Can You Do Umrah Any Time of Year — or Are There Blackout Dates?

Umrah is often described as the pilgrimage you can perform any time of year, and that is broadly true — but "any time" comes with real caveats. There is an annual window when Umrah access for visitors is restricted, and several periods when it is technically open but practically very different. Here is how the year actually breaks down.

The one real restriction: the Hajj season

Unlike Hajj, which happens only during specific days of Dhu al-Hijjah (the twelfth Hijri month), Umrah has no fixed date of its own. That is the core scheduling difference between the two — covered in more depth in our guide to how Hajj and Umrah differ.

The exception is the Hajj period itself:

• In the weeks surrounding Hajj, Saudi authorities restrict entry to Makkah and pause Umrah visas for arriving visitors, so the city's capacity can be devoted to Hajj pilgrims.
• The precise cutoff and reopening dates are announced by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and reflected on the official Nusuk Umrah platform — always confirm the current season's dates there rather than assuming last year's pattern.

In short: the Umrah year has one recurring blackout window, anchored to Hajj.

Why the window moves every year

Because the pilgrimage calendar is lunar, the Hajj season — and therefore the Umrah pause around it — arrives roughly 10–11 days earlier on the Gregorian calendar each year. Over about 33 years, it cycles through every season.

• Saudi Arabia's official Hijri dates are set by the Umm al-Qura calendar, which is the authoritative reference for when Dhu al-Hijjah falls in a given Gregorian year.
• If the mechanics of a drifting lunar year are new to you, our explainer on how the Hijri calendar works walks through exactly why the dates slide.

In short: you cannot memorize the blackout dates — you have to look them up fresh each year.

Open, but not equal: the crowd calendar

Within the open months, demand varies enormously:

• Ramadan is the peak Umrah season. Performing Umrah in Ramadan carries special spiritual significance for many Muslims, so Makkah is at its most crowded and accommodation is at its most expensive relative to the rest of the year.
• The weeks just after Hajj, once Umrah reopens, tend to start quieter and build as travel programs resume.
• School-holiday periods in Muslim-majority countries add regional surges that do not show up on any Saudi calendar.

The travel-health community tracks these seasonal swings too — the TravelHealthPro Hajj and Umrah factsheet is updated for each pilgrimage season and notes how the seasons shift year to year. For anything health-related, that factsheet and your own doctor are the right destinations; this page stays on the scheduling side.

In short: "open" months range from calm to shoulder-to-shoulder — Ramadan is the busiest.

Weather belongs in the decision

Since Umrah's rituals include significant time outdoors and on foot, the Gregorian season you land in matters. Makkah's summer is intense, and its winter is comparatively mild — the same pattern described in our guide to Saudi Arabia's mildest months. Because the Hijri calendar drifts, a period like Ramadan migrates through the seasons: some years it falls in gentle winter weather, other years in high summer.

Bottom line: Umrah is genuinely a year-round pilgrimage with one moving blackout window around Hajj. Check the current year's dates on Nusuk and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, use the Umm al-Qura calendar to see where the Hijri months fall, and weigh crowds and climate before picking your window.