Mecca welcomes Muslims from all over the world all year for umrah and, once a year, for the hajj. Entry to the city is permitted only to Muslims; this guide is for those making the pilgrimage.
Entry to Mecca is permitted only to Muslims. The rule is stated by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, which reserves the city's sacred area for followers of Islam. This guide is therefore addressed to those who are going to perform umrah, possible during most of the year, or the hajj, which takes place on fixed days of the Islamic calendar. The rites appear here only in outline, to help you get your bearings; the details of each step should come from your group or from a trusted scholar.
The city sits in a narrow valley about 277 m above sea level, surrounded by mountains. Everything revolves around the Masjid al-Haram: hotels cluster in the blocks around it, and to the south the Clock Tower rises, visible from almost anywhere. In the central area, getting around is almost entirely on foot, and the distance between your hotel and the mosque matters more to your stay than any other detail of the booking.
East of the center lie Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat, the sacred sites of the hajj. They receive millions of pilgrims between the 8th and 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah and are practically empty the rest of the year. Closer to the city are the mountains tied to the story of the Prophet Muhammad, such as Jabal al-Nour and Jabal Thawr, and two museums that help explain the mosque's architecture and the way time is measured by the moon.
The kiswa, the embroidered cloth that covers the Kaaba, is renewed on the first day of each year of the Hijri calendar and is made in Mecca itself, at the King Abdulaziz Complex in the Umm al-Joud district.
Inside Mecca's haram, acts that are allowed elsewhere, such as hunting and cutting down trees, are forbidden.
The Al-Mashaer train, which links Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina, runs only during the hajj season, between the 7th and 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah; its first trip was in 2010.
The Jamarat complex in Mina has five floors, but its foundations were designed to support up to twelve, anticipating a growing number of pilgrims.
1The Sacred Mosque, with the Kaaba at the center of its white marble courtyard, is the direction Muslims face in prayer and the place where umrah and hajj begin.
View details for Masjid al-Haram and the Kaaba
2The well lies about 20 m from the Kaaba and is not open to the public; the water reaches worshippers through fountains and containers placed throughout the mosque and courtyards.
View details for Zamzam Well
3A covered gallery between the hills of Safa and Marwa, inside the Sacred Mosque, where the sa'i is performed: seven laps that begin at Safa and end at Marwa.
View details for Safa and Marwa
4A mountain about 640 m high, some 5 km from the Sacred Mosque, with the Cave of Hira at the top, where, according to Islamic tradition, the revelation of the Quran began.
View details for Jabal al-Nour and the Cave of Hira
5A mountain south of the Sacred Mosque, about 750 m high, home to the cave where, according to tradition, the Prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr took shelter on the way to Medina.
View details for Jabal Thawr
6A museum in Umm al-Joud, near the complex where the Kaaba's kiswa is made, with ancient pieces from the Kaaba and models of the Masjid al-Haram and the Prophet's Mosque.
View details for Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition
7The central tower of the Abraj Al-Bait complex, 601 m tall, with a four-faced clock visible from 25 km away; the top floors house a museum of astronomy and timekeeping.
View details for Clock Tower (Abraj Al-Bait) and Museum
8A valley about 7 to 8 km from the Sacred Mosque, covered in white tents, where pilgrims stay on the 8th of Dhu al-Hijjah and on the days of tashreeq. Outside the hajj, it is empty.
View details for Mina
9An open area between Mina and Arafat where hajj pilgrims spend the night of the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, on their return from Arafat, and collect the pebbles for the Jamarat.
View details for Muzdalifah
10A plain about 20 km from the Sacred Mosque, with Jabal al-Rahmah, where pilgrims stay on the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the Day of Arafah.
View details for Arafat and Jabal al-Rahmah1At the center of the Masjid al-Haram stands the Kaaba, covered by the kiswa, a silk cloth embroidered with gold and silver thread. Around it opens the mataf, the white marble courtyard where the tawaf is performed, and in the southeast corner sits the Black Stone. Nearby, the Maqam Ibrahim has stood under a crystal dome since 1967. The third great Saudi expansion began during the reign of King Abdullah and continued under King Salman.
Since the second expansion, the mosque has had more than a hundred gates, and agreeing on a reference gate with your group helps avoid missing each other. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah recommends keeping your belongings in lockers rather than leaving them at the gates and in the courtyards.
