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The information below is provided by The Expatriates Saudi readers and is not verified by the webmaster. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy.
Saudi
Arabia
+Jeddah
Hyperbolically known as the Paris of Arabia, Jeddah is one of the few cities in the region to have built around, rather than over, its history. Although it's definitely a modern metropolis, Jeddah (which is mid-way down the country's Red Sea coast) is also the most interesting and friendly of Saudi Arabia's big cities. Jeddah is centred on Al-Balad, the strip of buildings along its coast road and the old city directly behind them.
Jeddah has some great museums, including the Municipality Museum. Located in a 200-year-old restored traditional house built from Red Sea coral, the museum has interesting photos of the development of Jeddah, along with rooms done up in traditional style. The Museum of Abdel Raouf Hasan Khalil houses 10,000 items crammed into 4 mock-Arab, Disney-style buildings. The museum is a spectacularly badly organised mish-mash of kitsch exhibits, but there are a few real gems among the flotsam. The Jeddah Museum, the regional museum of archaeology and ethnography, covers the same turf as the Riyadh Museum.
Jeddah has one of the best souks (markets) in the kingdom, the spectacular Souk Al-Alawi, which winds its way through the old city. Although some sections of it have been paved over, and others fitted with bizarre green and white columns, it's still a great place to spend hours strolling and browsing. Jeddah's 3 reconstructed old city gates are also worth a look, as are the several good examples of traditional Jeddah architecture found around the North City Gate.