Meet Dakar

Follow from Dec 30 to Jan 17, 2027 the Dakar Rally and explore Saudi Arabia on an Adventure Bike.

Who is this tour for

The Meet Dakar Adventure Bike Tour is a unique adventure through the beautiful landscape of Saudi Arabia, where you'll experience the world's toughest and longest rally – the Dakar Rally – up close on an adventure bike. This tour is suitable for all adventure bike riders who can ride their bikes over 17 days on narrow and varied roads with gravel sections. Tough off-road sections will only be explored in a group upon request.

What means Meet Dakar

Meet Dakar means you'll follow every stage of the Dakar Rally from start to finish. You'll be there at the start for the scrutineering and the prologue, and then follow the race stages until the rest day and the finale.

You'll be at the stage start, at the refueling points, at the stage finish, and at spectator points, which you can reach on an adventure bike. You'll visit the bivouacs and participate in the awards ceremony.

You'll ride on roads and, in some cases, gravel or desert roads that are manageable for average riders on an adventure bike, and you'll sleep in hotels, apartments, and guest houses along the route.

The frequency and length of the stops at the start, spectator points, and the finish of the Dakar Rally are tailored to the daily stages of the tour and aligned with the interests of the participant.

Sights along the route and special sections such as the pass road near Mecca, the Empty Quarter, and the Elephant Rock in Al-Ula are part of the tour program and will not be neglected.

Tour Facts

Difficulty Level: medium

Distance: approx. 5000 KM

Daily stage length: 200-300 KM

Tour length: 19 tour days with 17 bike days

Airport: Jeddah (for arrival and departure)

The difficulty level of the tour is medium. The greatest challenge is the distances covered, not the difficulty of the terrain. We ride on small asphalt roads, which in the desert may be in poor condition and possibly contain sand drifts. Gravel roads and desert tracks are only used for short distances and in consultation with the group.

The total tour distance is approximately 5000 km, depending on the route of the Dakar Rally. This means we'll have to cover average daily stages of between 200-300 km.

The tour duration is 19 tour days with 17 bike days.

Airport of arrival and departure is JEDDAH.

Highlights

Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, Mecca (access for Muslims only); Hail, the Empty Quarter, the Elephant Rock in Al-Ula, the pass road from Mecca to Taif, the Edge of the World, and the mountains and valleys down to Yanbu, which remind us of the otherworldly landscape in Iceland.

Celebrate New Year's Eve in Jeddah, a really cool city. We'll arrange a city walk along the Red Sea and dinner. A New Year's celebration with a difference.

Tour Itinerary and Route

The tour lasts a total of 19 days, with 17 days spent on the bike. Arrival and departure are in Jeddah, and the rest day, is scheduled after 10 days in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The route will be adapted to the Dakar route, but we will ensure that we include the sights along the route and nearby without losing sight of the "Meet Dakar" theme of the tour. The Dakar leads through the most beautiful regions of Saudi Arabia, all the way down to the Empty Quarter.

Terrain

Saudi Arabia offers all kinds of landscapes, from deserts to high mountains, rocky landscapes with sand pockets, high mountain passes, and straight highways like Highway 10 into the Empty Quarter. The highways are two- to four-lane, the secondary roads are in good condition, and the country roads are a dream for adventure bikes.

Rest Day

On the rest day, we stay in the same place for two nights to recover and spend a day off the bike to clean our gear. The rest day is one of the best days at the Dakar Bivouac; the racers recharge their batteries for the second part of the rally while the teams completely dismantle and rebuild their vehicles. We love this very special atmosphere in the Bivouac.

Dakar Route

The Dakar typically determines its route and the locations for the start, finale, and rest day in June, but changes to the route can occur up until the start of the race.

The daily route, including the start, refueling, and stage finishes, is adapted to the weather and terrain conditions and is often changed the night before the start, for example, in the event of rain or a sandstorm.

