Indoor smoking is present in some adult spaces, but public polish is strong. Law vibe is strict, formal, and highly rule-oriented.
Minimum budget: rural $1900/mo, urban $2000/mo. Medical insurance: $900/yr.
Auto: Russian tourists should carry an IDP; some desks accept national licenses for short rentals, but IDP, English record is safer. Rentals are modern, roughly $25-60/day for Sunny, Yaris, Attrage class and $70-150+ for SUVs, with automatics standard. Saudi is the only land border and rental crossing needs permission, Saudi insurance and visa; weekend, event queues can build.
Smoking: Indoor smoking is present in some adult spaces, but public spaces are polished and controlled.
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.