Muslims Go Travel

Whether it’s your first time or tenth time, if you’re looking to perform Umrah without using an agent, you’ve come to the right place.

Can you perform Umrah without a travel agent? Yes, absolutely you can! All it takes is following some straightforward steps and you’re good to go!

In this article, I’m going to show you how you can book your Umrah trip easily which will not only save you money, but will give you the freedom to decide how you plan your trip.

I’ve broken it down into five easy steps:

1. BOOK YOUR FLIGHTS
2. BOOK YOUR HOTELS
3. GET YOUR E-VISA PROCESSED
4. ARRANGE TOURS AND TRANSFERS
5. LEARN HOW TO PERFORM UMRAH

1. Book Your Flights

If you’re flying to Saudi Arabia, you’ll be on the look out for reasonably priced flights which don’t take too long to get there. You can fly into Madinah or Jeddah. If you want to perform Umrah right away, fly into Jeddah and either take a bus, train or taxi to Makkah. If you’d like to go Madinah first, fly into Madinah airport and take a taxi (Uber as well) or bus to your hotel in Madinah.

Wherever you’re flying from, you can use Google Flights, Momondo or Skyscanner to look for flights. That way you can compare and get the best price!

I use Momondo often as that brings me the best prices and often shows me the most details about a flight.

BUDGET TIP: Nowadays you can fly into Jeddah using the budget airline Wizzair which can be very cheap. But you will have to fly via another country. An example is that you can get a cheap flight from London Luton Airport to Milan or Rome and from either of the airports to Jeddah. This can cost as low as £100 return sometimes.

We urge that you try and visit in off-peak times if possible to get the best prices.

When is the best time to book flights for Umrah?

The cheapest time to book flights for Umrah is in the months of September, November, January, February and May.

2. Book Your Hotels

For this, use booking.com, hotels.com or even Airbnb. Nowadays you can find quite a few options for Airbnb apartments in Madinah in particular which are usually a little bit cheaper than hotels.

In any case, if you’d like a hotel, we suggest booking.com as it usually brings up the best prices and it’s easier to search for hotels on there. You will of course have a budget so search accordingly.

BUDGET TIP: Prices for hotels can differ massively based on when you book to go for Umrah. So we suggest that you choose the off-peak months (September, November, January, February and May) if you’re after more affordable prices. If you want to go in Ramadham, remember that prices can rise massively.

3. Get Your E-Visa Waiver Processed

Nowadays its quite simple to get your e-Visa for Umrah. The good news is that if you’re a British passport holder, you can get your Umrah visa for only £45. All you need to do complete our E-Visa Waiver application form by clicking here and we’ll have it done for you within 24-48 hours.

If you’re not a British Passport holder, we can also process them for you and the cost will be £125. This will be a multiple entry visa for 12 months which means you can visit as many times as you like in a year!

It’s cheaper for British passport holders as Saudi launched an E-Visa Waiver program in August 2023, which you can read about by clicking here.

4. Arrange Tours and Transfers

It’s become very easy to get around in Saudi Arabia now, especially between the cities of Makkah and Madinah. Here’s a breakdown:

• To go between Makkah and Madinah, you can use the Haramain High Speed Railway Train which literally takes you between Makkah and Madinah in less than 2 hours! You can book your tickets by clicking here. You can even use this train to go from Jeddah airport to Makkah and back from Makkah to Jeddah Airport and even Madinah to Jeddah Airport and vice versa!
• You can use the SAPTCO coaches/buses to go between Makkah and Madinah.
• You can use Ubers to get around and I highly recommend you download another app called Careem which is like Uber but much cheaper. Click here to find out about the best apps to download for your Umrah trip.
• If you’d like tours of Madinah, I recommend contacting either Mufti Shakir (Urdu and English) on +966 56 794 2923. He does excellent tours in Madinah. You can also contact Haramayn Guide through their Instagram channel which is: https://www.instagram.com/the.haramaynguide/
• If you’d like tours of Makkah, contact brother Abdul Qadir from Saudi who will be able to help you. His number is +966 50 855 7255
• If you need a driver to get you around and choose not to use trains or buses because you may have a big group, you can contact brother Abdul Qadir as well who will be able to help you out.

5. Learn How To Perform Umrah

And saving the best till last, this is probably the most important one. Ultimately you are going to the blessed lands for the sake of Allah and to worship him in a place that He has blessed significantly. You are going to submit to Him and be a true servant in His presence.

Any act of worship requires knowledge in Islam, and that’s also the case with Umrah.

To keep things simple here, I have attached a PDF of a book which I still use to this day to remind myself on how to perform Umrah. This book has been used by so many people over the last so many years and Alhamdulillah it has proven to be a huge success. Before you depart, I highly recommend you have a good read through the book and even keep it with you whilst performing Umrah so that you know what you’re doing.

Download the book below