"Dhahran" Top 5 Page for this destination Dhahran by iwys

Dhahran Travel Guide: 79 reviews and 129 photos

Dhahran is a loose collection of compounds, oil and military facilities in the Eastern Province. It doesn't really have a city centre. Most people go to neighbouring Al Khobar or Dammam to do their shopping.

Dhahran is best known as the home of Aramco, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Air Force base.

Dhahran is never going to become a major tourist centre. Barbed-wire fences, road blocks and sand-bagged machine gun posts remind you of the fact that many people have been killed by terrorists in this area.

Work in Progress

Dhahran is very much a work in progress. There are almost as many construction sites as there are buildings. Eventually a city centre, with shops and offices, will be completed in the area of desert between KFUPM and the Dhahran-Al Khobar highway.

Last visit to Dhahran: Jan 2005
Intro Updated Apr 17, 2007
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Reviews (5)

KFUPM Favorites (2)

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals dominates Dhahran. The campus stands on a 100m-high rocky outcrop, or... more travel advice

Money, money, money Favorites (2)

Dhahran is the centre of the oil industry in the biggest oil producing country in the world. Saudi Aramco, the main oil... more travel advice

Planes on Plinths Things to Do (2)

Instead of statues, Dhahran has planes on concrete plinths. There is a row of three of them at the old airport, which is... more travel advice

KFUPM Water Tower Things to Do (2)

The Dhahran skyline is dominated by the Water Tower at King Fahd University of Petrolem and Minerals. Near the top there... more travel advice

Off The Beaten Path (1)
I lived here

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Comments (3)

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svoebel Jan 28, 2012 at 9:07 PM

Thanks for the honest appraisal. I fly to Houston Tuesday to speak with Aramco. If all goes well, we will soon be neighbors -- well, at least in the same city!
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freya_heaven May 7, 2005 at 1:16 PM

Unsual & interesting page Ian, I see you are an ABBA fan too! lol. (~_~)
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shelnlin Jan 26, 2005 at 3:14 PM

Great page in here Ian... I enjoyed your photographs alot... those planes used to fly over my home alot... especially during the start of the Gulf war.