Makkah or Madinah first? How to plan the order of your trip

The Umrah is the same whichever city you start in. What decides the order is mostly practical: your flights, the ihram and, in Ramadan, where you want to spend the last ten nights.

Start with your flight

Jeddah airport is about an hour from Makkah, and Madinah has its own international airport. Choose the order that matches where you land and where you fly home from: the Haramain train joins the two cities in about two hours.

Madinah first: the gentle start

You land in your usual clothes and put on your ihram later at Madinah's miqat, Dhul Hulayfah, a mosque on the edge of the city with places to wash. For first-timers, children and older parents, it is the easiest way to begin. Madinah is also calmer and its walks to the mosque are flat, so a few days there help you recover from the journey and get used to the heat before the Umrah.

Makkah first: the Umrah straight away

You perform your Umrah while you are fresh, then spend the rest of the trip with your rites complete, ending in the quiet of Madinah. The ihram starts in the air, though. Coming from abroad, you pass your miqat before landing in Jeddah, so you must be in ihram on the plane: put it on before you board, or at the airport you fly from, and make your intention when the crew announces the miqat.

In Ramadan

Most people want the last ten nights in Makkah, and its hotels fill first. If you have the whole month or most of it, spend the first part in Madinah and the last ten nights in Makkah. If you hope to make i'tikaf in the Prophet's Mosque for the last ten nights, reverse it.

Splitting the nights

There is no rule. Many give Makkah a night or two more, since the Umrah is there. Try to be in one of the two mosques for a Friday, and avoid moving between the cities on a Friday, when the roads near both mosques close.

Before you book

• Check your visa dates and the last dates of the Umrah season: see the best time for Umrah.
• Book both hotels together, so the nights follow on with no gap.

Whichever order you choose, leave a quiet day at the end before your flight, so you can say farewell to the mosque with your bags already packed.