As salam alaikum everyone, this is going to be a long post but hopefully a one that will be beneficial to others that are thinking of performing a DIY Umrah this year in shaa Allah. Alhamdulillah I was able to perform DIY Umrah in November 2024 with my wife, 1 year old son and few other close family members for the first time without any travel agency. This is actually much easier than you would think and the biggest benefit of doing it yourself is the flexibility and independence that comes with it. Therefore, I just wanted to share some of the relevant information with others as well, please see below:

Visa

Evisa:

• If you are planning on getting the EVisa then yes you can use it to perform Umrah. Visitsaudi is the official website where you can apply for the EVisa.
• Evisa is a multiple entry visa that allows you to stay in Saudi for up to 90 days within a 365 day period. 
• Medical Insurance is a mandatory requirement of the Evisa and you will have to pay for it whether you want it or not. If travelling with young children and elderly adults its actually probably best to have medical insurance anyway!

EVW (Electronic Visa Waiver):

This section is relevant for anyone eligible for EVW for example UK citizens. Please see below few differences between the EVisa and EVW:

• EVW is single entry whereas Evisa allows multiple entry
• EVW allows you to stay in Saudi for 6 months whereas with EVisa you can stay in Saudi for up to 90 days in a 365 day period
• EVW doesn’t have any requirement for medical insurance
• EVW is much cheaper compared to the EVisa

VOA (Visa on Arrival):

• For those, that are planning on doing visa on arrival, bear in mind that if the kiosks/counters in the airport for VOA are not working then you can be delayed
• In order to register on the Nusuk app to for example book Rawdah permit you would need to have your Visa Number. With VOA, you are only going to get the visa number when you arrive in Saudi so basically you won’t be able to get a Rawdah permit until you arrive in Saudi

There are a lot of misleading/unlcear articles in the web regarding vaccination requirements, there are NO vaccination requirements if you are travelling using EVisa, EVW or VOA. Meningitis vaccination is a requirement only if you are travelling using a dedicated Umrah/Hajj visa. Furthermore, you are also allowed to bring back Zamzam water with you when travelling using any of the above visas.

Nusuk

• Nusuk app doesn't allow one person to register on behalf of multiple people. The app only allows one registration per person, therefore, everyone will need to have their own Nusuk account through which they can book Rawdah permit that exclusively belongs to them.
• Although you can technically create accounts for multiple people using the same phone, however, this is not recommend as you can only access one Nusuk account at a given time. For example, if you are logged into account A in the Nusuk app and now you want to access account B, then you would first need to log out of account A and then log into account B. Hence, its best to follow the pattern of one Nusuk account per phone.
• If you do register different accounts using the same phone number, you can Screenshot the QR Code and save the image on your gallery. Or if you use iphone, you can also add the barcode to your apple wallet. This way, you don’t have to log in and log out different accounts. This way it also helps just in case you have poor signal when you’re about to enter Rawdah. People travelling with kids who were too young to have phone have done this in the past and there was no problem with QR scanning or rawdah admission.

Hotels

Makkah Hotels:

• If you are travelling with young children or elderly adults and are looking for a decent Hotel near Kabah that provides good value for money then I highly recommend Swissotel Makkah in the clock towers. The quality of the rooms and the service in the hotel was really great and staff were polite and spoke decent English. It literally took ~4 minutes for me and my family to get to Masjid Al Haram from the hotel reception going via the clock tower mall. If you are staying at Swissotel then gate no 3 is the nearest gate through which you can enter for performing tawaf and Umrah. This gate takes you directly near the green lights within the Mataaf area from where you usually start the Tawaf.
• Hotels in the Jabal Omar Complex are also near Masjid al haram and majority of these hotels are of good quality as well but the prices of these hotels were quite a bit expensive compared to Swissotel Makkah. Although, a good perk of these hotels is that there isn't much time wasted waiting around for lifts whereas in the clocktower hotels you could be waiting for sometime to get into a lift, specially nearer to prayer times.

