Visited in February 2024. Things are changing fast in Saudi Arabia and At-Turaif Quarter is not an exception to that. I visited At-Turaif (also known as Diriyah) on a weekday just before the Saudi Founding Day. My Uber took me to the entrance of Bujairi Terrace, a fancy restaurant and shopping district, that you have to walk through to get to the historical site. You needed a ticket to enter, which you got by scanning a QR code at the entrance, and the ticket was for free, which might have been because of the Founding Day.

After getting my free ticket checked at the entrance to Bujairi Terrace, I walked through the district to the entrance of the historical site. You are greeted by a brand new visitor centre and friendly staff but I didn't find the centre to be very informative. From there I started to walk around the site. Somehow I managed to do it in the wrong direction despite there being guides in every corner greeting you, but you are supposed to start from the mosque ruins, not from the money museum. The site has few museums here and there (at least for money, Arabian horses and house-building) which you don't need to pay separately to visit. Lots of construction is still going on and many side streets are blocked. The renovation work is bit too perfect and sometimes the site feels like an instagram set for a good photo shoot. I spent couple hours walking around the site and checking out the museums. It definitely is the most interesting historical site to visit in Riyadh but overall doesn't provide any wow moments. I found the house-building museum the most interesting of the museums I saw. Also the AC in the museum was very welcomed.

I arrived to the site by Uber, so I don't know if there are any public transportation options to the site but it seemed that there aren't any. The historical site itself has a one café, with good views over the gardens next to it, if you're not so keen on the dining options in the Bujairi Terrace.