saudia international flights, Terminal 5 is used for Saudia and flynas domestic flights, and all other airlines use Terminals 2 and 3. (As of 2024, T1 is closed.) The first four terminals are right next to each other and are connected at the arrivals level, so transfers involve lugging your stuff for a few hundred meters or hiring a porter to do the job. Terminal 5 can be reached by free shuttle bus. The airport is known for its punctuality. In 2024, it achieved the best on-time departure performance in the world (over 86% of flights departed on-time). (updated Jan 2026)

Aside from Saudia, direct connections from outside the Gulf and South Asia are surprisingly limited, but options include Lufthansa from Frankfurt, British Airways from London-Heathrow, Air France from Paris, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul IST and Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong. The most internationally popular route, though, is via Dubai, from where there are at least half a dozen flights daily. Domestically, Riyadh is one of the main hubs and there are flights to every corner of the Kingdom, including near-hourly departures to Jeddah.

Unlike Jeddah, immigration and customs clearance at Riyadh is usually fairly straightforward (unless the computer system is down). Standing in the wrong line for immigration may work out fine for you, or you may be catapulted back to the end of a different line when you hit the front position (making all that waiting worthless). The row for "Exit/Entry Visas" is only for resident expats that have left the country temporarily, to visit family for example.

You'll probably be accosted by touts as you soon as you exit customs, but just ignore them and head to the taxi ranks outside or use taxi hailing apps like Uber and Careem (the Middle Eastern option). While the official taxis are supposed to use a zone-based flat fare system, with most of central Riyadh in the SR45 or 55 zones, the list of zones is available only in Arabic. A metered fare to the city should cost SR70-90, but more often than not the driver will just ask for a flat fare, which may even work out a little cheaper. If you've let yourself be scored by one of the private drivers (that are not only inside the terminal building but also outside), make sure the price you agreed on is truly agreed on, or your driver may tell you that he didn't agree to SR80 but rather 180, meaning you'll settle on 120. The better bet is taking an official taxi! A good alternative, if offered, is to take a hotel limousine. These are often not much more expensive than the taxi trip, but mostly high-quality, comfortable cars rather than run-down, creaky old clunkers with worn-through seats.

The trip to the city takes about 30 minutes in good traffic. Don't be irritated if the taxi is stopped at a control point by police (at which time the driver will put on his seatbelt and his mobile onto handsfree, two actions that are usually reversed as soon as the control point is passed).

Alternatively, the airport is now served by the Yellow Line of the Riyadh Metro, which whisks you away to KAFD in downtown Riyadh for a mere SR 4. There are metro stations serving all 5 terminals.

When checking in, one airport quirk bears noting: you have to pass your bags through an X-ray before checking in, and after getting your boarding pass, you have to go right through the same security gate in reverse to find immigration and departures. Don't go up the staircase — it's a dead end leading only to the viewing lounge.

By train

Rail traffic to Riyadh is increasing, with the city being the center of a new high speed network that's under construction. The classic line runs from the coastal city of Dammam, near the border with Bahrain, via Al-Hofuf and Al-Hasa. There are five trains per day with a journey time of 3½ hours for the full length. Additionally, there are six trains per week from Ha'il and Buraydah on the new North-South line, taking 2½ hours. In the future trains will run from Al-Qurrayat near the border with Jordan.

There are two stations: trains from Damman arrive at the older 2 Riyadh railway station (محطة قطار الرياض) is located south of the city centre, along Omar Ibn Al Khattab Road. The brand-new 3 Riyadh railway station SAR is along Ath Thumamah Road in the northern parts of the city. For both stations, it's recommended to show up at least 30 minutes early, as you'll need to pass through security before boarding.

Two Saudi railway companies were merged in 2021, with the new one called Saudi Arabia Railways.

By bus

4 Central Bus Terminal (in the Aziziyah district 17 km south of the city center; expect to pay at least SR30 for a taxi to get there), ☏ +966 1-2647858. The national bus company SAPTCO runs daily buses from all cities within the Kingdom.As of April 2023 it only provides international connections to UAE, Bahrain and Egypt (ferry connection). However there is at least one bus daily to Amman (departure in the afternoon) provided by another operator. Ask around in the bus station.Buses from Dammam take a tolerable 4½ hours, while it's a punishing 10-12 hour haul from Jeddah or Mecca. There are international routes from Amman (19 hr), Dubai (14 hr), Manama (10 hr) and Kuwait City (14 hr) among others as well. (updated Apr 2023)

By car

The main east-west road through Riyadh is Highway 40 from Dammam and the causeway from Bahrain to Khobar with other road links mainly leading to the North of the Kingdom.

Most roads are tarmacked, albeit to varying levels of repair. Driving standards are slightly more sensible than those of the city centers, but caution is still needed. Some highways see heavy usage from lorries and petrol tankers, often in convoy.