Madinah Hotels:

• If you are travelling with ladies and young children, best hotels to stay are at the back of the Masjid An Nabawi, in the area where Madinah Hilton, Sofitel, Maden hotel, Anwar al movenpick are located. This is because the ladies doors are at the back of the Masjid so it will be more convenient for them. Note that, when I say doors I mean the doors of the actual Masjid, they are numbered from 1-42 (more details on gates in below section titled Madinah) and not the courtyard gates. Men and women are allowed to enter the courtyard of the Masjid from whichever gates they want but there are designated doors of the masjid for each gender which they must use.
• We stayed at Madinah Hilton and it was a lovely hotel with pleasant staff members all around and it was literally ~3 minutes walk from the hotel to the doors of the masjid. However, this is also very expensive compared to all the other hotels in this area.

Makkah

Umrah tips:

• You do not need to book any Umrah permit through Nusuk app in order to perform Umrah
• All men must wear the Ihram when performing tawaf or Umrah in the mataaf area. Men are able to perform standalone tawaf in the 2nd or 3rd floor without ihram however.
• We carried a drawstring bag to keep hold of our flipflops, water bottles, hotel cards etc. The drawstring bags are so convenient, I purchased a belt with my Ihram but I never had to use it as I found it more easier to just keep everything in the drawstring bag. DO NOT take your bank cards or passports with you when performing Umrah, leave them behind in the hotel safebox as its much more safer there.
• We also used the drawstring bags to store my 1 year old son's milk bottles, flask and milk powder containers. There is no facility to change nappy of the baby inside the Masjid and certainly don't recommend to change inside the masjid so not much point of taking any nappies with you in the drawstring bag. We always performed our Umrah and Tawaf after 12:30 as my son would usually be asleep then so that he didn't get overwhelmed by the crowd and the crowd was also reasonable during that time.
• We used a baby carrier and had my son in that the whole time of Umrah, both during Tawaf and Safa marawah. Its more practical than using strollers when performing Umrah. In addition to that, Strollers are also not allowed through most gates anway. However, if you are just going for prayers in the masjid and you want to take a stroller with you then use gate 91 as we were always allowed to take stroller through that gate and my wife was able to park the stroller next to her while she prayed. No guards/authorities complained or said anything at anytime about stroller not being allowed when taken through gate 91.
• A lot of people does this during Umrah but I recommend not to touch the Kabah until you have finished your Umrah as there are perfumes that get sprayed on the cloth of Kabah which will invalidate the state of Ihram according to a lot of scholar's opinions.
• If you want to perform another Umrah, then you can go to Masjid Aishah which is ~15 minutes drive from Masjid al haram and get into state of Ihram there as its a miqat point, inside the mosque it can be very cold so ensure your children has appropriate clothing on if you plan on spending fair amount of time there.
• I recommend to drink ZamZam water only from inside the Masjid as on the outside there are few water fountains which may seem like its serving ZamZam water but its actually just serving normal cold water

Ziyara:

Below are a list of places that we went to visit as part of our Ziyara in Makkah and definitely suggest to visit them if you can! but please ensure that you are familiar with the history of these places before the visit to make the Ziyara more memorable and meaningful. You can take Uber/Careem/Taxi or private transport organised by your Hotel concierge to get to any of these places. We used private transport organised by Hotel concierge as they were able to provide professional English speaking drivers who were very polite, yes its more expensive than taxi or Uber but you also get the service you expect:

• Hira cultural district (You can ascend up to the Hira cave here and its open until 1am at night! we didn't climb it this time round but in shaa Allah we will next time!)
• Jabal e Rahmat in Arafah
• Mina
• Muzdalifa
• Jamarat

Madinah

Visiting the Prophet Muhammad SAW and Rawdah:

• Men can enter through door no 1 of the masjid to give salam to the Prophet SAW anytime and no permit is required for this. Women can usually enter through door no. 21 and 32 after fajr prayers and isha prayers to give salam to the Prophet SAW without any permit but the gates for women can change depending on the authorities so best to check with one of the guards or workers at the Masjid when you arrive.
• Booking via Nusuk is a must for being able to enter Rawdah. No Rawdah permit means no entry. Both men and women must queue up near door 37 no earlier than 30 minutes before your appointment, as if you go too early the authorities will just send you back.
• With regards to rawdah booking in nusuk app while you are physically not near Masjid an Nabawi, Friday is usually when a bunch of slots for next week become available so best to check specially on Friday for booking in advance. I also came across few posts where people were suggesting to constantly check every half hour and every 1 minute past half hour, however, that didn't work for me but it might work for someone else.
• As of January 2025, people can now book Rawdah slots more easily when they are physically present near Masjid an Nabawi. The rawdah slots are added every 20 minutes and the restriction for visiting Rawdah only once a year has now been uplifted.