2The Zamzam well lies some 20 m east of the Kaaba and is about 30 m deep. Since 1964, the mouth of the well has been in an underground room closed to the public, and the old basement entrances were covered in 2003, which enlarged the mataf. According to tradition, the water appeared for Hajar and little Ismail after her search between Safa and Marwa.
Today the water is pumped about 5 km to the Kudai station, opened in 2010, where it is filtered and treated with ultraviolet light before returning by pipeline to the mosque's drinking points. Containers of chilled and room-temperature water stand along the corridors and courtyards, and attendants walk around with tanks on their backs. Small bottles are also handed out free of charge.
3The small hills of Safa and Marwa lie on the east side of the Masjid al-Haram, and the path between them, the mas'a, was incorporated into the mosque's architecture in 1956. Today it is a four-story gallery about 40 m wide. Each stretch measures a little under 400 m, and the seven laps of the sa'i add up to around 2.8 km. Islamic tradition links the rite to Hajar, wife of the Prophet Ibrahim, who walked between the two hills in search of water for her son Ismail.
Midway along the path, green lights mark the lowest point of the old valley. There are different guidelines for men and women on this stretch, and your group will explain what to do. Since it is almost 3 km on foot, drink water before you begin and set aside time to rest afterward.
4About 5 km northeast of the Sacred Mosque, Jabal al-Nour is recognizable from afar by its peak shaped like a camel's hump. The Cave of Hira is near the top: the entrance is about 4 m long by 1 m wide, and the interior holds four or five people. Islamic tradition places the first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad there, with the verse that begins "Read, in the name of your Lord who created".
The climb has around 1,750 steps and takes from half an hour to three hours, depending on your stamina and how busy the trail is. The visit is optional and is not part of the rites of umrah or hajj. At the foot of the mountain, the Ministry of Tourism has been setting up a visitor center as part of its program for Islamic historic sites.
5South of the Sacred Mosque, Jabal Thawr has a rounded shape with ten pointed peaks and reaches about 755 m, according to Saudipedia. It was formerly known as Jabal Athal. On the mountain is the Cave of Thawr, linked by Islamic tradition to the hijra: there the Prophet Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr hid from the Quraysh before continuing in secret to Medina.
Higher than Jabal al-Nour, Thawr calls for good fitness, sturdy shoes and plenty of water for those who decide to climb. Those who do not plan to tackle the slope can see it from below, on a tour of the historic sites arranged with the group. As at Hira, going up to the cave is a personal choice, not a step of the pilgrimage.
6Opened in February 2000, the Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition covers about 1,200 m² in the Umm al-Joud district, near the King Abdulaziz Complex, where the kiswa is made. It has seven halls, including those devoted to the Kaaba, the Masjid al-Haram, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the Zamzam well, photography and manuscripts.
Among the pieces are a wooden column from the Kaaba dated to the year 65 of the Hijri calendar, a Kaaba gutter from 1021, a wooden staircase from 1240 and a door from 1363, along with detailed models of the two mosques, manuscripts and old photographs. The visit helps you understand, in miniature, the expansions you walk through in the center of the city.
7The central tower of the Abraj Al-Bait, a group of seven buildings facing the south facade of the Sacred Mosque, is 601 m tall and opened in 2012. Each of the clock's four faces is 43 m in diameter, and the dial can be seen from about 25 km away. The complex stands on the site of the 18th-century Ottoman fortress of Ajyad, which was demolished to make way for it; the lower floors house hotels and a shopping center.
The top four floors house the Clock Tower Museum, opened in 2019, with rooms on the universe, the Sun and the Moon and the instruments used to measure time. At the base of the spire, a science center is used to observe the crescent moon that marks the start of the months of the Islamic calendar.
8Mina covers about 16.8 km² inside the sacred boundaries and, according to Saudipedia, is inhabited only during the hajj season. It is where the rites of the hajj begin, on the 8th of Dhu al-Hijjah, and where pilgrims return on the morning of the 10th, after Arafat and Muzdalifah, to spend the days of tashreeq. The tents, made of Teflon-coated fiberglass and fire resistant, cover about a fifth of the area and shelter around 2.6 million people.
