Almost everything that matters in Medina costs nothing: Baqi cemetery, Uhud, Qiblatayn and the city museum are all free. Budget the riyals you save on shared taxis to Wadi al-Jinn and 15 SAR chicken plates instead of hotel restaurants.
Islam's oldest cemetery holds roughly 10,000 companions of the Prophet under unmarked stone graves. Entry is free; men are admitted for about two hours after Fajr and again after Asr, through the eastern gates.
The 'Cloud Mosque', 300 m southwest of the Haram, marks the open ground where the Prophet led Eid prayers and prayed for rain. The Ottoman-era stone building carries six small domes and opens around prayer times only.
The 1908 Ottoman terminus of the Damascus–Medina railway now houses the city museum: scale models of old Medina, archive photographs and a restored steam locomotive parked on the original platform. Entry is free.
The Mosque of the Two Qiblas, where the direction of prayer turned from Jerusalem to Mecca mid-prayer in 624 CE. The 1987 rebuild keeps twin domes and twin minarets, and the older southern prayer niche is still visible inside.
The covered lanes west of Bab al-Salam sell prayer rugs, oud, kohl and cotton thobes at roughly a third of mall prices. Haggling is expected — open at half the quoted figure. Busiest between Zuhr and Asr.
A Saudi chain doing kabsa and Bukhari rice with lamb or chicken on communal floor mats. A full platter runs 20-35 SAR and easily feeds two; ordering is by touchscreen and the family section has private booths.
The two-floor supermarket a block from the Haram is where pilgrims self-cater: flatbread around 5 SAR, labneh tubs about 8 SAR, bottled water by the crate and loose Ajwa dates cheaper than the tourist stalls.
Saudi Arabia's fried-chicken institution. Four pieces of broasted chicken with fries and the garlic sauce it is famous for costs about 15 SAR. Order at the kiosk, take a ticket and expect a queue right after Maghrib.
The black basalt ridge 5 km north of the Haram, with the walled cemetery holding Hamza and some seventy martyrs of the 625 CE battle. The grounds are free and open all day; only the surrounding shaded plaza has vendors.
The low rocky knoll where fifty archers left their positions in 625 CE and turned the battle. A five-minute scramble up the loose rock gives the clearest free view across the whole battlefield plain toward Uhud's ridge.
A privately run museum on urban heritage: a large physical model of pre-expansion Medina, reconstructions of old courtyard houses, agricultural tools and Hijaz railway artefacts. Entry is around 25 SAR, cheaper for students.
The valley 30 km northwest where a gradient illusion makes a parked car appear to roll uphill and water seems to run backwards. Costs nothing on arrival — the only expense is splitting a car with other travellers.