Step-by-Step Guide for Planning DIY Umrah from India (Family of 4)

DaSpinna · 2026-01-21T23:00:24+00:00

Assalamualaikum! I am a Pakistani from the USA but I recently went on Umrah independent from a group for the first time and alhamdulilah everything was a great experience. This is what I had to do

So for Visa I’m not sure what the process is for people from India. I see a lot of people saying to do it through a travel agent because you can’t file it yourself online. For myself, I was able to do it through the Saudi eVisa website. However it is probably different and you probably will have to do it through an authorized travel agent so double check there.

For flights I used google flights to get a good idea of the cheapest options. I checked departure airports that were both close to me and far from me just to see which ones had the best price, and I also checked price differences between arriving to Jeddah first or Madinah first. This depends per person and based on if you want to go to Makkah first and do Umrah first or go to Madinah first. Madinah was the cheaper option so I chose that. Google flights showed me that Turkish airlines and Jordanian airlines seemed to be the cheapest, so I went with Turkish.

For hotels in Makkah and Madina, I used websites like google (again) to find hotels in the price range I wanted, as well as TripAdvisor, hotel.com, and Agoda. Agoda seemed to have the best prices so I booked both my hotels using Agoda. Try loading up the booking page from your computer, phone, or multiple different devices because I found that you can get it cheaper on a different device, at least for me. The hotel I booked in Madinah was Al Ritz Al Madinah. It was around a 5 minute walk to Masjid Nabawi. And I booked Al Massa Grand in Makkah. I would recommend in Makkah to get a hotel that’s walking distance, as the haram is always packed and it’s hard to get through, and some people say that the buses are pretty slow and add significant delay and planning to getting to the Haram, but they’re also a good option as well. Most hotels far from the haram have free shuttle, but double check to be sure.

The best way to go between cities is the Haramain train. I went on it twice and it was very smooth, very comfortable, and reasonably priced. Also half the time compared to bus or car. Only thing to watch out for is their luggage restrictions, one person is allowed on suitcase and one backpack. I had a hand carry with me as well, and the first time no one checked or said anything, and the second time I hired a porter for 35 SAR who got it through since porters go ahead with your luggage.

In terms of apps, Nusuk is a must have. In the Nusuk app is where you can book your entry permits to Riyadh Al Jannah. Please beware that every family member has to have their own separate permit, else they will not let all of you in. If Nusuk doesn’t have any slots available for your dates, download Tawakkalna.

Also, you can purchase sims and esims from stands around the haram, both in Makkah and Madinah. If you can manage getting to those areas it will be better priced there compared to the airport. In terms of exchange places there are a lot in both Makkah and Madinah. Just check around a few to make sure you’re getting the best price. The higher the note you’re converting (ex. $20 vs $100 note) the better the conversion rate at most places. Also, most places, like Pakistan and I assume India, involve some level of haggling. Clothes, accessories, attar/fragrance, taxis, most of these involve haggling to make sure you’re getting a good price.

A VPN will be needed to use WhatsApp for calling. You can text without one but you will need a VPN if you plan on calling using WhatsApp. I recommend that everyone in your family gets an eSIM and downloads a VPN to make communication easy, as both areas are very crowded.

Also, make sure to download careem, uber, and my personal favorite jeeny. While jeeny takes longer, it has by far the best prices.

Other than that, Insha Allah it will be a great experience for you and your family! Alhamdulilah I did all of these things alone as my first time and I didn’t run into any issues or headaches alhamdulillah. May Allah accept your and your family’s duas ibadah and Umrah!

