Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
* This tour requires at least one of the following per booking: Adult, Senior
During this tour you will pass by many shops where they offer different merchandise such as perfumes, cloth, jewellery , antiques and souvenirs where you can buy and bargain ! we will also introduce you to some local shops to see some crafts being made such as the local sandals , perfumes and gold jewellery crafts. You will pass by different local communities within Al Balad which each community gather for tea and chat , kids playing around and street cats strolling for food ! the Balad spirit
Entry to museums
Local snacks and drinks
Local Guide
Departure Point
F5QP+MGM, Abu Inabah, Al-Balad, Jeddah 22236, Saudi-Arabië
Jeddah Old gate (Bab Nadeed)
Return Details
F5QP+MGM, Abu Inabah, Al-Balad, Jeddah 22236, Saudi-Arabië
Jeddah Old gate (Bab Nadeed)
Al-Balad, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia This is half day experience to tour Al Balad as local call it which means “ the town” as reference to the base of Jeddah.
Al-Balad was founded in the 7th century and historically served as the centre of Jeddah. Al-Balad's defensive walls were torn down in the 1940s. In the 1970s and 1980s, when Jeddah began to become wealthier due to the oil boom, many Jeddawis moved north, away from Al-Balad
Al Balad is registered as a world heritage UNISCO site and since then the old buildings with its unique window designs and doors are being preserved along with its unique buildings which some have been built using seashells and stones !. The old buildings once housed the famous Jeddah families and hosted the founder the late King Abdulaziz when first entered Jeddah.
Our tour will go through the history of these building including going inside one of the buildings to see the interior designs , furniture and life back then 120 minutes
Al-Balad, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia The old Mosques is another tourist attraction where some were founded over 300 years ago and still functional as a mosque.
The main attraction in this tour is the food and snacks of Al Balad where we will pass by some famous vendors known to offer the best local snacks such as the local drink made of bread “ Sobia” and the old bakery which its famous for its fresh bread. Another local snack that consists of Bean and pickles “ Balilah”.
We will stop for rest in one of the local coffee open air places and try famous local tea mixed with milk and herbs
We will move to visit the center of Al Balad to see the first hotel built in Jeddah influenced by Italian architecture then pass by the first school built in Saudi. We will also visit one of the art houses and museum offering its unique local art collection and antiques.
2 minutes
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
David_W
31 Mar 2023
Sara our guide seemed to know everything and everyone in Jeddah. So friendly and open. Answered all our questions including the ones we did not think to ask.
Tanjeana_U
09 Feb 2023
My brother and I did this tour as an add on to to our Umrah (pilgrimage), and I'm so glad we did. This was an amazing tour and the history of old Jeddah is so interesting. Sara was a brilliant guide- she was very engaging, informative and flexible to our needs and interests. I would highly recommend this tour!
P1603RNdavidw
14 Dec 2022
Saudi Arabia has only been open to tourists for two years. I’m sure they’ve made huge strides in that time, but it was an extremely lengthy and difficult process to secure an expensive visa. I thought it would be easy sailing since my visa had every bit of information about me that came close to the routing number for my bank. But I was wrong. When we entered the Arrivals Hall to clear Immigrations, it was sheer pandemonium. It took us an hour and a half to complete that process for the five hour tour we had booked. It gets better. It took another hour and a half to clear Immigrations to exit the country.
On their behalf, I will say the crown prince is determined to drag the country into the 21st century. He has a program called Vision 2030. , and he has ambitious plans to restore Old Jeddah and build along the lines of Dubai. They are building a tower on the corniche which borders the Red Sea that the Saudis say will be taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Women have also been able to drive since 2018. Our guide was the first licensed female guide in Saudi Arabia. They are a work in progress. If you’re thinking of visiting, you may want to wait a year or two until they work out some of the kinks in their process. It was very frustrating.
This tour in
Jeddah
is organized by
88 Destinations
We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
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