Riyadh with a 15 year old and a 17 year old, four days, just back. A demographic that does not do museums. What worked. 1. One driver booked for all four days rather than per excursion. Came out cheaper than three separate day trips would have, and it meant we could stop the moment the teenagers went quiet. 2. At-Turaif in Diriyah took us two and a half hours and that was the ceiling. Go at four in the afternoon. It was 34 by lunchtime last week and the mud brick throws the heat straight back at you. 3. The camel and heritage afternoon out of town was the surprise of the trip. Both of them got on a camel without an argument. Twenty minutes of riding and then an hour on rugs with dates and cardamom coffee. The younger one talked to a stranger for the first time all holiday. 4. Water. Everyone says this. We still ran out on day two. 5. Closed shoes. The ground in the old quarter around Masmak is uneven and my son went over on his ankle in sandals. 6. Power bank. Hotel sockets were type G, so bring the plug you assume you already own. What did not work: trying to add anything at all after four in the afternoon on the day we went out of town. They were finished.