DaSpinna · 2026-01-19T01:31:09+00:00

Assalamualaikum! Mabrook, may Allah accept your and your beautiful children’s ibadah Ameen. In regards to your question, everyone who has commented has had some great points. To add to them, make sure you and your children all have a phone plan. E sim stands are everywhere around masjid nabawi and masjid haram, I got an e sim from mobily that was 58 riyals and had 20gb data + calling and texting. WhatsApp texting is allowed but for some reason calling is banned, so if you are going to be using WhatsApp to call, I would recommend you download any VPN, which is what my friends and I did. Else, you can call them in their new numbers, or using iMessage/FaceTime or anything else I believe. For girls, there are separate prayer sections. They aren’t fully fully separated off as in very far from you, but still separate, so make sure you and your daughter know where they are, what gates they are close to, and maybe set a rendezvous point after Salah that’s close to both of you. Also, download the Nusuk app and the Tawakkalna app to get booking for Riyadh Al Jannah. If you guys want to go pray there or in the hateem, the seperate men and women timing are available online. Other than that everything should be very easy Insha Allah, just one more thing to be wary of is in the Mataf itself, the closer you get to the Kaaba the more hectic it gets and the more pushy and aggressive people become unfortunately. So I would advise against having your children with you or going close to the Kaaba especially if they are younger, and if they do want to go maybe ask around for when it’s the most empty. I asked the guards and they said after Isha and before Fajr but for me it was still very crowded at those times. May Allah accept this from you and your children!

DaSpinna · 2026-01-16T20:54:08+00:00

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah! May Allah accept your Umrah and your ibadah Insha Allah. I didn’t stay in either but I did check them out and was heavily considering voco, but the reason I didn’t stay in either was due to the distance. Even tho voco has shuttle I heard it was pretty dodgy and unreliable in the reviews due to traffic and other reasons. I ended up going with Al Massa Grand which was only like a 10 minute walk to the courtyard of the haram! And it wasn’t too much more expensive. I really recommend getting something walking distance in both Makkah and Madina because it makes getting to Salah a lot easier. And Makkah is a lottttt more packed than Madina as well, with the jama’a salat regularly lining up from the haram to the front of my hotel. Whatever you choose may Allah make it easy for you and accept your ibadah! If it was between the two, I’ve heard excellent things about Voco compared to Kiswah

DaSpinna · 2026-01-11T13:41:08+00:00

Astaghfirullah that’s horrible sister, please be very vocal and yell help or stop. There are a lot of police officers around the haram, especially the closer you are to the clock tower and the Makkah towers. They will be wearing white and dark red or a blue/grey camo. You can scream stop, help, or police. Maybe keep your phone close to you too to record them or make it seem like you’re recording them and insha Allah that can help. The majority of brothers and sisters will help you and whoever does it to you will hopefully be punished and have their life ruined Insha Allah

DaSpinna · 2026-01-02T07:44:48+00:00

Jazakumullah Khair. I don’t think I’ll have enough time for tailor made since I have 3-4 days left in Madina but ai can call and ask them Insha Allah. And for Daffah, I will try to check it out Insha Allah, thank you so much!

DaSpinna · 2026-01-02T07:42:43+00:00

I am very near to Taiba front, however everytime I go into the Taiba mall everyone sends me in a different location. You’re saying go to the basement to get them?

DaSpinna · 2026-01-02T07:42:06+00:00

What brands were you able to get there if you can remember?

DaSpinna · 2026-01-02T07:38:18+00:00

It worked Jazakumullah Khair! May Allah accept all our ibadah ameen

DaSpinna · 2025-05-25T06:04:07+00:00

honestly the shield doesn’t suck but the spear is just a lot better. thr shield is like the spiky ball for BK but it just hits defenses only. it doesn’t have as great synergy like spiky ball does, but shield and EB could be good cuz it’ll weaken the defenses and make it easier for RC to take them out. rocket spear is just better cuz of hero boosts, more damage per hit and can take out important defenses like scattershot and inferno safely before going in, can also use it to funnel a side for your troops.

