Before I start my post, let me first introduce you to Jeddah, my hometown. Jeddah is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, located by the beautiful Red Sea on the western region of the Kingdom, and just in the middle between the two Islamic holy cities of Makkah and Madinah that each has one large holy mosque. If you can’t easily find it on the map, you can locate it using its coordinates, 21.4858° N, 39.1925° E.
I often meet new visitors to the city or people who have been to the city before but never knew about places to visit here or things to do. Such people might be new expats, work visitors staying for a few days, or family visitors. This is the reason I’m writing this post which is to help you (or anyone you may know visiting the city) finding the touristic spots and things to do during your short or long stay in Jeddah. Are you ready? OK. Let’s begin:
- Try scuba diving since the Red Sea is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world. Here’s a scuba center that offers “discovery dive” where you can dive with an instructor and explore the beautiful sea life of the Red Sea.
https://www.instagram.com/dolphindiver.sa/ - Jet skiing is another popular sea activity here.
- Visit the waterfront and go for a walk across the area and watch the beautiful sunset there. You can also rent a bicycle from the many bike rental places by the waterfront bike path (50SR per hour). Thie follwoing place is an example:
Cyclist Home
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PMAjc - Visit the historic town of Jeddah (Al-Balad) and visit Nassif House Museum
https://maps.app.goo.gl/45mw1 - Visit the Museum of Abdelraouf Khalil to explore the Hijazi heritage (Hijaz is the western region of Saudi Arabia):
https://goo.gl/maps/j5yBWXqFWFDkf3gm9
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Try the seafood of the Red Sea (ask for “najel”, “hamoor”, "or “hareed”).
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If you like puzzles, you may go to locked rooms where you have to solve the puzzle in order to exit and move to the next one. There are two places here: www.ExitTheRoom.com and www.TheEscapeHotel.net
? Have lunch or dinner at Al-Baik (it’s very popular here and beats Popeye’s and KFC). -
Try to make a visit to Red Sea Mall or Mall of Arabia. They’re the largest here. Red Sea Mall has bowling and laser tagging if you’re into that, and cinema, as well.
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Attend a festival or an event if you’re lucky and came in a time while one is going on. This website lists all events going on in Saudi Arabia, but you can narrow your search to Jeddah:
https://roznamah.sa/en/ -
Visit Fakieh Aquarium. While it’s smaller than aquariums in other cities worldwide, it has some nice collection of the beautiful creatures of the Red Sea. They also offer a dolphin show twice daily. Visit their website for more info: http://www.fakiehaquarium.com
In order to make this list handy, I put most of these spots in a Google maps list and made it public. You can access it here: https://goo.gl/maps/BusJFP2jEvB2
So next time you come and visit Jeddah, make sure to make most of your visit and enjoy it to the fullest!
Disclaimer: None of the busineses listed above has sponsored this post by any means. They are all personal recommendations. Also, all the posted photos were taken by me.
