A Realistic 3 Day Jeddah Itinerary with 3 Young Children

I was desperate to visit this year's edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale so when Husband mentioned that he was going on a work trip during school holidays we decided to join him and have a little adventure with the kiddos while he’s busy at work.

ARRIVAL - straight into it

We landed early in the afternoon and headed straight to the Islamic Arts Biennale, which runs until the end of May 2025. It’s open from mid-afternoon until late at night. The theme of this second edition is “And All That Is In Between - Exploring faith through feeling, thinking and making”. It’s an incredibly moving experience, featuring sacred objects and thus creating a spiritual experience. If you have a chance, it’s absolutely worth a trip to Jeddah. And if you miss this one, make sure to keep your eyes out for the next edition coming up in 2027.

We spent the entire evening exploring the large outdoor installations and roaming through the spaces of the Western Hajj Terminal, before getting dinner at the famous Lebanese restaurant, Shababik’s popup venue and heading to our hotel.

DAY 1 - taking it easy

We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. We then started the day at Fakieh Aquarium - it’s one of the very few child friendly activities that’s open in the morning from 10am.

Here, the children had a great time exploring marine life and marvelling at the colourful fish, sharks and jellyfish. There were fewer penguins since we last visited two years ago but the boys had a blast seeing them up close. We managed to kill an hour and half here, but it was still late morning when we finished so had plenty of time to find somewhere for lunch.

This being a trip with three children under five and a Husband at work, however, I didn’t end up booking anywhere nice like Le Vesuvio or Kuuru. Instead, we went to Red Sea Mall to have burgers from Five Guys. They learned to peel the peanuts and enjoyed their hot dogs, I love their fries and cheese burger so it was an easy win overall. After last night’s and this morning’s adventures they were shattered so we went back to our hotel for the afternoon to have a nap and use the Kids Club. It was only after I let them lose in there that I learned it’s actually a pay to play one, so that wasn’t great for me but they enjoyed themselves.

Husband was working late and we still had some time before dinner so we went for a short walk on the corniche. It was still quite hot and there usually isn’t much going on before sunset but it’s always nice to be near the water.

DAY 2 - a little history, entertainment, culture and shopping

The boys woke up early and Husband was also rushing to an uncharacteristically early meeting so I had to think on my feet to make sure we don’t have to fork out any more money on the frankly, absolutely terrible Kids Club. Because breakfast at the hotel wasn’t great anyways, I decided to treat ourselves to a sweet brunch at Marmelade. It’s a lovely little laid back spot with really good service.

I also found a super play area to spend the rest of the morning in. KidZania is an interactive city offering a really fun, immersive learning experience through role play. The children could honestly have spent at least half a day there but we had to grab lunch (this time opted for another safe option - Urth Cafe) before heading to what became their highlight of the entire trip.

TeamLab Borderless is located in one of the gorgeous renovated buildings in Jeddah’s historic Old Town, Al Balad. It’s probably the largest immersive, interactive exhibition in the Middle East. Artworks move out of rooms, they relate to other works, sometimes intertwine and create a fascinating sensory experience. We spent hour after hour wandering around the different rooms, enjoying all the interactive artworks. We would’ve stayed even longer but we had to meet Husband who’s finished work and came to join us for a leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood. We walked all the way from Jeddah’s old gate, through the old souq, to Nassif House Museum. We sipped mint tea and fresh juice along the way, and finished our tour with camel milk gelato from Noug.

We then headed out to Obhur to spend the night at one of the beach resorts.

DAY 3 - family beach day before catching a flight back to Riyadh

Due to some last minute changes in our plan, I had to improvise the accommodation for our last night so I decided to book an obscenely overpriced family friendly beach resort in Obhur Creek with a private pool and small sandy beachfront that allows bathing suits. Overall we weren’t too impressed but the children had a lot of fun playing in the clear water, spotting crabs and small fish, so in the end it was worth it. Next time though, to save money, I would opt for a day pass to one of the bigger beach resorts instead. I heard Indigo Beach and La Plage both allow families.

After lunch it was time for us to head to the airport where I was pleasantly surprised to see not one, but two outposts of my favourite grab and go sandwiches - Pret! I stocked up on food for the flight and off we went.

WHERE TO STAY

We spent the first two nights at the Hilton. It’s an old but beautiful building, and the rooms are currently undergoing renovations. Unfortunately, we did not get one of the renovated rooms so after checking in we had to immediately air out the musty room, then suffer through the noisy aircon all night. It was at least clean. There’s no female spa or gym nor pool on site, unless you want to walk to the neighbouring Waldorf Astoria, which is a huge drawback. The main pool was also drained and out of service so even the children and Husband couldn’t enjoy a splash. What we liked the least is that we had to pay for the fairly dated and run down kids club even when staying to supervise the boys. These things really deterred us from wanting to return so while I’m not sure where to stay in Jeddah, I’m certain that it’s not the Hilton.

Due to miscommunication, we had to find accommodation for our third night last minute and since we visited just at the tail end of the Formula 1, my top choice, the Shangri La had no suitable rooms available. In any case, both Shangri La and Rosewood Jeddah aren’t exactly baby friendly, so I ended up booking a villa with half board at Narcissus Resort and Spa for the night. It’s advertised as a five star resort but the food and service weren’t amazing, the beach is incredibly tiny with not nearly enough shade and poor service, the main pool isn’t family friendly and I couldn’t find the spa or how to book! So overall I wouldn’t recommend it.

To be honest, while Saudi Arabia is making strides in developing its tourism, especially the luxury sector, it’s sometimes still a hit and miss so it takes some experimenting to find the most suitable accommodation.

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