in taif it is rather quite, just opened a new shopping mall. about this time last year. the drive from jeddah itself can be interesting depending on which way you go, normally police check points there is only one main one and thats about 25/ 30 mins outside taif itself. but it being hajj / eid there will be plenty of mobile check points the police and cid just set them up for a hour or two then move on.
now these depending on the time of day they normally just wave on western expats, but for others then they do want to see your papers. so please have your papers etc with you at all times.
there is a couple of adventure parks out by al hada near to the hospital, and then cable car that is interesting the drop down is about 5000 metres and the view is rather nice. watch out for the monkeys they can wreck your car in a few seconds.
the drive from jeddah to taif is about 2hrs 45 mins on a good day again depending on which route you take.