The racers only receive their navigation devices with the route immediately before the start. There are different routes for cars and motorcycles, and even within the racing classes, there are route variations that are randomly assigned to ensure that you don't end up following other vehicles, which makes navigation a real challenge.

Meet Dakar Route and Program

Following the Dakar means you have to be flexible in your route planning and prepared for changes every day.

A typical Dakar day's stage looks like this: the first bike leaves the bivouac at 5:30 a.m. and rides up to 150 km on the road to the start. The first biker leaves the off-road start at 7:30-8:00 a.m. and reaches the day's destination after 350-500 km, from where it's between 50 and 100 km to the next bivouac. The start and finish, as well as the route length, can even be changed during the day if weather and race conditions require it.

The cars usually start between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., followed by trucks, buggies, and quads. By midday, all racers are in the off-road classification.

For our tour, this means that we may adjust our day's route over breakfast if necessary.

Don't forget that breakdowns and personal reasons within the group can cause delays and thus necessitate adjustments to the daily program.

This tour is an adventure where we will cover long distances in a challenging landscape.

We've pre-planned the route and reserved accommodations, but we've left the daily schedule open to allow for maximum flexibility. We'll find plenty of food, gas stations, garages, and tire service along our route.

The exact day-by-day tour schedule will be finalized shortly before the tour or during the tour briefing. The route and highlights can be found in the itinerary of this brochure.

Visits to the Dakar Bivouac

The Dakar allows only accredited individuals access to selected bivouacs as part of a guided VIP tour. Ride Xpower tour participants are automatically accredited. This means you can buy a day ticket.

The day ticket costs approximately €300 and can be ordered through Ride Xpower. Admission is limited and should be booked well in advance.

For detailed information and availability, please contact us before the start of the tour; experience has shown that the organizers post ticket information very late.

Travel, Accommodation and Board, Luggage Transport

The tour's arrival and departure take place in Jeddah, where we will stay the first and last nights.

For the approximately 20-30 minute transfer from the airport to the hotel, order an Uber or take one of the taxis at the exit. Jeddah Airport has three terminals; a shared transfer is logistically difficult, and the ride costs approximately €15-20.

During the tour, we will stay in hotels, apartments, and guesthouses, depending on availability. In the Empty Quarter we spend 2 nights at the Meet Dakar desert camp in comfortable tents with our own cook and a warm shower.

Breakfast is included if the accommodation offers it; otherwise, we will stop at one of the numerous local coffees and restaurants along the way. You can find inexpensive and fresh food in clean restaurants everywhere in Saudi Arabia.

On this tour, experience shows that flexibility is important in order to be able to adapt to changes in the itinerary at short notice. Overnight accommodations are reserved, and the rest of the day's schedule is left open.

You pack your personal belongings that you need during the day trip onto the bike (the bikes come with panniers), the rest of your travel luggage goes into a 90L duffle bag that we transport in the service car and hand over to you every evening.

It's an adventure ride.

Motorbikes

We offer BMW GS 1300s for the Meet Dakar Adventure Bike Tour.

The tour price includes bike rental and fully comprehensive insurance with a €2,000 deductible.

Each participant concludes a rental agreement with us. The vehicles are handed over and returned in Jeddah. Any damages are also settled with us. This ensures the latest bikes and a professional rental company. The rental price is included in the tour price;. A deposit of 2.500€ for the deductible and for traffic violations (speeding) will be settled by credit card.

Gasoline is not included in the tour price; a liter of gasoline costs approximately 0.60 euro cents in Saudi Arabia. Tire repairs and replacements are the responsibility of the participant and are not included in the tour price. The tires should last the entire tour distance with normal use. We have spare tires in the support vehicle for emergency; Saudi Arabia has tire service and sales outlets in every village.

Participation with your own Motorbike

A participation with your own motorbike is possible, please contact us for price and details.

Tour Management and Tour Guiding

The tour is led by a tour manager and an experienced tour guide.

The guide is equipped with a satellite system for location determination and emergency communication. Participants are connected to the tour guide via the Garmin Tread app and a SENA communication system.

