Dammam

Dammam (الدمام,ad-Dammām) is the largest city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and the 3rd largest city in the kingdom after Riyadh and Jeddah.

Get in
Dammam is the main transport hub of the Dammam-Dhahran-Khobar cluster.

By plane


SAPTCO runs comfortable shuttle buses between the airport and the bus station roughly hourly (SR12). The trip takes around 45 minutes. Alternatively, taxis can cover the same distance in half an hour and charge upwards of SR50.

By train
Dammam railway station is about 8 km from the city centre, connects to Abqaiq (40 min), Hofuf (1:10) and Riyadh (3:30).



By road
Dammam is well linked by the kingdom's modern highway network and the GCC road. Riyadh is 4 hours. Nearby Khobar is a 15 min drive, from where Bahrain is another half an hour by the King Fahd Causeway. Saptco runs regular buses.

Get around
Public transport is poor. Taxis and "dubbabs" dominate the market, and are usually used by the lower scale foreign workers. SR.2 is the standard fare for anywhere to anywhere! Best deal is thus the rent a car. Taxis charge 10–20SR for trips within the city proper. 25-30SR is usually charged to travel by taxi from Al-khobar to Dammam and vice versa.

Modern modes of public transportation that are becoming very popular include Uber and Careem cab booking services.

Do

 * Take a walk at Dammam's relatively new corniche, depending on the weather (best time between November till April). Track that is almost 4 kilometers long.
 * Visit AlKaria AlSha'abia (People's Village Restaurant) museum and restaurant, a nice place indicating Saudi culture, and where traditional delicious plates can be ordered, it's within corniche area.
 * Visit AlShate'a mall and Marina mall, two malls near corniche area, malls similar to those you find in western countries, where many international franchise restaurants can be found at the court area, nothing so special.
 * Football:
 * Dammam Stadium is under construction in 2024, with a planned capacity of 40,000.

Buy
Gold! High grade gold is quite reasonably priced and beautiful to add to any jewelry collection. Just remember that at 24k the gold can literally bend by biting on it.

Budget
All these are in or near the city center:



Drink
Alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Dammam has no bars or pubs. However, there are several cafes, juice parlours and places serving speciality drinks and mocktails. Bottled non-alcoholic beer is also available in most shops. Bahrain is 20 minutes away and a popular getaway.

Go next

 * Khobar : just 15 minutes away by car.
 * Dhahran : just 20 minutes away by car.
 * Jubail : just 90 minutes away by car
 * Bahrain : 20 minutes away by car and bridge costs 20SR to go to Bahrain

Speed limit is 120 km/h