Time of the visit: the 29th of nov. till the 2nd of dec.2024

Al-Balad,Jeddah's historic district,is an enchanting and bewitching place,hassle free,a quiet oasis in a big ocean of houses,shopping malls,traffic jams,and faceless and boring residential areas. I stayed there three nights,and I dont regret a single minute of it. Sure, I also visited some shopping malls,the corniche, its big aquarium ,tried to enterJeddah's refinery (tentative whs,the oil industrial heritage in SA)....in vain,walked along the "Tahlia" walkway from the Serafi mall till the end of the walkway (what a sight to see all those saudis walking on a safe pedestrian street sandwiched between two busy streets),and visited some other places outside Al-Balad. Nevertheless,most of the time I passed inside Al-Balad,inside its historic district.

Jeddah's historic heart with over 650 houses built by its mercantile families is full with surprises,different souhks,mosques,cafes,restaurants,and more and more saudi tourists.What is typical of its architecture are the facades of these mercantile houses: hanging latticed teakwood windows of great artistry and craftsmanship ( the so-called "rawasheen "pl,"roshan",singular). 

Restorations were underway everywhere, but without really causing too much disruption. Significant parts of the old town have already been renovated. There are now cafes everywhere and also places with tables and chairs, public places that are not assigned to a cafe, where you can just sit down after buying an iced mango juice or a karak chai in one of the numerous shops there.

The historic district's listing as The Gate to Makkah as a UNESCO World Heritage Site may or may not have been justified,but nowadays it is just SA's most beautiful old town.Today Jeddah's airport is the gate to Makkah for a lot of pilgrims; I didnt spot a single one in Al-Balad.

The fringes of Al-Balad are still a little bit rough and neglected....ugly parking lots where people sleep inside their cars,simple and lacking any aesthetics shops full of Indians and Pakistanis, dirt in the streets,cheap eating places for the foreign workers.However, the historic district is wonderful..........clean,guards are everywhere,foreign and saudi tourists everywhere,and even local saudis from Jeddah have a stroll there in the evening. I had a chat with a local saudi family from Al-Balad who had put up a tea stand near the Al-Sharbatly house.They told me that just 10 years before the area was a nightmare with rubbish everywhere,parking cars blocking most streets,and constant car traffic.Most of the inhabitants had left the Historic District before the revitalisation began a few years ago. They were quite happy to live there now,and to be honest, I for my part think that the saudi government is doing quite a pretty good job. Al-Balad,or to be more precise,Jeddah's historic district, is far more livelier than its Bahraini whs counterpart Al-Muharraq which I for one like a lot and see a lot of potential there. 

I ate a traditional saudi meal(around 15€)  in the "Irth Culinary Boutique & Cafe Beit Al Kuttab" which only serves saudi food. There are several historic bakeries and pasteries in the neighbourhood . Lots of things are going on in that historic area after sunset...music events on public squares ....an old man waving constantly the saudi flag....a young man reciting something in arabic...and so on . 

https://www.visitalbalad.com/en.

I successfully visited almost all houses and museums(most of them are closed) I wanted to see inside Jeddah's heart. I even visited the Al Shafee mosque and listened to the iman there sipping tea and eating biscuits. Quite a lot of museums are still closed to the public but will be open within the next 6-24 months. The Nasif Palace was partly open,but the greater part is being renovated. The nearby Tariq Abdulhakim centre turned out to be more interesting than I had thought beforehand. On the other hand the souhks there are a bit underwhelming experience.However,Al-Balad's magic makes up for that little disappointment.

I stayed in the affordable and excellent Touq Balad hotel just a stone's throw away from Jeddah's historic heart. To my great surprise the bus nr13 goes directly from the airport to the big Lulu supermarket( last stop of the line) in Al-Balad,which is only around 5 min from the Touq Balad hotel.

A ride costs 20 saudi real...only cash....I was the only passenger....every 20-25 minutes. No need to take a taxi from the airport if you are not in a hurry( the bus makes a u-turn around the entire airport +15min).

All in all I enjoyed my stay in al-Balad with all my heart. Very nice whs without being outstanding