Once best known as the gateway to the Islamic holy city of Mecca, today Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has developed a name for itself in its own right. Over the last few decades a new city of glass and steel has sprung up out of the desert, leading Saudi Arabia into the 21st century while retaining its ancient core in the Old Town. It has become one of the most permissive cities in a country where daily life and behaviour is strongly regulated by the government and religious authorities and is also one of the few Saudi cities to host a sizeable population of ex-patriots from Europe and North America.

Although it has long since set itself apart with its shoreline resorts and economic prosperity, for many people Jeddah remains closely associated with the Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims pledge to undertake at least once in their lives. The city is the final stopping point on the way to Mecca for millions of people every year, making its population swell considerably. Wealthier pilgrims stay in the luxury hotels of Jeddah and travel on to Mecca, filling the city with activity.

One of the major attractions of Jeddah to visitors is the fact that it offers perhaps the best shopping in Saudi Arabia. While the city contains a sizeable souk in the Old Town which offers an authentic Arabian experience, it's the mega malls that have sprung up out of seemingly nowhere over the last decade that are the big draw. These malls, which include the enormous Mall of Arabia and the Red Sea Mall have all the shops and conveniences of their western counterparts as well as other truly opulent features, including trams, fountains, hotels and aquariums. As they tend to cater for the well-to-do residents of the city, shops tend to be pitched at the designer end of the market.

Jeddah is also something of a resort town, with a succession of impressive hotel complexes and a vast urban beach stretching along the shoreline. It is extremely popular with visitors and families who can seek respite from the hot Saudi sun in the waters of the Red Sea and enjoy food, drink and entertainment well into the evening. The area has a relaxed feel and is a venue for watersports including windsailing and, for the millionaire playboys, jet skiing.

Westerners visiting the city will often find that their hotel in Jeddah is situated adjacent to the beach, making it easy to partake in all the amenities it has to offer.