Mina is also home to the three pillars of the Jamarat, inside a five-story complex built for about 300,000 pilgrims per hour, and to the al-Khayf mosque. Outside the hajj season, the valley is usually seen in passing, with the group, to get to know the place where these rites take place.
9Muzdalifah lies between Arafat and Mina, about 6 km from Arafat, and covers some 9.6 km² inside the sacred boundaries. On the night of the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, after the day at Arafat, pilgrims arrive here, pray the maghrib and isha prayers together and shortened, and spend the night. It is also in Muzdalifah that the pebbles later used at the Jamarat, in Mina, are collected.
At the center of the area stands the al-Mash'ar al-Haram mosque, expanded during the Saudi period, with room for about 12,000 worshippers and two 32 m minarets. Outside the hajj, Muzdalifah is usually seen only in passing, on the way between Arafat and Mina, during the tour of the sacred sites.
10Arafat lies some 20 km from the Sacred Mosque, 10 km from Mina and 6 km from Muzdalifah, and is the only one of the sacred sites of the hajj located outside the boundaries of the haram. On the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the Day of Arafah, pilgrims remain on the plain, and at the Namirah mosque, on the west side, the dhuhr and asr prayers are held. The mosque covers more than 110,000 m² and holds close to 400,000 worshippers.
Jabal al-Rahmah, the Mount of Mercy, is a rocky rise that stands about 65 m above the surrounding terrain. Outside the hajj season, many groups stop at its foot during the tour of the sacred sites, so that pilgrims can get to know the place before one day returning for the hajj.
There is the umrah visa, requested through Nusuk, and Muslims on a tourist visa may also perform umrah during their permitted stay; neither is valid for the hajj. With the umrah visa, each trip requires a service package from a licensed operator on Nusuk and an umrah permit issued in the app before arrival, with the same dates as the package. Umrah visas are not issued during the hajj season, between the 15th of Dhu al-Qi'dah and the 15th of Dhu al-Hijjah.
The hajj requires its own permit and takes place on dates set by the lunar calendar, announced officially each year. For pilgrims from countries with Muslim minorities, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah opens registration through the Direct Hajj Program, done only on the official Nusuk Hajj platform; the ministry warns that no intermediary is authorized to register pilgrims through this program. Confirm whether your country is included and be wary of offers outside official channels.
Ihram is entered before crossing the miqat, the boundary set for each route of arrival. Men usually wear two white seamless pieces, one fastened at the waist and the other over the torso, with sandals; women wear ordinary modest clothing, with no special garment. Those arriving by air generally prepare before the flight or on board, and some airports have rooms for this. Follow your group's guidance on what is forbidden in this state.
Saudi authorities require the quadrivalent meningococcal (ACWY) vaccine for anyone going to the umrah and hajj areas from 1 year of age, given at least 10 days before arrival. The conjugate version is valid for five years, and the polysaccharide version for three. Depending on your country of origin or transit, polio and yellow fever vaccines may also be required.
In summer, afternoons in Mecca exceed 40 °C (104 °F), and even in winter the day can top 30 °C (86 °F). Drink water constantly, prefer to get around in the early morning and at night, and seek care at the first sign of illness: dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke are among the risks pointed out by health authorities. Large crowds also raise the risk of respiratory infections.
Mecca has no airport. The nearest is King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah, about 70 km away. The Haramain High-Speed Railway, which has run at up to 300 km/h since 2018, links Mecca to Jeddah, the airport and Medina; check schedules and fares on the operator's official channels.
At the Saudi table, kabsa is the dish of honor: rice with meat, chicken or vegetables, served on a single platter around which four to ten people sit, and traditionally eaten with the right hand. Other rice dishes, such as mandi, derive from it. The cuisine of the Hejaz, the region of Mecca, has recipes of its own, such as saleeg, and hospitality comes through Arabic coffee, ground with cardamom and served with dates.
Rice cooked with meat, chicken or vegetables in a single pot, seasoned differently in every home and served on a platter to share.
Rice cooked in meat broth; in the Mecca version, it comes to the table with the meat on top.
Thin dough folded into a square and filled mainly with ground meat, fried or baked, eaten with lemon and green chili. Popular in the west of the country.
Arabic coffee with cardamom ground together with the beans, offered as a sign of hospitality and served with dates.
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