Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 2027

Why people travel then

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, prayer and charity. Days are quiet, but evenings are the opposite: after the sunset meal (iftar) old cities fill with families, lanterns and food stalls until late, and the night prayers at the great mosques draw huge crowds.

Eid al-Fitr ends the fast with prayers at dawn, new clothes, visits to family and sweets. It is one of the two biggest holidays of the Muslim year, and the days off make it a major travel moment across the Middle East and North Africa.

What you will see on the routes

• Jerusalem: A Walk Through the Old City's Four Quarters

  Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter are strung with lights through Ramadan, and the evenings after iftar are the liveliest of the year. On Fridays, and on the 27th night, crowds heading to Al-Aqsa are very large and police close some streets.

• Old City of Acre: Crusaders, Khans and the Sea Walls

  Akko’s old market and the Al-Jazzar Mosque come alive after sunset in Ramadan, and February is cool enough to walk the sea walls at midday.

• Petra on Foot: The Siq, the Treasury and the Monastery

  Petra in February is cool and uncrowded, and Wadi Musa’s tourist restaurants stay open by day during Ramadan. Over the Eid holiday Jordanian families visit in large numbers, so do the Monastery climb early.

• Córdoba: The Mezquita, the River and the Judería

  Córdoba’s Mezquita, the great mosque of al-Andalus, is now the cathedral, and Muslim prayer inside is not permitted. Visit it in Ramadan for the history; the quiet February mornings are the best time of year to see it.

How it changes travel

• In Muslim-majority countries many cafés and restaurants close until sunset, offices and some sites keep shorter hours, and traffic is at its worst in the hour before iftar.
• Visitors are not expected to fast, but eating, drinking and smoking in public by day is impolite, and in some countries it is against the law.
• Flights to and within the Middle East and North Africa are full and expensive just before and during Eid; hotels in Aqaba, Petra and Morocco’s cities fill with domestic travellers.

Travel window: 8 February to 14 March 2027. The Eid holiday is the travel peak: two to four days off in most Muslim-majority countries, plus the weekend.