“It’s my first time in Saudi Arabia, and I’m genuinely surprised by the people’s hospitality and pride.”
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Inhoud
Travelling to Jeddah
I am in Saudi Arabia for the first time and am incredibly surprised by the hospitality and pride of the people. Saudi Arabia is a rich country where tradition goes hand in hand with the modern world as we know it. Jeddah has only been open to tourists since 2019 because they want to be less dependent on oil revenues. This leads to the whole city undergoing a real makeover. The people love having you there and nothing is too much to ask here to make you feel comfortable.
My trip to Jeddah was actually an extended layover during our journey to Kuala Lumpur, from where we continued to Delhi. We are flying from Tunisia to Kuala Lumpur because we can book a Business Class ticket for relatively little money (~1,200,- return). When we realised we had a stopover at Jeddah, we would like to spend a few days here. I didn’t regret it for a second!
Cheap flights to Jeddah
Our trip to Jeddah this time was more of a nice bonus, than an actual ticket to Saudi Arabia. We booked a deal where we fly with Saudi Airlines from Tunisia to Kuala Lumpur, with a stopover in Jeddah.
If you book this deal through the Saudia Airlines website, you can apply for a visa and even get a free hotel stay as a bonus. This saves us almost 200,- euros. You can schedule a transfer of up to 96 hours while booking. Enough time to explore the city.
We boarded in Amsterdam and flew with KLM to Paris. From Paris, we fly with Air France to Tunisia. Here we sleep for a night and officially fly on to Kuala Lumpur, transferring in Jedda. We extend this transfer, giving us four days to explore Jeddah.
Of course, this is quite a flight 😉 Would you rather fly directly from Amsterdam to Jeddah, without transferring? Tickets from Amsterdam to Jeddah can be found here.
Tips for Jeddah
- Remote working in Jeddah
Jeddah lends itself very well to remote working, as very little happens here during the day. The shops are closed and the streets are deserted. The roads are crowded, as everyone gets around by car here because of the heat. When we were in Jeddah, it was 35 degrees during the day, very normal temperatures for them. - Malls Jeddah
Still want to get out and about? The only place people go during the day is in the giant malls that are popping up all over the city. In the malls, you can shop, eat and visit amusement parks. - Careem Jeddah
You do everything by car here, walking or cycling is not common. Buses run but there is no metro system so you largely use a taxi, Careem or Bolt (a kind of Uber).
Eating in Jeddah
You can eat really delicious food in Jeddah, but as far as I experienced, it is not the most healthy cuisine. They love pastries and sweets here, and they also eat a lot of bread. Delicious, but after just a few days, I started to feel quite stuffed.. So don’t fear a few extra kilos, it’s worth it!
By the way, there are plenty of fancy restaurants where you can dine elaborately. I suspect you have healthy options here too. However, I am more into street food and local cuisine so I passed up the fancy restaurants. Besides, I found those restaurants quite pricey.
Arabic pancakes
I only spotted the Arabic name, but I would definitely blow by here. The enthusiastic chef here stands rolling and frying pancakes all evening. They don’t speak English, but when we wanted to continue our way we were stopped. The place was super busy but despite this, two pancakes were baked for us. A generous dash of honey went over them and when we wanted to pay, this was waved away by all bystanders.
Google Map location
Dinner ^ snack
Falafel el Nada
Here we struck up a conversation with a guy who lives in Rotterdam (Jabr) who treated us to Arabic tea. His friend, owner of Falafel and Nada, then treated us to kibbeh, falafel and the most delicious hummus I have ever had.
Google Map location
Lunch ^ dinner
Tip: hummus
Al Balad
Walk through Jeddah’s old town on an average evening and everyone is happy to see you. We ate dates, pancakes with honey, falafel and hummus on our first evening in Jeddah. We were not allowed to pay for these.
Google Map location
Dinner ^ snack
Early Club
We wanted to go to Al Saidie bakery in Al Balad. However, they are heavily renovating the old town too, so the bakery was not accessible. We were forced to look for another breakfast shop. Fortunately, the Early Club was open. Trendy place, nice staff, very good food but very pricey and the portions are not very big.
Google Map location
Breakfast ^ brunch
Tip: Granola bowl PB & Banana
Nagi Al-Harbi Kebab
One of the oldest kebab shops in Jeddah. We ended our Al Balad Food tour here and arrived just during evening prayers. They were kind enough to let us wait inside, but keep in mind that this can take as little as half an hour. The service is friendly and the kebab was tasty. Personally, I did not find it so special that I would go back again.
Alsaidy Bakery
Jeddah’s oldest bakery and praised in several blogs. Unfortunately, the premises were under scaffolding due to the renovation of the old town, so we did not visit. Should you go there I am very curious to know what you thought!
Al Madahen
This is where we ate on the night we arrived. Our hotel is opposite the Mall of Arabia and after our trip we were in the mood for something. We had very tasty Shaksuka here.
Sweet Bread Bakery
Arabs love sweets and in this coffee shop they do this very well. Actually, we wanted to go next door, but it was full so we ended up here. Absolutely no punishment, we had a delicious cinnamon bun, date muffin and and a pecan cinnamon babka here. In the same area, there are more nice joints.
Google Map location
All day breakfast
Tip: cinnamon bun
Locals café
Unfortunately, we didn’t go here because it was always full, but if you want to work remotely in Jeddah you can go here.
Google Map location
Coffee
Tip: you can work remotely here
What to do in Jeddah?
