The centre of Riyadh is called Al-Bathaa and is the oldest part of the city. Al Bathaa is home to the bus station, GPO and most other things a traveller needs. Most of Riyadh's places to stay are near the bus station, as are the coffee shops and shwarma stands. The Riyadh Museum , to the west of Al-Bathaa, has all the usual stuff covering the history and archaeology of the kingdom from the Stone Age to early Islam. There's an interesting display on Islamic architecture and a separate Ethnographic Hall, with clothes, musical instruments, weapons and jewellery.
Signs are in English and Arabic.
Once the citadel in the heart of Old Riyadh, the Masmak Fortress was built around 1865 and extensively renovated in the 1980s. The fortress is now a museum devoted to Abdul Aziz and his unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Other museums in Riyadh include the King Saud University Museum , which has a display of finds from archaeological digs, and Murabba Palace , with exhibits of traditional clothing and crafts. The Al-Thumairi Gate , in the centre of town, is an impressive restoration of one of the 9 gates which used to lead into the city before the wall was torn down in 1950. The flash, new, modern Al-Thumairi Gate is just across the road.