Your First Umrah: A Practical Guide to the Journey

Before you leave Pakistan

Two practical things matter more than anything else on the day. First, enter ihram before you cross the miqat — for flights from Pakistan this is done before boarding or in the air, and your group coordinator will tell you when. Change into ihram at the airport, not at home; you will be travelling for hours.

Second, learn the talbiyah and the basic supplications before you go. You will say them a great deal, and it is far better to arrive knowing them than to be reading from a phone in the middle of tawaf.

Arriving at Jeddah

Immigration at Jeddah during Umrah season is slow — plan for two to three hours between landing and being on the bus, and considerably more in peak periods. Take a bottle of water and any medication in your hand luggage.

Your group coordinator meets you after customs and the bus to Makkah takes roughly an hour and a half. Most groups arrive at the hotel, drop bags, and go straight to the Haram to perform Umrah — which means you may be awake for a very long stretch. Sleep on the plane if you possibly can.

Performing Umrah, in practice

The rites themselves are simple: tawaf, then sa'i, then cutting the hair. What first-timers underestimate is the physical scale.

Tawaf is seven circuits of the Kaaba. On the ground floor at a busy hour this is genuinely crowded and takes well over an hour. The upper floors are far less crowded but each circuit is much longer — the trade-off is real, and for elderly pilgrims the upper level or a wheelchair is usually the better choice.

Sa'i is seven lengths between Safa and Marwah, which is around 3.5 km in total. Combined with tawaf you are looking at 5 to 7 km of walking, mostly on marble, after a long flight.

• ▸Agree a meeting point with your group before entering the Haram — phones lose signal in the crowd
• ▸Memorise your hotel name and the nearest Haram gate number
• ▸Wheelchairs and porters are available inside the Haram for a fee

What to pack

Less than you think, with a few specific exceptions.

• ▸Two sets of ihram for men, so one can be washed; loose modest clothing and a prayer garment for women
• ▸Unscented soap, shampoo and deodorant — scented products are not permitted in ihram
• ▸Comfortable sandals you can slip on and off, plus a cloth bag to carry them inside the Haram
• ▸A refillable water bottle; zamzam is freely available throughout
• ▸Any prescription medication in original packaging, with a copy of the prescription
• ▸A small folding prayer mat and a lightweight shawl — marble floors and strong air conditioning
• ▸A power bank and a universal adaptor (Saudi uses Type G, the same as the UK)

Madinah is a different pace entirely

After the intensity of Makkah, Madinah comes as a relief to most pilgrims. It is quieter, calmer, and the Prophet's Mosque is more spacious than the Haram.

Two things to plan for. Visiting the Rawdah requires a booking through the Nusuk app, and slots go quickly — book as soon as your dates are confirmed rather than on arrival. And the standard ziyarat circuit, covering Quba Mosque, Masjid Qiblatain and the site of Uhud, is usually arranged as a group excursion; if it is not included in your package, it is inexpensive to arrange locally.

The practical things nobody tells you

Prayer times empty the streets and fill the Haram — plan any shopping or eating around them, not through them. The shops around the Haram close during every prayer.

Distances on paper are not distances in practice. A hotel described as 500 m from the Haram is 500 m to the nearest gate, and the walk from that gate to the mataf can add another ten minutes inside the building.

The air conditioning is fierce and the outdoors is hot. Most pilgrims come home with a cold caught from that swing rather than from anything else. Carry a shawl.

Finally: pace yourself. Five prayers a day at the Haram plus tawaf plus walking to and from the hotel is more physical activity than most people do at home. The pilgrims who struggle are almost always the ones who tried to do everything in the first three days.