Hostels in Saudi Arabia Hostels in Saudi Arabia

You are looking for hostels in Saudi Arabia? Good news, you have come to the right place.

On this page we list every single city with hostels and other budget accommodations. Hostelz.com helps you to find your Saudi Arabia hostel and compare its prices on the major booking sites such as Hostelworld, Hostelsclub and Booking.com. So you can sleep on a budget and save money while backpacking Saudi Arabia.

All Cities in Saudi Arabia

We list every single hostel in Saudi Arabia and the world. In total, we have 22 cities in Saudi Arabia for you. Please note that not all cities actually have a hostel to stay in. Below you can filter for cities with hostels and with no hostels-type accommodation, but guesthouses and budget hotels. This will help your planning.

All Saudi Arabia hostels on a map

Alright, you are more the visual type? Planning your trip with a map is always handy.

Therefore, this map shows you all cities with hostels in Saudi Arabia. It will help you to plan your trip. Just zoom in the map and click your destination for more details. Just so you know: If we do not have a hostel in a city, it is likely that there is no hostel in that city.

Our handwritten guide on Backpacking Saudi Arabia

Lying on Arabian peninsula with coastline touching the Persian Gulf in the northeast and Red Sea in the southwest, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies about 80% of the Arabian peninsula, but it is a country with few hostels. The Kingdom of Arabia is surrounded by United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq in the northeast, Oman in the east and southeast, Yemen in south, Jordan in north, while in the northwest lies the Gulf of Aqaba.

Riyadh is the capital and the largest city in the Kingdom, lying almost in the center of the country. Other major cities include Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, and Mecca (Makkah). Saudi Arabia is the birth place of the religion of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad who was born in Mecca and later moved to Medina constructed the biggest mosque of Islam, Masjid al Haram (the sacred mosque) in Mecca and Masjid al Nabawi (the mosque of the Prophet) in the city of Medina, which is now called as Madina al Munawwara (City of Lights). Throughout the year, millions of Muslims visit the two holy mosques of Islam and particularly for the annual event of Hajj when Muslims from all over the world gather in Mecca for at least three days, making it the biggest human procession in the world and follow the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Abraham. It is compulsory and part of the religion for every Muslim who can afford, to visit and follow the footsteps of these prophets at least once in their life. But these two mosques are strictly a no go zone for non-Muslims, and violation can result in detention, fine and/or deportation. The rest of the mosques are open for everyone.

You won't find many hostels in Saudi Arabia because it is one of the most difficult places on earth to visit as there is officially no tourist visa except for Muslim pilgrimages. But even in this case, the visa is limited only to the cities of Mecca and Madina and no one is allowed to leave the boundaries of these cities except for the airport of Jeddah.

The country offers a huge variety of wonderful places worth visiting including the mountain resorts of Taif, ancient Nabatean tombs, a large number of historical monuments related to Islam, and the deserted Red Sea beaches. But it has never been easy for foreigners to visit these historical places.

Because almost all the tourists visit the cities of Mecca and Medina, more than 90% of the hostels and hotel industry of the country is concentrated within these two cities. Almost whole city is a sea of hotels along with a small number of hostels, and the locals are being thrown out from the cities in order to accommodate the ever increasing flow of the visitors. Throughout the year it is almost impossible to book a hotel or a hostel in the city on arrival as they are booked in advanced for months.

expert for Saudi Arabia hostels

Handwritten by local expert for Saudi Arabia hostels Brown Traveller

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Travel Tips for Saudi Arabia - from the Community

Hey fam! Here are a few more tips from the community, from them to you, and you to them. This space is dedicated for travellers to share their best tips on backpacking Saudi Arabia. Have a closer look - the Hostelz community share real hidden gems, insider knowledge and overall impressions of Saudi Arabia. Everyone is welcome to add something useful, funny, unexpected and the "absolutely necessary to know before you go" - share, share and then share a little more!

FAQ on Hostels in Saudi Arabia

There is a lot of travel planning to do. So let us help you once again by putting together the frequently asked questions:

Finding Hostels and Prices

What hostel booking sites are best to use?

There is several hostel booking sites, such as Hostelworld.com, Hostelsclub.com and Booking.com. While every platform has its pros and cons, there is a universal truth you as a traveler should be aware of: Not a single booking site can always offer the best prices.

This is where Hostelz.com comes in. You can compare all major booking portals with one click.

For you as a traveler, Hostelz.com is the best booking site to actually save money.

How much are hostels in Saudi Arabia?

Prices always vary, depending on various factors. Weekends tend to be more expensive, same goes for special holidays. Please also take into account local vaction time.

You can search for exacty hostel prices in Saudi Arabia here on Hostelz.com. Pick your destination and pick a date. The system will track down the prices to give an idea of what budget and prices you can expect.

When to book hostels?

If you want to stay at the best hostels, it is a good idea to have your hostel booked around 1 month before you travel. For the regular hostels, booking one week before should be okay. Yet again, this always depends.

We dedicated a full article to the topic of when to book hostels.

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Safety and Packing

Are hostels in Saudi Arabia safe?

Generally speaking, hostels are as safe as you make them. We highly recommend always to bring your own padlock, using the lockers and taking care of your belongings. Make sure you pick a safe hostel, offering lockers and a safe location. Please always pay attention to the reviews; they can give you a great insight on what to expect and safety tips.

What to pack when staying in hostels?

There is a few basics you should always pack when staying in hostels.

  1. Padlock
  2. Earplugs
  3. Sleeping Mask
  4. Quick Dry Travel Towel
  5. Head Lamp

There is more actually. We wrote a complete guide with more details. Read our full hostel packing list.

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