A Travel Guide for Makkah

Mecca or Makkah is known to be the holiest city in Islam. It is located in western Saudi Arabia and Non Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering this city. This rule is strongly enforced. Prophet Muhammad is also believed to be born in this city, which has a rich cultural history. This very old city is the birthplace of Islam and considered to be a sacred city since the early middle ages. Because of its highly sacrosanct history, this place is the holiest place for Muslims.

The pilgrimage to Mecca done during the month of Dhul Hijjah, is obligatory for able bodied Muslims who can financially afford it. This pilgrimage is known as Hajj and the visits which are done outside of this month are called Umrah. Over 3 million Muslim pilgrims visit Mecca during the Hajj.

Getting in

Special visas are issued by the Government of Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrims. These visas are issues by certified tours and travel operators. These specialists’ travel agencies help and facilitate maximum paperwork for the pilgrims and also detailed information and requirements are also available at Ministry of Hajj. For women performing the Hajj, it is a mandate that they do not travel alone, unless they are of 45 years of age or more, or they are travelling as a part of a group with a prior signed consent of their guardian.

The Saudi Arabia government grants visas to countries on the basis of the quota which depends on the number of Muslims in that country. Recently, the government has placed additional restrictions on pilgrims, who have visited the Mecca previously. This is being done to accommodate the increasing numbers and new pilgrims. Also for converted Muslims, they have to present before the authorities a certificate testifying their conversion to Islam. This certificate is notarized by an Islamic centre. You can take help of your local mosque to help you with this.

Choosing Transport

1. By plane: Jeddah the capital of KSA has the King Abdulaziz Airport, which is the gateway to Mecca. The Hajj terminal at this airport is exclusively used during Hajj, served predominantly by Charter Flights. There are some scheduled service also but mainly during Umrah and they use different terminals at the airport.

2. By car: From Jeddah to Mecca there is a multi-lane highway. This highway is very busy during Hajj and jammed during the Hajj season with buses full of pilgrims. During the rest of the year, the traffic is very light as compared to the road size. Outside of Meccah, a few miles away there is a diversion in the road by the name of ‘Christian bypass’. Pilgrims take this turn to reach a mountain town called Taif, which is another 50 miles out. There is a police checkpoint at the highway, to keep non Muslims out of the city.

3. By bus: throughout the country, SAPTCO runs bus service. But mostly Hajj pilgrims come on chartered buses from Jeddah. There are two terminals – the city centre terminal, called Haram Al Sharif is used exclusively by buses to Jeddhah for Muslims, while another main terminal placed just outside city limits is open for all.

Getting around Mecca

There are inexpensive micro-buses, taxis and local buses widely available. The government is at the same time strengthening the transport infrastructure for pilgrims. The Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro, which covers 18km was opened recently in 2010. It proposes to have 5 metro lines for the pilgrims religious travel to religious sites in Mecca.

If you are looking forward to a religious tour in Saudi Arabia and need

A Way to Makkah provides bespoke Hajj and Umrah packages to its clients in the U.K. An agent of Zam Zam Travels Ltd, authorised by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the group has direct access to Hajj and Umrah Visas.