A single traveler usually needs £25 to £45 per day (roughly SAR 120 to SAR 220) in spending money for meals, local transport, small purchases and daily tips. If your prepaid package already covers hotel accommodation, flights and intercity transfers, your main out-of-pocket expenses in Makkah and Madinah will be food and personal shopping.
Over a standard trip, that works out at roughly £175 to £315 per person for 7 nights, or £250 to £450 for 10 nights. Before you set your daily budget, it helps to know exactly which costs are already covered check what is included in cheap Umrah packages so you are not budgeting twice for the same thing.
Daily Expense Breakdown
Daily food costs (£15 – £25 per day) Fast food meals near the Haram, such as Albaik chicken or local shawarmas, cost around £4 to £7 per meal. Sit-down Arabic or South Asian restaurants cost £10 to £18 per meal. If your package includes breakfast, you can comfortably sit at the lower end of this range.
Local taxis and short trips (£5 – £12 per day) Taxis within Makkah or Madinah for short distances cost between SAR 20 and SAR 40 per ride. This cost depends heavily on how far your hotel is from the Haram a hotel a few minutes’ walk away can remove this line from your budget almost entirely, which is one reason hotel distance affects your real total more than the headline price suggests. Our guide to how much Umrah costs from the UK explains how distance changes both the package price and your daily spend.
SIM card and mobile data (£12 – £20 total) Local prepaid SIM cards from STC, Mobily or Zain with 10GB to 20GB of data cost around SAR 60 to SAR 100 at the airport or in local shops. This is a one-off cost, not a daily one.
Zamzam and souvenirs (£30 – £80 total) Date boxes, prayer mats, attar perfumes and official airport Zamzam bottles usually add another £40 to £80 per person. Families buying gifts for relatives back home should budget nearer the top of this range.
Medicines and small emergencies (£10 – £30 total) Pharmacies in both cities are easy to find and inexpensive, but it is worth holding a small reserve. This is also a good reason to check whether you are covered before you fly see is travel insurance required for Umrah.
Cash or Card in Saudi Arabia?
Credit and debit cards are widely accepted at hotels, large supermarkets and major retail stores in Saudi Arabia. However, carry around SAR 300 to SAR 500 in physical Saudi Riyals for small street vendors, taxis and charity (Sadaqah).
Change money in the UK or in the Holy Cities rather than at the airport arrivals hall, where rates are usually poorest.
How Much Spending Money for a Family?
Multiply the per-person daily figure, then trim it. Families eat more cheaply per head than solo travelers because meals are shared, but souvenir and gift spending rises sharply.
As a rough planning figure, a family of four should budget £800 to £1,300 in total spending money for a 7 to 10 night trip. For a fuller picture of what a group trip costs end to end, see how much Umrah costs for 5 people and our guide to cheap family Umrah packages from the UK.
How Can I Keep Spending Money Down?
- Choose a hotel within walking distance of the Haram to cut daily taxi costs
- Pick a package that includes breakfast, which removes one meal per day from your budget
- Buy dates and gifts from local shops rather than hotel lobbies
- Travel in a quieter month, when food and taxi prices are less inflated see the cheapest month to do Umrah
- Set a per-person souvenir limit before you fly and stick to it
For a wider view of trimming costs without spoiling the trip, read the cheapest way to do Umrah. If you are still deciding on trip length, our breakdown of how much a 7-day Umrah costs shows how the numbers scale.
Get a Full Package Price Estimate
Planning your trip expenses in advance helps prevent overspending during your stay in the Holy Cities. Once you know your daily budget, the next step is making sure the package itself is priced fairly.
- Already have a package deal? Send us your trip breakdown on our Beat My Quote page and we will tell you honestly whether we can improve on it.
- Not sure what is included in your quote? Speak to our Umrah specialists through our Contact Us page and we will itemize it for you before you pay.
