Which UK school holiday is cheapest for Umrah?

If your children are in school in the UK, you can't simply pick the cheapest month for Umrah. You pick the cheapest school holiday.

The gap between them is wider than most families realise. The cheapest break and the most expensive are more than two and a half times apart for the same room.

So we priced them. Our team gathers more than 5,000 Makkah hotel price points, and from those we worked out a typical night in each of the five main breaks of the 2026-27 school year.

The 2026-27 UK school holidays on a calendar from October 2026 to September 2027: October half-term, the winter break, February half-term inside Ramadan, Easter just before the Hajj closure, and the summer holidays.

The short answer

Go at Easter or in the summer if you can handle the heat. They are the cheapest breaks of the year.

October half-term sits in the middle. It is not a saving, but it is not a premium break either.

The winter break is the long one, which is why most families default to it. Expect to pay almost two and a half times the Easter price for the same hotel.

February half-term in 2027 falls in Ramadan. It is the most expensive break of the year, and for many families the one worth paying for.

A typical Makkah hotel night in each UK school holiday, one room for two adults, taxes included: Easter £177, Summer £180, October half-term £244, winter break £402, February half-term £478.

Here's the detail behind each.

Easter and summer are the cheapest

A typical night over the Easter holidays costs £177. In the summer holidays it is £180.

The trade-off is the heat. Makkah sits in the mid to high 30s through March and April, and the low 40s in July and August. Fewer people travel in that heat, and the prices reflect it.

One major caveat for Easter. The holidays run to around 11 April 2027, and Makkah closes to Umrah visitors for the Hajj period from 7 April to 20 May. If you're planning Easter, book the first week of the break, not the second, and check the Hajj closure dates before you commit to anything.

October half-term is the middle ground

October half-term comes in at £244 a night, 24 to 31 October 2026. Not a discount break, but the next one on the calendar.

The winter break costs almost two and a half times Easter

A typical night over the winter break costs £402. That is £225 more per night than Easter, or about £1,125 more for one room over a five-night stay.

It falls in Makkah's coolest stretch of the year, with highs in the low 30s in December and January, and the end-of-year holidays are a travel window in many countries, not just the UK.

This year the break also opens with the Makkah Marathon on 18 and 19 December. If you're travelling that weekend, read our guide to the race before you book.

February half-term falls in Ramadan

February half-term runs from 15 to 19 February 2027. Ramadan in 2027 is expected to begin around 8 February, so the whole half-term sits inside the first half of the month.

A typical night that week costs £478, more than two and a half times the Easter price.

That is to be expected. Ramadan is the peak season for Umrah, and the half-term dates overlap with it fully. Prices climb through the month and peak in the last ten nights, which draws the largest crowds of the year. Many families seek out exactly that, and it comes at a premium.

Being in the first half does help. Availability holds up far better than in the last ten nights, when rooms near the Haram sell out weeks ahead.

Three hotels, three budgets

The pattern holds across price points. These are the average nightly rates at one budget hotel, Millennium Makkah Al Naseem, one mid-tier hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Makkah Jabal Omar, and one luxury hotel, the Fairmont Clock Royal Tower.

Average nightly rates in each school holiday at three hotels. Millennium Al Naseem: Easter £45, summer £52, October half-term £40, winter break £117, February half-term £112. DoubleTree Jabal Omar: £161, £161, £182, £335, £308. Fairmont Clock Tower: £277, £269, £382, £598, £685.

At all three, the winter break costs at least twice Easter. The budget hotel shows the biggest jump in proportion, from £45 to £117.

February is not the most expensive break at every hotel. At Millennium Al Naseem and the DoubleTree, the winter break came out higher. It is the luxury end, the Fairmont here, that pushes February to the top.

Check your own dates

School holiday dates vary by council, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow their own calendars. Once you know your week, compare hotels on those exact nights with our Makkah hotel search tool. Every major hotel is captured and you'll be able to filter by your preference, whether that's proximity to the Haram or access to kids club facilities.

For month-by-month prices across the whole year, see What's the cheapest month for Umrah?.