Mecca walking tour & city guide

Masjid al-Haram and the Kaaba

Masjid al-Haram, the Great Mosque, surrounds the Kaaba, the black-draped cube at the center of Islamic worship. Pilgrims circle it seven times in the tawaf, and walk between the hills of Safa and Marwa, now enclosed in a long marble gallery inside the mosque. Successive expansions have made it the largest mosque in the world, able to hold well over two million worshippers during the Hajj.

Towering over the mosque is the Abraj Al-Bait complex, crowned by the Makkah Clock Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world, with a huge clock face visible across the city and a museum and observation deck near the top.

Around the holy city

Mount Hira, on the edge of the city, holds the small cave where Muslims believe the Prophet received the first revelation, reached by a steep climb of about an hour. The valley of Mina, with its vast tent city, and the plain of Arafat with the Mount of Mercy are the key stations of the Hajj, linked to each other by a metro line that runs during the pilgrimage. Around the mosque, streets such as Ibrahim Al-Khalil Road are lined with hotels, markets and restaurants that stay busy through the night.

Visiting Mecca

Only Muslims may enter Mecca; signs on the highways direct non-Muslims onto bypass roads. Pilgrims can perform the Umrah at any time of year, while the Hajj takes place on fixed days of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah and requires a special permit. The Haramain high-speed railway connects Mecca with Jeddah, King Abdulaziz Airport and Medina. The city is hot year-round, so many pilgrims walk and pray in the early morning and at night, when the mosque is at its most beautiful under the lights.