Dog Friendly City Guide: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The Barking Lot was launched in Kuwait, opened in Al Khobar in 2020 as the Kingdom's first dog cafe, and came to Riyadh the year after as the capital's first. A few years on, the city has a small and growing circle of places built around dogs and the people who own them: two cafes where dogs come in with their owners, a members' dog park with its own cafe, and a handful of long walks where owners meet in the cool of the morning and the evening. Riyadh is not yet a city where a dog walks into any restaurant. It is a city where dog owners have found each other, and the places they gather are worth knowing.

Getting There With a Dog

Read this first, because it decides if your dog can come at all. The USDA page for pet travel from the United States to Saudi Arabia says plainly that dogs are not generally allowed to be imported into the Kingdom, except for hunting, guarding and guides for the disabled. Every dog that does travel needs an import permit from the Saudi Ministry, applied for by your Saudi sponsor once you have given them your dog's details and your flight. The dog travels with a USDA endorsed health certificate and a certificate of origin from the Saudi Ministry, and all three documents must be in hand before you fly. The USDA accepts an electronic signature from your vet and endorses the certificate digitally.

If you are flying home to the United States, Saudi Arabia is not on the CDC's list of high risk countries for dog rabies. A dog returning from a low risk country needs the CDC Dog Import Form receipt, a microchip and to be at least six months old, as the CDC sets out for dogs arriving from rabies free and low risk countries. Travelling from Britain, start with the government's guide to bringing your pet to Great Britain before you leave, since the return trip shapes what your vet must do on the way out.

Where to Stay

The Fairmont Riyadh stands in the Business Gate district, about fifteen minutes from King Khalid International Airport and close to the Riyadh Front complex. Its rooms look out across the city through floor to ceiling windows, and most of them take dogs. There is no weight or size limit, so a big dog is as welcome as a small one, and the staff have been trained to look after canine guests.

The room is ready before you arrive, with a dog bed, real food and water bowls and toys. The team at the desk will suggest walking routes nearby and keeps an emergency vet's number to hand, and dogs are welcome in the hotel garden on a lead. The Fairmont Riyadh's dog policy sets the fee at SAR 50 a day, with no damage deposit.

Eat and Drink

Riyadh's dog owners do their socialising at places made for it, and the two cafes below are where to start.

The Barking Lot, on At Takhassusi Branch Street in Ar Rahmaniyyah, calls itself a pet cafe on its own page, and DQ Living, the magazine of the Diplomatic Quarter, described it in July 2026 as a pet friendly cafe with an indoor play area where dogs and their owners relax and meet other animal lovers. The coffee comes with a grooming salon, daycare, boarding and a pet boutique under the same roof, so a dog can be bathed and trimmed while you sit with a cup. The Riyadh branch opens every day from one in the afternoon until midnight. Arab News, writing about the rise of animal friendly cafes across the region in November 2025, described its Riyadh and Al Khobar branches as places that combine coffee culture with dogs, for owners who want to eat and drink while their dogs play or are groomed.

The Social Pup, on King Abdullah Road in An Nuzhah, describes itself in four words: a dog friendly space and cafe. DQ Living calls it a place where dogs and their owners play, socialise and spend time together, with dedicated play areas and activities built around the dogs, and grooming, daycare, boarding and memberships on offer too. It opens from three in the afternoon until midnight, and families come as well as dog owners.

The third is the cafe at Luca Park, at The Groves in Ar Rafiah. Time Out Riyadh, reporting on The Groves in November 2025, listed a dog friendly cafe among Luca Park's thirteen services, alongside grooming, veterinary care, a dog hotel and a dog beach. Luca Park is a members' club rather than a cafe you can walk into, and the next section explains how it works.

Walks and Parks

Luca Park is the one place in the city built for dogs to run. Its own rules describe indoor and outdoor dog parks for owners and their dogs, and DQ Living calls it one of Riyadh's first large dog parks, enclosed and safe for dogs to play and exercise. Entry is by membership, with a behaviour and temperament assessment first and proof of vaccinations, so call ahead before you drive out. DQ Living gives its hours as four in the afternoon until midnight, closed on Sundays.

Wadi Hanifah is the walk most owners talk about. The valley runs down the west of the city, with trees, a lake and footpaths below the Diplomatic Quarter, and the Sports Boulevard's Wadi Hanifah pages list a pedestrian pathway through it, open around the clock and free to enter. DQ Living names Wadi Hanifah among the places where many pet owners walk their dogs, on the lead, particularly in the quieter morning and evening hours, and a CuddlyNest guide to Wadi Hanifa from June 2024 says pets are allowed there on a leash, with owners cleaning up after them.

The Diplomatic Quarter itself is the second. A running track loops through the district, open at all hours, and DQ Living, which is written for the people who live there, names the quarter first in its list of places where owners walk their dogs. Early morning and evening are the times it suggests, with the dog on the lead.

The third is the Sports Boulevard Promenade, a long linear park on Prince Mohammed bin Salman Road with walking paths, cycling paths and a cycling bridge more than 900 metres long. It is free and open 24 hours a day, and DQ Living includes it with the wadi and the quarter as a place where owners walk their dogs on the lead.

A Day Out

Start at dawn in the Diplomatic Quarter, walking the running track while the air is still cool, then drop down into Wadi Hanifah and follow the path beside the lake below the quarter. Head back to the hotel through the heat of the day. When the city wakes up again in the afternoon, take the dog to The Barking Lot for a coffee and a groom, or to The Social Pup to play. As the evening cools, walk a stretch of the Sports Boulevard Promenade, which stays open through the night.

Good to Know

Be clear about the rules before you set out. DQ Living says that most public parks in Riyadh do not explicitly allow dogs, that policies vary and can be enforced differently by park staff, and that Wadi Hanifah, the Diplomatic Quarter and the Sports Boulevard are not official pet parks but places where many owners walk their dogs. The Sports Boulevard's own visitor questions say nothing about animals either way. Keep the dog on the lead, walk at quiet times, clean up after it and give other visitors room. Luca Park asks every dog to wear a flat collar with a name tag, allows harnesses but no choke or chain collars, and asks for a full vaccination record before the first visit. At the Fairmont Riyadh, dogs stay out of the public rooms and are not left alone in the room.