A guide to independent female travel in Saudi Arabia, solo or otherwise. Includes cultural tips, advice on what to wear, things to be careful of, and more! However, times are changing. Figuring out what is and is not okay as a woman traveling Saudi Arabia is tricky, especially given these rapid changes. My female Couchsurfing host in Riyadh dishing out karak shay at a cafe. Saudi Arabia used to be a more relaxed and open society, until religious hardliners came to power in the s.
Restricting women in the name of Islam was one of the items on their agenda. Contrary to how free women were several decades ago, these days the list of restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia is immense. Separation of women and men is in every aspect of society. Women are restricted to women-only educational institutions often of lower quality , eating only in restaurants with family seating of which there are few , and they could get in trouble for being with men whom they are not related to until very recently.
However, things are quickly changing. Many of these legal and cultural restrictions are theoretically relaxing, though women are still being punished and shamed for minor offenses in the wake of these liberal reforms.
In five years, the country might be completely different for men and women alike. Only time will tell. Rules for foreign women and local women do differ at times. For example, foreign women no longer have to wear abayas , but local women do. In general, foreign women enjoy more freedom than their Saudi counterparts.
Because the Kingdom hopes to attract more foreign tourists of a diverse nature, foreign women are likely to be given more leeway if caught⦠but many of the rules still apply.
