Gold-edged bisht cloaks hang in the doorways of Souq Al-Zal, where some shops tailor them to order and carpet sellers stack the rugs that gave the market its name. Swords, oud, saffron and antique Najdi coffee pots fill the next stalls. Beyond the lanes, the mud-brick towers of Masmak Fortress watch over the old square.
Past the old center, glass towers rise around Kingdom Centre, and Wadi Hanifa threads a green line through the west. Summers are long and fiercely hot, spring brings a little rain, and winter nights turn surprisingly cold. A Local Friend can decode a Najdi menu, plot a route across this spread-out city and tell you when the souq is in its best mood.