Al Balad
Al Balad is the historic centre of Jeddah. The centre comes alive only after 15:00 and is very lively in the evening hours. This is where the locals (mostly men) gather to eat and shop.
Al Rahmah Mosque
Floating on the surface of the Red Sea is the Al Rahmah Mosque. An impressively beautiful mosque also known as the Floating Mosque. You’ll find this mosque along the popular Jeddah Corniche, the 30-kilometre waterfront.
Red Sea Mall
Jeddah’s largest mall is the Red Sea Mall. Because of the heat, locals like to spend their days in the malls until the sun goes down and they come out. Besides the Red Sea Mall, Jeddah has many more malls, where you can shop, eat or visit amusement parks.
Jeddah Corniche
Jeddah Corniche consists of a 30-kilometre stretch of coastline along the Red Sea. In recent years, a lot of work has been done to make Jeddah Corniche attractive to tourists. Here, for instance, you will find the port with a few upmarket restaurants, the SummerVibes festival, a scenic avenue for strolling, numerous hotels and the famous Floating Mosque.
Jeddah Promenade Summervibes
The Summervibes festival feels like an outing for locals. Very nice to spend an evening wandering through and grabbing a snack. It’s kind of like a luxury fair, with more food and fewer rides. Note that Summervibes is closed during the day.
King Fahad’s Fountain
This is the largest fountain in the world, named after King Fahd bin Abdulaziz. We spotted the fountain from the taxi, so it is actually impossible to miss 😉 You spot the fountain on Jeddah Corniche.
Chatting with the locals
The locals are incredibly warm and welcoming and eager to talk to you. They also speak good English. In general, they often turn to men when, like me, you travel with a man. This sometimes made me feel a bit left out as a woman. They don’t mean this wrong or derogatory, but that is their culture.
Staying overnight in Jeddah
1 Night free when you stay in Jeddah
The first night that you stay in Jeddah is free. This is part of the government’s efforts to promote tourism. Therefore, Jeddah has been open to tourists since 2019. When you apply for a visa, you can book the first night right away. You can find a list of participating hotels here.
Grand Hotel Casablanca Jeddah
The first night we sleep at Grand Hotel Casablanca. A lovely 5-star hotel with fantastic service. The hotel is close to the airport, but fairly far away from the sights and the old town.
Mövenpick Hotel Jeddah
After our first free night, we left for the Mövenpick. I would have loved to spend a few more nights at Grand Hotel Casablanca, but this was fairly pricey. I am not complaining by the way, as the Mövenpick is also a lovely hotel!
Remote working in Jeddah
The internet in Saudi Arabia sometimes leaves something to be desired. The wifi in their brand new Airport lounge is downright poor.
In the hotels where we stayed, the wifi was fine and in Locals Café, for example, you see many people behind their laptops.
Transport in Jeddah
Jeddah is big (about 7 times Amsterdam). Therefore, you depend on taxis or buses, and I only saw a few buses running. There is no metro you can use. A taxi ride costs 5 to 10 euros. We mainly use Careem. This is linked to my AMEX credit card, so I don’t have to pay cash all the time. Bolt is also used here, should you find this easier. Keep in mind that you’ll need internet access to use these apps.
Tip: purchase an e-sim via Airalo. Through your phone’s settings, you can easily switch to another SIM card, which you can use only for mobile internet.
How expensive is Jeddah?
Cost Jeddah per person
- Flight ticket: €1,109 (Business Class ticket from Tunisia to Kuala Lumpur with a transfer in Jeddah)
- Hotel: €126 (2 nights – 2,000 points used for discount)
- Food and drink: 62.50 euros
- Transport: 70,- euro (excluding airfare)
- Total: €195.50 (excluding airfare)
Jeddah: frequently asked questions
Jeddah is in Saudi Arabia, the capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh. Jeddah is the largest city in Mecca, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia and the largest port on the Red Sea. Over 3.4 million people live in Jeddah.
Jeddah is definitely worth a visit if you want to eat well, shop and get to know a completely different culture. You can only visit Jeddah since 2019. They are not used to Western tourists here so it is important that you adapt to their culture and dress code. When you go to Jeddah you visit a pure and untouched city.
I haven’t been to Riyadh myself so I don’t know which city I prefer. According to Life in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is more conservative, has more cultural attractions and In Jeddah, people are more progressive, you will find more expats and tourists and more activities like festivals and the F1. Opinions are divided as to which city is better. As soon as I have been to Riyadh, I will share my experiences here!
Dress appropriately, especially as a woman. The rule of thumb is roughly: loose clothing, no nudity above the knee and long sleeves. Shirts that reveal a lot of nudity are not appreciated here, despite the heat. I myself wore an oversized shirt with thin, loose long trousers. Also for men, their trousers should come down to the knee and locals usually wear long sleeves.
The Saudis are very happy to have you there and very friendly and welcoming. I haven’t felt unsafe here for a single moment. Also, crime is almost non-existent in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps not very surprising, given that 196 people were still executed in 2022.
You need a visa to visit Jeddah. The visa is valid for one year for a maximum stay of 90 days and costs around €25. You apply for the visa here.
You pay in Jeddah with the Riyal and 1 Riyal is about 0.25 euro cents. In some places you can pay with your AMEX credit card and your regular bank card is also accepted.
We spent 3 days in Jeddah and this was enough. Keep in mind that you won’t do much during the day because of the heat and most activities are in the evening.
