There are few thrills that match the sensation of having a city all to yourself, even just for a day. If you only had eight or nine hours to get a feel of that city’s essence, where would you go to make the best of it?
As the bustling airports of Riyadh and Jeddah display, there has never been a better time to fly to a dream destination, with Saudia, Flynas, and the soon-to-launch Riyadh Air offering direct and multi-stop journeys all over the world, not to mention the other international carriers offering Saudi flyers a quick stop-off to see the sights of their home country.
We’ve put together a guide of fantastic summer voyages for you and your family: from checking in to landing, and everything in between – make the most of your vacation and travel in the lap of luxury.
Journeys From Riyadh
To fly into King Khalid International Airport is to marvel at its grandeur and scale – growing outwards, upwards, getting busier and more vibrant. A lot of work has gone into making it a bright and breezy place to fly from, and our first two journeys will give you ample opportunity to enjoy the airport for its own sake.
Trip number one is Riyadh to Tokyo through China Southern Airlines, a flight that gives you ample chance to explore the enchanting city of Shanghai. One of the newest routes, it has given Saudis the opportunity to get a taste of Chinese city life since April. For a particularly luxurious air experience, however, we have a different route for you.
Trip number two is Riyadh to Barcelona through Etihad Airways, a first-class experience par excellence, offering you the chance to take a short break in Abu Dhabi before you cross to the European continent. Etihad can make your stopover totally seamless, offering packages designed to whisk you across to the emirate’s most brilliant sights, then back to the airport in time for your next leg onwards. Reward yourself and your family with the VIP treatment and let the professionals take care of the rest.
Riyadh – Shanghai – Tokyo
After a nine-hour flight on one of China Southern Airlines’ outbound Airbus A330s, you’ll arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport with a veritable selection of options in front of you. If you need of a rest and want to stay close to the airport, you can check yourself into the airport’s Sky Pearl VIP Lounge, way up on level four with its own private vista of the runway.
The experience feels like that of a smart premium hotel: low lights and deep, comfortable armchairs. Noodles, dim sum, and other Chinese dishes are available for guests to eat, a brief taste of Shanghai as you’re passing through and absolutely worth the visit alone.
To really maximise your layover, however, you can book the flights separately and take up to 144 hours, or six days, to have some fun with your layover visa. Or if you don’t want to fill in the paperwork, travellers have 24 hours visa-free to take a speedy train into Shanghai proper. Book yourself into the Bulgari Hotel Shanghai – by far the city’s most beautiful new opening – for a night or two, and you’ll find yourself perfectly placed to find the sights, sounds, smells, and flavours that make this legendary port so beloved. Surrounding you at the Bulgari will be the district of Huangpu, where – fortunately for this trip – the city’s most thrilling food strip, Chenghuangmiao Old Street, is located.
Just about anything you grab will be delicious; the standard of cooking is extraordinarily high in Shanghai, from its steamed, savoury soup dumplings to its fried rice cakes, pillow-soft buns, and plates of stir-fried crab. For those looking to avoid meat, however, Shanghai is also home to one of the world’s great vegetarian restaurants – Fu He Hui, a Michelin-starred temple to meatless meals, that are every bit as mind-blowing as the very best dishes elsewhere in the city.
Away from merely being a dining destination, Shanghai is studded with so many awe-inspiring attractions that it’s a challenge to know where to begin. Architecture lovers will adore the futuristic Oriental Pearl TV Tower or the stoic, concrete Shanghai Museum; nature lovers should head straight to the Yuyuan Garden, a perfectly maintained little green space next to a temple in the old town. Have the Bulgari bring you back to the airport and carry on your journey safe in the knowledge that you’ve seen the city at its best. Tokyo may await you at the end of your next flight, but once you’ve had a day or two in Shanghai, you’ll be longing to return.
Riyadh – Abu Dhabi – Barcelona
Fly first or business class with Etihad Airways, and you’ll know immediately how the airline acquired its well-earned reputation for luxury. From the space it affords you at King Khalid International Airport, where your ticket grants you access to the chic premium lounges, all the way to the flight, where your toiletries come crafted by Acqua di Parma.
But the jewel of the Etihad offering comes at Sheikh Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, where its lounges offer privacy, tranquillity, comfort, and style. In the first-class lounge, you can settle down for afternoon tea and sandwiches, rest in a secluded cocoon for a few hours, or play table football and air hockey in the games room.
If you need, or would like, to stay the night in the emirate, Etihad has a dedicated stopover service that offers you six hotels to choose from, all with airport transfers bundled in for total ease of access.
To continue the first-class experience, book from one of their two five-star options, the breathtaking Bab Al Qasr Hotel on the Corniche, or the grand Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, which has its own private beach on the corner of the Al Maqta district. Whichever you opt for, you can rest assured that opulence will be the very first thing that greets you: each hotel has a magnificent interior, riots of marble and twinkling chandeliers – you get what you pay for.
Abu Dhabi has become a hub of high-quality international cooking over these last few years, gaining prominence and recognition in the process, while showcasing some of the most exciting culinary talents you can find in the Middle East. The prestige restaurants Hakkasan and Zuma have outposts in Abu Dhabi, but the place to go is Coya inside the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi on Al Maryah Island.
Over 16 courses – or something shorter, at lunchtime – Coya serves imaginative Peruvian dishes, elevated with Chinese and Japanese flavours in the spirit of Peru’s Asia-inflected nikkei cuisine. Sixteen courses might seem like quite the undertaking, but put your trust in the kitchen, and you will be rewarded.
Once you’re settled, Etihad makes it straightforward to reach some of Abu Dhabi’s greatest cultural sites and liveliest tourist attractions. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is a masterpiece of design that attracts millions each year; so too does the famous Ferrari World Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, a must-visit for any car lover.
Beyond all others, one spot you simply cannot go without visiting is the Louvre Abu Dhabi, home to an extraordinary permanent collection, with frequent exhibitions that bring some of the finest pictures ever painted to their gallery space.
Wherever you draw your comfort from visiting, an Abu Dhabi layover could not be a smoother experience for first-class flyers.
