Umrah Ziyarat guide: Makkah and Madinah
The short answer. Plan Ziyarat around your rest, not instead of it. Madinah is the easier city for it and most packages organise something there; Makkah is more variable. Ask three things of any package: which sites, is transport included, and on which day. And be willing to see fewer sites properly rather than all of them in a rush.
A note on what this page is and is not. The significance of each site, and what is appropriate at it, is a matter for your scholar, and we do not write about it. This is the practical half: how to arrange the visits, when to go, and what to ask your agency.
What "Ziyarat included" usually means
One word on a brochure can mean several different things:
- A coach, a fixed day and a group leader with you.
- Transport only, and the rest is up to you.
- Madinah only, with nothing arranged in Makkah.
- Nothing arranged at all, beyond being told where things are.
None of those is dishonest. All of them are sold as "Ziyarat included". Ask:
- Which sites, named, in which city?
- Is transport included, and is it with the group?
- On which day, and how long?
Madinah is the easier city
The sites in and around Madinah sit close together, the roads are manageable, and a half day covers the usual circuit comfortably. This is why most packages organise Madinah Ziyarat and fewer organise Makkah.
If Ziyarat matters to you, make sure your package gives you enough nights in Madinah for it, because packages trim Madinah first. Check the number of nights before you compare prices.
Makkah is more variable
Around Makkah, what is practical changes with the season, the crowds and the road management on the day. A package that tells you in advance that a Makkah visit may depend on conditions is being honest rather than evasive.
Arranging it yourself
Often the better option, and worth pricing against what your package charges.
A driver for a half day, on a day you choose, at your own pace, suits:
- A family with an older parent who needs to stop and rest.
- Anyone who would rather spend longer at one place than circle several.
- Pilgrims whose package leaves the days free anyway.
Ask your agency what it would cost separately. Sometimes it is cheaper than the package's version and almost always it is more comfortable.
When to go
Not on your first day. Most flights from Pakistan land in the small hours. Ziyarat on day one, after Umrah, after twenty hours awake, costs you day two.
Not on the day you travel between cities.
At the cooler hours where there is a choice, and carry water.
Leave a free day in the trip with nothing planned at all. Families who do this come home saying the trip was unhurried; families who do not come home tired.
With an older parent
- Fewer sites, more time at each.
- Confirm there is somewhere to sit at each stop.
- Take a taxi or a private car rather than a coach with a fixed schedule.
- Be ready to turn back early without anybody feeling it was wasted.
More in Umrah for elderly pilgrims.
Practical
- Modest dress for the whole day, and shoes you can walk in.
- Water, and a hat.
- The hotel name and address in Arabic on paper, for the return.
- Photograph nothing you have been asked not to, and nobody's face at prayer.
More on conduct in
The honest advice
Almost everybody tries to fit in more than the week allows, and the part that suffers is the Haram itself, which is what they came for. Do less. See three places properly rather than seven from a window.
Ask us what is arranged
Our departures say what Ziyarat is included, in which city, and whether transport is with it, on the Umrah packages page. Send us your dates and we will tell you what is organised, what it would cost to arrange privately, and which we would choose for the people travelling with you.