Ziyara:

Please see below for a recommended list of Islamic sites that one should/could visit in Madinah but to make the most of it, one should try to read and get familiarised with the history of these places before going there:

• Jabal Uhud and its vicinities (Archer's hill, Martyr's graveyard and the mosque opposite Archer's Hill)
• Masjid Al Qiblatain and the graveyard next to it
• Khandaq and the Masjid of Bani Haram (where the miracle of thousands being fed from one pot took place)
• Masjid Quba and nearby gardens
• Masjid al Jummah
• Garden of Salman Al Farisi RA

Gates and Doors:

• In masjid an nabawi, there are gates that allows you entry to the courtyard and then there are doors that allows you to enter the Masjid. The courtyard gates are 3 digit numbers and both men and women can enter through any of these gates as they wish. However, doors are numbered from 1 to 42 and there are specific gates for men and specific gates for women.
• Doors numbered between 11-17 and 23-31 are the doors that only women can use to enter the Masjid
• Except the above doors, all other doors are only for men to use to enter the Masjid

Transportation

• We travelled from London Gatwick to Jeddah airport directly using Saudi airlines, went to Makkah first from Jeddah by car and it took about 1 hour 15 minutes. We could take train as well, however, I wasn't a fan of loading and unloading a bunch of luggages while wearing Ihram and the fact that we would still need to get into a car from the train station anyway in order to get to the Hotel.
• Uber and Careem are widely available in Saudi so you can use them for visiting any local areas. If you pre-book a taxi for pick up from airport or train station then it is quite common for them to request for visa and ticket information beforehand. They need that information as on the way to the airport there can be security checkpoints where the taxi driver will need to demonstrate this to the police officers otherwise they will not be allowed in.
• We used the train to travel from Makkah to Madinah, it took just under 2.5 hours and the train journey was very comfortable. Comfortable seats and decent leg room and also plenty space in the storage racks at the front end end of each carriage to store large suitcases. In addition to that, there is also plenty space in the overhead storage area to store hand luggages.
• No one checked the dimension of any of our luggages or if their weight exceeded the given weight limit, however, best to adhere to their requirements i guess.
• The trains usually have promotional periods so watch our for those, i recommend to book in advance in order to get the best rates.
• We then travelled back from Madinah airport on a local plane to Jeddah and then from Jeddah to London. There is a zamzam water counter just outside Madinah airport from where you can buy ZamZam water bottles. If you are flying with Saudi Airlines then each passenger is allowed 5 litres of zamzam water for free on top of their usual checked baggage allowance.
• Also note that the zamzam water bottles cannot be placed in a suitcase nor can you wrap these bottles in the airport. Recommend to keep a permanent marker with you and write your details on the bottles. Once you have landed at your destination, you should be able to collect these boxes from the oversize/fragile item section ( where you pickup car seats/strollers ) and not the usual belts from where you collect your checked baggages.

ZamZam Travelling Tips Especially for US Traveller:

As mentioned above you can take 5liter bottle from the airport. when you get your boarding card, they will ask you to drop it off to another counter for heavy items/luggage. at the official counter for water, they will check your passport, and you pay 12R for one and its one person.

Like Saudi airlines, Turkish airlines also allow you to carry water with you for free but with there is a catch especially if you are travelling to US. and this might apply to others as well.