Communication among participants is left to each individual; the tour guide uses a latest-generation Sena system.

The mobile network in Saudi Arabia is very well developed; it is recommended to use a local SIM card from the two leading providers, STC or MOBILY. E-SIM cards offered online use often providers that offer very poor network coverage outside of urban centers and are not recommend.

Ride Xpower

As a leading provider of off-road adventure tours for enduro, adventure bike, buggy, and 4x4 vehicles based in Salzburg, Austria, we developed the Meet Dakar Adventure when the Dakar moved from South America to Saudi Arabia.

The first Meet Dakar event took place in 2023, post-COVID. We're now in our third year in Saudi Arabia, have gotten to know the country and its people very well, and have built a local structure. Our Saudi Manager is well-connected, has many years of experience in rally and Formula 1, and is one of the four stewards at the Jeddah F1 Grand Prix.

Meet Dakar is a once in a lifetime adventure in a unique landscape to the toughest and longest rally in the world - the Dakar Rally.

Our general terms and conditions apply. This tour requires a 50% deposit and the rest is due 90 days before the tour starts. 

You fly to Jeddah International Airport and take a taxi to the hotel in the city near to the F1 circuit, approx. 30 min. drive.

Welcome by the tour manager and briefing.

New Years Eve dinner and city tour into the new year.

On this day, the participants and the Ride Xpower team get to know each other and discuss the tour itinerary in the morning.

We pick up the motorcycles and ride the the first leg of the Meet Dakar Adventure Bike Tour to the start location of the Dakar Rally.

We'll watch the racers' presentation at the bivouac and then drive to the start, finish, and action points. The prologue is a great opportunity to see the racers at various action points and experience firsthand what racing in the Dakar Rally means. Perhaps the day you'll get the best up-close and compressed impressions.

The first stage takes a loop around the starting bivouac in Yanbu.

The race has truly begun, and it's getting exciting. Now it's time to find the balance between attack and conserving resources. The Dakar isn't decided in the first stages, but a defect or crash can mean you lose everything right at the start. We stand at the starting line, feel the adrenaline pumping through the riders' veins, and are just as excited. You simply have to experience this racing feeling to be believed.

We follow the Dakar Rally and visit cultural, historical and must to see sights on the way.

This day leads up to the rest day, which concludes the first leg of the Dakar, demand everything from the riders: They have to conserve their energy and equipment while not losing any time.

We visit the famous Edge of the World before we enter Riyadh

This day is one of the highlights of this trip. For one thing, we forget about the motorcycles for a day and sort ourselves out, get our laundry done, and get a good night's sleep before spending the day at the Dakar Bivouac, chatting with the teams and racers. In the evening, we attend the briefing for the second leg of the Dakar and experience firsthand how the racers and teams are prepared for the next stage.

After the rest day, during which the riders recharged their batteries and the teams repaired their vehicles, the Dakar begins its decisive second stage.

We continue to the Empty Quarter, another highlight in a very special landscape of Saudi Arabia, where we will spend three full days and two nights.

In the Empty Quarter, we will probably stay at the Meet Dakar Desert Camp; there are very few hotels in this region. A very special experience in a comfortable tented camp under the starry desert sky.

On these days we ride out of the Empty Quarter towards Yanbu. We pass the scenic pass road near Taif down to Mecca and further to Yanbu.

The Dakar is entering its final days, and it's not just the racers who are feeling a bit tired. So we're taking it easy over the next few days and, if possible, returning from the day's stage early to enjoy a relaxing evening.

The tension remains high until the last minute of the final stage, because that's when the drama surrounding victory in the world's toughest rally can still unfold, and we're right in the middle of it. The evening ceremony marks a fitting conclusion to the Dakar Rally.

Return to Jeddah, where we return the motorcycles. We debrief the tour over dinner and say our goodbyes.

Goodbye Saudi Arabia. You can take a taxi to the airport at the time you want to be there, without having to wait for a shared shuttle (not included).