The call to prayer started while I was standing in Souq Al Alawi, holding a paper bag of dates I'd haggled down from 40 SAR to 25 ($6.65) and trying to figure out which direction I'd come from. The lanes in Al-Balad don't run straight. They bend and fork and dead-end into private courtyards with carved wooden doors that look like they belong in a museum.
I'd arrived in that morning — my first time in Saudi Arabia — with a vague plan to see the old town, eat some Hejazi food, and maybe walk the Corniche. I ended up spending four hours lost in the most beautiful maze I've ever walked through.
King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) sits 19 km north of the city center. I'd gotten my Saudi tourist e-visa in about fifteen minutes through visa.visitsaudi.com — 440 SAR ($117) for a one-year multiple-entry visa. Processing was immediate. The immigration officer at JED didn't even ask me a question.
I grabbed a Careem from the airport into the city for about 35 SAR ($9.30). Uber works too. Both are everywhere in Jeddah and blissfully air-conditioned.
First Impressions: This Is Not What I Expected
Every preconception I had about Saudi Arabia came from news coverage that's at least a decade out of date. Jeddah feels like a Mediterranean port city that happens to be Arabic. The Corniche — a 30 km waterfront promenade — was packed with families, cyclists, and couples taking selfies. Music played from restaurants. Women in everything from abayas to jeans walked past without anyone batting an eye.
Jeddah has always been Saudi's most cosmopolitan city. As the gateway to Mecca, it's been receiving pilgrims (and their cultures) from across the Islamic world for 1,400 years. That shows up in the food, the architecture, and the general vibe — which is significantly more relaxed than Riyadh.
Into Al-Balad
Al-Balad is Jeddah's UNESCO World Heritage historic district. And when I say historic, I mean 7th-century-historic. Over 500 coral-stone merchants' houses with ornate wooden mashrabiya balconies line alleys so narrow two people can barely pass.
I started at Nassif House Museum — free, open 8 AM to noon and 5-9 PM — which is a beautifully restored merchant house with displays on the Hejazi trading families who built their fortunes here. The wooden latticework on the windows is hand-carved and genuinely extraordinary.
Then I walked deeper into the souq.
Souq Al Alawi is where Al-Balad comes alive after dark. Spices piled in pyramids. Oud perfume sellers who will blend custom scents while you wait. Gold shops. Date vendors. Arabic coffee served in tiny cups from vendors who refuse payment.
I bought 250g of frankincense for 15 SAR ($4) and a small bottle of oud oil for 30 SAR ($8). The incense seller spoke four languages and had opinions about which oud suited which personality type. Mine, apparently, was "Hindi oud — strong and complicated." I chose not to examine that too deeply.
The Part Where I Got Lost
Sometime around 7 PM, I turned down a lane I hadn't seen before. Then another. Then a third. My Google Maps showed me as a blue dot in the middle of a beige block with no streets marked.
Al-Balad's interior lanes don't have names that Google recognizes. The buildings — some four and five stories tall, their mashrabiya balconies nearly touching overhead — blocked enough sky that I couldn't orient by the sunset. The air smelled like oud smoke and cardamom.
I wasn't scared. Jeddah is extremely safe — one of the lowest crime rates in the world for a major city. But I was disoriented in a way I haven't been since before smartphones. It was oddly enjoyable.
A kid on a bicycle eventually appeared and, in a mix of Arabic and English, led me back to the main street. He refused the 10 SAR I offered. "Welcome to Jeddah," he said, and pedaled away.
The Corniche at Night
I walked the Corniche after dinner, which is when the King Fahd Fountain fires up. It's the world's tallest water jet — 312 meters — and at night it's illuminated and visible from across the city. The engineering of shooting water over 1,000 feet into the air is absurd and impressive and beautiful.
Families were picnicking on the grass. A group of guys were playing football on the path. The Red Sea was flat and dark. For a city of 4.7 million people, the waterfront felt strangely peaceful.
The Floating Mosque at Sunrise
I set an alarm for 5:15 AM. Al Rahma Mosque — the "floating" mosque — is built over the Red Sea on stilts, and during high tide it genuinely appears to hover above the water. At sunrise, the white walls catch pink and gold light that I'm still thinking about weeks later.
Non-Muslims can admire the exterior. I stood on the Corniche rocks and watched the light change for about 30 minutes. A fisherman untangling his net nearby didn't seem to think this was unusual behavior.
Hejazi Food Is the Real Reason to Visit
Saudi cuisine varies dramatically by region, and Jeddah's Hejazi food is distinct from anything you'll eat in Riyadh or the east. The influences are Yemeni, Indian, Indonesian, and Egyptian — reflecting centuries of pilgrim traffic.
What I ate:
Saleeg at Al Baik's competitor (a local spot on Tahlia Street, not the chain): a creamy rice porridge topped with roast chicken. 25 SAR ($6.65). Texturally somewhere between risotto and congee. I went back for it twice.
Mandi at Beit Al Mandi: slow-cooked lamb over smoky rice. 45 SAR ($12) for a portion that could feed two. The lamb fell apart with a fork.
Al Baik: Yes, the famous Saudi fried chicken chain. A meal costs 17 SAR ($4.50). Is it the best fried chicken I've ever had? No. Is it better than it has any right to be for that price? Absolutely. The garlic sauce is the secret weapon.
Street food runs 15-40 SAR per meal. Upscale Corniche restaurants are 100-250 SAR per person.
What I Didn't Get To
Red Sea diving. Jeddah's offshore reefs are apparently world-class — pristine hard corals, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda, and occasional whale sharks. Dive operators like Dream Divers and Red Sea Divers run two-tank dives from 350-500 SAR ($93-133). Next time.
The art scene. Athr Gallery on Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Street shows cutting-edge Saudi and Middle Eastern contemporary art. Hayy Jameel is a free creative hub that opened in 2021. Both are open Sunday through Thursday.
If you're exploring more of the Middle East, Dubai offers a completely different experience worth considering.
If you're exploring more of the Middle East, Al Ula offers a completely different experience worth considering.
If you're exploring more of the Middle East, Muscat offers a completely different experience worth considering.
The Takeaway
Jeddah surprised me. The warmth of random strangers. The beauty of Al-Balad after dark. The food — especially the food. The fact that a city this historically significant somehow doesn't have the tourist infrastructure (or the tourist crowds) of comparable cities in the region.
Saudi Arabia is changing fast. Vision 2030 is reshaping the country in real time. Jeddah is already there — it's been cosmopolitan for centuries. The rest of the world is just catching up.
