Indoor smoking can be fairly common in adult social spaces. Law vibe is strict and formal compared with the region's more relaxed places.
Minimum budget: rural $1100/mo, urban $1300/mo. Medical insurance: $1,100/yr.
Auto: Russian tourists should carry an IDP; some desks accept a Russian license plus passport, but official-looking English, Arabic translation helps. Rentals are common and modern, roughly $25-55/day for Yaris, Sunny, Accent class, with credit-card deposits and many automatics. The only land border is the Saudi causeway; rental crossing needs explicit permission and Saudi insurance, visa, and weekend queues can be serious.
Smoking: Indoor smoking can be fairly common in adult social spaces.
Police / rules: Police and public-order vibe is strict and rules-first: keep behavior clean, keep documents in order, and do not expect small-rule flexibility to be the default.