What Umrah costs from Sri Lanka

What a package price bundles

Before comparing two numbers, check they are counting the same things. Every tier we offer includes the following, and most Sri Lankan operators bundle a similar list.

• Return economy airfare, Colombo to Jeddah or Madinah and back
• Umrah visa processing
• Hotel stays as listed for the tier
• Airport transfers and the journey between Makkah and Madinah
• Ziyarah (visits to historic sites) in Makkah and Madinah
• An experienced Sri Lankan religious guide travelling with the group
• Pre-departure briefing in Colombo
• 5 litres of Zamzam water per pilgrim, where the airline allows it
• Group leader support throughout the journey

Prices are quoted per person on a sharing basis. A quoted price for quad sharing and one for twin sharing are not comparable figures, and a price with flights and one without are different products entirely.

What Sri Lankan agencies published in September 2026

These are prices taken from the agencies' own websites on 16 September 2026, exactly as published. We have not adjusted or averaged them here.

The comparison site umrahpackages.lk republishes prices from other agencies. It listed 30 packages from 25 agencies, of which ten Umrah listings carried an actual rupee price; the rest were "price on request". Those ten were:

Some listings were left out deliberately. Al-Safaa Travels' October prices are from 2024 departure dates. A Facebook offer at LKR 280,000 gave no duration or sharing basis. One site had a placeholder phone number and offers expiring in 2025. None of those belong in a comparison.

Our three tiers

We set our three tiers against that market. All are indicative "from" prices, per person on a sharing basis, confirmed in a written quotation before you pay anything.

What actually moves the price

The airfare

It is the one big block with a published number attached to it. Hafsa Travels lists the same 10-day, five-star, twin-sharing package at LKR 825,000 with flights and LKR 635,000 without. The gap between their own two published prices is LKR 190,000.

How many share the room

Hafsa's Budget package at quad sharing is LKR 350,000 and its Economy package at triple sharing is LKR 390,000, both 10 days. The same operator, the same length of trip, a difference of one bed in the room.

How long you stay

SMS Travels' own ladder runs 10 days at LKR 349,000, 12 days at 379,000, 15 days at 399,000 and 18 days at 469,000. Each extra block of nights adds hotel and food, not another airfare, which is why the price per day falls as the trip lengthens.

How far the hotel is from the Haram

This is what separates a budget package from a five-star one, and it is the thing worth spending on if anyone in your group is elderly or unwell. We describe our hotels as a short shuttle, a short walk, or inside the Haram precinct. We do not publish a distance in metres, because nobody can promise a specific hotel before the operator confirms it in writing.

When you go

Departure dates change what an airline charges and how full Makkah is. The Grand Mosque received more than 904,000 Umrah performers in a single day during Ramadan 1447 AH. Ask your operator what each departure date costs rather than assuming a season is cheaper. The best time for Umrah covers weather, crowds and the Hajj pause.

What is not in the price

• Meningococcal (ACWY) vaccination
• Personal spending, shopping and laundry
• Extra baggage beyond the airline allowance
• Saudi SIM card or eSIM
• Travel insurance upgrades
• Anything not listed under "included"

Of those, four have a published figure you can actually budget against.

Riyals, rupees and what you can carry

The Saudi riyal is pegged to the US dollar. The Saudi Central Bank says it "remains committed to maintaining the exchange rate at the official rate of 3.75 riyals to the dollar", and the riyal has held at that rate since June 1986. So the riyal does not move against the dollar. What moves is the rupee.

How much currency you may carry

• There is no cap on foreign currency in or out of Sri Lanka, only a declaration threshold. You must declare to Sri Lanka Customs if you carry more than USD 15,000 or the equivalent.
• Sri Lankan rupee cash: residents may take out or bring in up to LKR 20,000.
• A person in Sri Lanka may hold up to USD 10,000 in foreign currency notes obtained from an authorised dealer for travel. Money changers may sell up to USD 5,000 per foreign trip on production of documents. Unspent currency brought back must be converted or banked within 90 days.

A note on a common misreading: the USD 10,000 figure that circulates as an inbound limit is not one. It applies to an arriving passenger who intends to take more than that back out in notes, in which case the inbound declaration protects the later re-export.

Coming home through Customs

• A pilgrim away for under 90 days falls in the USD 187.50 duty-free allowance band at the arrival duty-free shop, with USD 125 for unaccompanied baggage. Baggage concessions are granted only once in any 365-day period.
• Foodstuff is capped at 50 kg in total, with each variety 10 kg or less. This is the line that covers dates and food gifts.
• Gold must be declared to the Customs Arrival No. 1 Officer, along with foreign currencies and gems.

Sri Lanka Customs publishes no allowance specific to Zamzam. In practice the binding constraint is your airline's rules, which the packing list sets out carrier by carrier.

Five questions to ask before you pay

1. 1Is this price per person, and on what sharing basis?
2. 2Does it include the return airfare, and on which airline?
3. 3Which hotels, and are they confirmed in writing for this departure date?
4. 4What does the Saudi side cost you, and is that inside this figure?
5. 5What is not included that I will have to pay for on the ground?

Get the answers in the written quotation, not in a conversation. That is the document you can hold someone to.