Ramadan with Local Families

Ramadan, from the inside

Most travellers who visit during Ramadan see it from the outside — a quiet daytime city, a hotel iftar, crowds at the mosque. What we arrange is different: the chance to keep the fast alongside local families and to break it in their homes, in Madinah or Makkah, at their table and in their company. It is the single most memorable thing we offer, and the one travellers write to us about afterwards.

What the day looks like

Ramadan reorders everything. The day begins before dawn with suhoor and the fajr prayer; the daytime hours are quiet, slower, given to rest, reading and worship; and from late afternoon the city begins to stir as families prepare for maghrib. When the call to prayer comes, the fast is broken — traditionally with dates and water — the maghrib prayer is performed, and then the meal proper begins. Afterwards the mosques fill again for taraweeh, and the city stays awake late into the night.

Breaking the fast in a family home

We arrange for travellers to be received in a local household for iftar. You are welcomed as a guest, not as an audience — you sit with the family, share what they are eating, and see how the evening actually unfolds in an ordinary Arab home. Often you will watch part of the meal being prepared, as on our Madinah and Makkah experience programmes.

Hospitality in Ramadan is generous to a degree that surprises most visitors. Guests are honoured, and a traveller from abroad breaking the fast at the table is a welcome thing rather than an imposition.

For those who have never fasted

You do not need to be Muslim to take part in this, and you do not need to fast in order to join an iftar. But many non-Muslim travellers choose to try the fast for a day or two, and find it a genuinely illuminating experience — the discipline of it, the anticipation as the light fades, the taste of that first date. In Madinah, which is open to all travellers, this is entirely possible. We will never pressure anyone into it; the offer is there if you want it.

For Muslim travellers

If you already keep the fast, Ramadan in the two cities needs no selling — but it does need planning. The mosques are at their fullest, the teaching programme expands considerably, taraweeh and qiyam run late, and the whole rhythm of the day inverts. We shape the schedule around worship rather than sightseeing: rest in the daytime, the Haram at night, and the family iftar in between.

Suhoor, taraweeh and the last ten nights

Beyond iftar, there is suhoor before dawn — a quieter, gentler meal — and the taraweeh prayers that fill the nights. The last ten nights are the most intense and the most sought-after of the entire year, particularly the odd nights. If you hope to be here then, plan far in advance; accommodation and permits are at their most constrained.

Practical realities

Ramadan is the busiest season in both cities, and the most expensive. Days are hot in much of the year, and fasting travellers should expect to slow down considerably. Public eating, drinking and smoking during daylight hours are not acceptable, including for non-fasting visitors. None of this is difficult once you know it, and we brief every traveller properly before arrival.

Plan early

Ramadan journeys need to be arranged well ahead — often many months. If this is what you want, tell us as early as you can and we will do our best to build it. When you are ready, plan your journey.