Alcohol-free beers and cocktails are served in hotel bars. Apart from restaurants and hotels there is no nightlife in the Western sense. These hours differ in various parts of the country. Elsewhere, hotels have swimming pools. The British and US embassies have men-only health clubs as well as swimming pools, golf clubs and squash and tennis facilities.
Most companies employing foreign workers also have some sports facilities.
The desert terrain provides great opportunities for off-road motorcycling but this sport is prohibited from time to time. Football is popular and most large towns have modern stadia. Most visitors to Saudi Arabia are Muslim pilgrims and the majority of events celebrated in the country are of a religious nature. The Najd and other remote areas remain true to Wahhabi tradition, but throughout the country this way of life is being threatened by modernisation and rapid development. Shaking hands is the customary form of greeting.