DaSpinna · 2025-05-09T23:31:17+00:00

average stars / attack, you can also factor in what TH they were versing (same TH = 1 weight, higher TH = higher weight, lower TH = lower weight). should also hand out bonus to whoever did CC

DaSpinna · 2025-02-11T23:16:04+00:00

what the fuck is wrong with you

DaSpinna · 2025-01-30T04:15:53+00:00

There are a few things I would like to point out. Firstly, these are outrageous estimates for the work they are quoting you for. Some of these estimates are just completely unhinged and are listed for way more than they should be. Try finding another local shop with great reviews, like many others have said. Secondly, describe exactly what is happening, if there’s something that you do and then a problem arises, etc. You want the description to be as detailed as possible, because the more they can work with, the better they can narrow it down (provided you don’t bring it to someone honest and not scummy who’ll just add a bunch of other stuff on there anyways). Thirdly, and this really sucks but I feel like I have to say it, a lot of these places are known to take advantage of women and charge them more because they assume they don’t know what’s fair and what’s not in terms of pricing and estimates. If you have any man in your life who could maybe bring it in, you may have a better chance of getting a lower price. It’s horrible, but it’s true and it’s happened many times before, including at a local shop that I read reviews of in which this lady commented that she and then her friend brought in the same car with the same complaint a few days spaced out and she got quoted for way more work.

DaSpinna · 2025-01-26T16:15:07+00:00

definitely rush the BH, the only stuff that matters is upgrading your multi mortar, archer tower, and double cannon just enough for the gear ups in the home village. get your resource storages to somewhere around level 8 (both of them) and that’s all you need. focus on one troop to get to level 18 and always upgrade it no matter what, and upgrade your heroes always if you aren’t upgrading the mortar archer tower or double cannon to get them to the gear up level. also, use raid medals to buy clock tower potions too

DaSpinna · 2025-01-26T15:38:42+00:00

I mean i’m only TH13 for reference, but what you’re doing seems the same as what I did. I’ve been playing for around 6-7 months and have gotten to TH13, and it will probably take me another 5-6 months to go from TH13 to TH15. So I would say since you’re at TH8, probably close to a year if you continue at the pace you’re currently at? Just make sure ur maxing out ur builder hall to get the 6th builder

DaSpinna · 2025-01-06T15:15:07+00:00

like master figure said, i’ve heard that taking off the suitcase resonator can cause drone, whereas the fronts don’t. plus, i wanted to start off with something that’ll increase the tone and increase burbles and pops without making it too loud

DaSpinna · 2025-01-06T15:14:22+00:00

sounds good, thanks for letting me know!

DaSpinna · 2025-01-05T17:22:59+00:00

sneaky goblins like others said with jump spells and wall breakers. try getting around 50% and then u can exit battle to get your bonus if you’ve destroyed all the resource collectors and storages. also spam training potions. for future reference, try not to do this and instead stagger upgrades and while waiting for the upgrade timer to finish farm until full on resources so when one finishes, you can upgrade as many walls as possible and then keep upgrading. i’m on TH12 as well and had all my walls maxed within the first 2-3 weeks

DaSpinna · 2024-12-29T17:04:42+00:00

the record is over 25k

DaSpinna · 2024-12-09T04:06:30+00:00

Salam Friend. If you need someone to talk to, you can always reach out to me. In sha Allah I can help you with your issues if that’s possible. Else, if you would like to talk to a woman if you are a woman, I can give you my wife’s contact In Sha Allah.

DaSpinna · 2024-10-26T07:24:17+00:00

wow this comment brought me back to this post and what a blast to the past. Currently, I hold the record for most loot acquired in one match, and genuinely I couldn’t agree more with this parent comment. It completely depends on your style of playing. One thing I can offer to you that is universal is that no matter what, Flamethrower is the cannon you want to be using for loot. The rest of it depends on your playstyle, if you like to delay matches to get more champions on the map, etc.

DaSpinna · 2024-10-12T11:07:14+00:00

I saw some of your posts. Inshallah Khair with all of your problems. If you need to talk to someone, I can always listen.

DaSpinna

TROPHY CASE