Hajj: places along the pilgrimage

The journey in one line

4 stops in Saudi Arabia. Complete means all 4 visited.

Hajj moves. It is not one building but a short circuit of places around Makkah that pilgrims cross in a fixed order across five days of Dhu al-Hijjah. This journey lists those four places and nothing else. About two million people take part in a normal year. Many more perform Umrah, the smaller pilgrimage, which visits the Grand Mosque alone and can be done at any time. Saudi authorities manage both through the official Nusuk system, and Hajj places are capped by country quota. A recorded visit here is a record of geography. It says you were at Arafat, or at Mina. It does not say you performed Hajj, and this app does not decide whether a rite counted.

The route is older than any building standing on it. Muslims connect these places to Ibrahim and Hajar, and the order of the days follows the pilgrimage the Prophet Muhammad made in 632. Standing at Arafat on the ninth day is the part the schools of law agree cannot be replaced. The places themselves are plain. Arafat is a dusty plain with a low granite hill at one side. Muzdalifah is open ground. Mina is a valley that fills with tents and empties again. The Grand Mosque at the centre is the only one that looks like architecture, and even there the object everyone comes for is a draped stone cube.

The five days run from 8 to 12 Dhu al-Hijjah, which moves about eleven days earlier in the Gregorian calendar each year. Booking goes through Nusuk Hajj, usually with an approved operator who arranges camps, transport and the Mina tents. The order is Makkah, Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifah, then back to Mina. Outside the season the three desert places are quiet open ground and the Grand Mosque carries Umrah traffic year round.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. All four places visited. A recorded visit means you were at the place. It is not a record of Hajj or Umrah, and any note you keep about a rite stays separate and private.

1. 1

   Al-Masjid al-Haram

   المسجد الحرام

   Makkah, Saudi Arabia

   

   The Grand Mosque holds the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building Muslims face when they pray, wherever in the world they are. Tawaf, the circling of the Kaaba seven times, opens the Hajj and closes it. The mosque has been rebuilt and widened many times and now takes more than a million people at once.

   What counts as a visit

   Inside the mosque precinct in Makkah.

   Access

   Saudi entry terms restrict the premises of the Grand Mosque in Makkah to Muslims. Hajj and Umrah permits are issued through the official Nusuk system and are capped by quota. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Faith restrictedPermit required

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

2. 2

   Plain of Arafat

   عرفات

   Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia

   

   Pilgrims stand on this wide plain east of Makkah through the afternoon of the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijjah. Scholars across the schools treat that standing as the part of the Hajj that cannot be made up. Jabal al-Rahmah, the low granite hill at the edge of the plain where the Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon, sits inside this stop rather than counting as a separate one.

   What counts as a visit

   The open plain of Arafat, including Jabal al-Rahmah.

   Access

   Arafat is reached through the Makkah area, whose mosque premises Saudi entry terms restrict to Muslims. During the Hajj season the plain is inside the permitted pilgrimage zone and a Nusuk permit is required. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Faith restrictedPermit requiredSeasonal

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

3. 3

   Mina

   منى

   Makkah, Saudi Arabia

   

   Mina is the valley where pilgrims camp on the eighth day and return to after Arafat and Muzdalifah. The stoning at the Jamarat pillars happens here, now on a multi-level bridge built to spread the crowd. For most of the year the valley stands empty; during Hajj it becomes a city of tents.

   What counts as a visit

   The valley of Mina, including the Jamarat area.

   Access

   Mina lies inside the Makkah pilgrimage area that Saudi entry terms restrict to Muslims, and a Nusuk permit is required in the Hajj season. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Faith restrictedPermit requiredSeasonal

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

4. 4

   Muzdalifah

   مزدلفة

   Makkah, Saudi Arabia

   

   Pilgrims leave Arafat at sunset and spend the night at Muzdalifah, on open ground between Arafat and Mina. Most sleep outdoors and gather the pebbles they will use at the Jamarat the next morning. It is the quietest few hours of the five days.

   What counts as a visit

   The open ground of Muzdalifah between Arafat and Mina.

   Access

   Muzdalifah lies inside the Makkah pilgrimage area that Saudi entry terms restrict to Muslims, and a Nusuk permit is required in the Hajj season. Checked 2026-09-16.

   Faith restrictedPermit requiredSeasonal

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

Respect and access

Under current Saudi entry terms the premises of the Grand Mosque in Makkah are open to Muslims only. Each stop links to the official terms rather than to our reading of them. Crowds here are dense and always moving, and the heat is serious. Photography is common, but a camera in someone's face at Arafat is not. Assume nothing about why anyone else is standing beside you.

Faith restricted

The custodian limits entry by religion. Check the official terms before you travel. TravelDay does not ask what you believe and does not decide whether you qualify.

Permit required

Entry needs a permit, a booking or a ticket arranged in advance.

Seasonal

Access follows a season, a calendar or an event rather than being open year round.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• hajj.nusuk.sahttps://hajj.nusuk.sa/nusuk/hajj-rituals · checked September 16, 2026
• visa.visitsaudi.comhttps://visa.visitsaudi.com/Home/TermsConditions
• hajj.nusuk.sahttps://hajj.nusuk.sa/faq

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.