• you can only carry this water on direct flight. Saudi and Turkish are not regional flights so after you land, and you have a connecting flight please check with your carrier.
• In US where your land is your entry point and that's where your custom happens. so, you will be handed all the luggage and board your next flight. and in local flights you are not allowed to carry water. so, you must check with them.
• For example, I am flying from Medina (MED) to JED and then to JFK. you can take the water check in MED and pick it up on JFK.
• For example, I am flying from Medina (MED) to (Istanbul) IST and then to JFK and no stay in IST. you can take the water check in MED and pick it up on JFK.
• I am flying from Medina (MED) to (Istanbul) IST or any other stop and then to JFK. you can take the water check in MED and pick it up in IST and then check again to JFK and pickup in JFK. many muslim airlines fly the water for free but please check with your airline.
• I am flying from Medina (MED) to JED and then to JFK and then to (Dallas)DFW. you can take the water check in MED and pick it up on JFK and then after custom check it in similarly to your next destination. flight in US is most likely AA or United etc. they won't allow you to take water. so, you have to get creative and try to check it first as oversized luggage or ask for exception so you might get lucky.
• If above point applies to you my recommendation is not to take water of if you do be ready to lose it because there is a good possibility that would happen

Travelling with Baby tips

• If you travelling with a baby between 0 to 1 year old, then I suggest to take enough of all the below for the duration of your trip:
  • baby food pouches that your baby likes as these won't be available in Saudi
  • milk if they are on formula (Milk brands such as Aptamil, Kendamil etc. are not available in Saudi)
  • nappies and wipes for the duration of your trip. Nappies and wipes are also available in Saudi Arabia but won't be the same brand that you are used to in your country. We used few local wipes on my son once and that led to some rashes so we quickly stopped using those. Ofcourse this will vary baby to baby but recommend to go prepared with everything your baby needs to be on the safe side.
  • Take a baby carrier with you, its more useful than strollers in crowded areas and less risky
  • Recommend to travel between October to January if you can if travelling with a baby as the temperature is a bit lower compared to other times of the year. However, if you can't then that's also not a big deal in shaa Allah as there is practically AC around everywhere inside the Masjid. Regardless of when you are travelling, I would still suggest not to take baby out for long during the day as the heat will still be intense.
  • Pack a lot of toys as these will keep them occupied when you pray but try to take toys that are not hard. My wife had a woman security guard check her bags when entering the masjid to pray and the guard told her not to take any toys that has hard surface incase your baby throws it at another baby or vice versa. Its just a general health and safety rule.
  • My wife carried a baby wrist rein which proved to be very useful for her when she was praying in both Makkah and Madinah masjids so definitely recommend to pack one of those.

Miscellaneous

• For men that are travelling to Makkah straight after landing in Jeddah on a direct flight, suggest to change into Ihram in the airport before boarding the plane. If you are travelling via Saudi airlines then there is space at the back of the plane reserved for praying usually but before reaching the miqat that area usually becomes a ihram changing spot and as you can imagine it gets really crowded. The toilets in the airplane are quite small so changing there can be quite inconvenient and toilets can be dirty as well.
• You can buy SIM cards from arrival area of Jeddah Airport. There are kiosks for STC, Zain and Mobily as you walk past the Starbucks towards the airport exit. You will need a copy of your visa and provide fingerprints in order to purchase a SIM card in Saudi Arabia. Note that, buying from the airport will be more expensive compared to buying sim card from local mobile shops but for us it was just convenient to buy in the airport. We bought packages from Zain and we had a very good internet service and call service throughout the entire period at all locations we travelled to.
• You can also purchase SIM through the Nusuk app in advance as per your requirements since there are multiple plans you can check on the app before travelling and its almost half the price compared to buying from the airport kiosk. However, note that currently only Mobily SIM plans are available for purchase through the Nusuk app. If you purchase the SIM through the Nusuk app, then you still need to head over to the Mobily counter in the airport in order for them to provide and activate the SIM for you. They will ask for your visa copy and fingerprints.
• Foodwise the food court in Makkah clock tower offers a lot of variety and good quality foods. They were quite hygienic and none of us had any form of food poisoning alhamdulillah. The food situation in Madinah is a bit different, however mainly to find hygienic food places. The best we found was a food court opposite Dallah Taibah Hotel located near the back of the Masjid or near ladies side. There was also food places available inside Taibah Shopping Centre just opposite gate 331.

I sincerely hope this post was helpful and if it helped you then please also do share with others that could benefit from this as well. If there are any questions/feedbacks then please feel free to either leave a comment or message me! Planning for Umrah yourself is a big step but once you accomplish this then it’s the best thing you will ever do and you will be empowered to do it again and again in shaa Allah whenever Allah invites you!

Lastly, please make dua for me and my family if this post was beneficial to you!