Tips before you fly
Before you head to Jordan, I recommend buying the Jordan pass online which costs about €100 but waves your visa fees and includes access to all of the main tourist attractions across Jordan including Petra, Wadi Rum and Jerash.
Getting to Jordan
You can either fly to Amman or Aqaba when visiting Jordan, both are super accessible to Petra. Aqaba is closer if you’re short on time, and only 2 hours from Petra and one hour from Aqaba, whereas Amman is 3 hours from Petra and less than 1 hours from the Dead Sea.
My personal recommendation is to fly into Amman and out of Aqaba if you can make that work for you, visiting Amman, Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum. And here’s the itinerary I’d recommend based on that.
Getting around Jordan
We looked into renting a car which was going to cost €300 for a week but instead opted for taxis which cost around €300 for over 10 hours of transfers, and saved us a lot of hassle and energy!
Once you fly into Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, a taxi to Amman from the airport takes 40mins. We booked in advance via our hotel.
A taxi to King Hussein airport from Aqaba took around 15mins, again organised via our hotel.
If on a tight budget, get around Jordan by bus with Jett Bus, which costs around €25 from Amman to Petra. Find more info here.
🏙️ Amman: 1-2 nights
Spend a day exploring Amman (don’t miss the Citadel at sunset, Hashem restaurant and Bait Baladna cafe) and if staying two nights, take a day trip to Jerash as well.
🌊 The Dead Sea 0.5-1 day
Head to the Dead Sea, stay one night at a fancy hotel to chill or just stop en route to Petra for the experience of floating at the lowest point on earth. Consider the Movenpick hotel, The Hilton or The Marriott (all about €200 a night) or the Ramada (around €100 a night). We didn’t stay overnight but just stopped en route from Amman to Petra for 2 hours at a Beach Club for 15jd/ €20pp).
🕌Petra: 2 nights minimum
Head to Petra and stay 2 nights: preferably one night at the front gate & one night at the back gate. Don’t miss both the Treasury and the Monastery. Staying/ entering via the back gate saves you 2 hours of uphill steps to get to the Monastery from the main site. The site is open 6am to 6pm during the summer and 6am to 4pm in the winter, get there first thing to enjoy the site without tour bus crowds who arrive around 9/10am.
Be aware that Petra by night only takes place Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. You must buy your tickets for Petra by Night for 17jd/ €20 the day of the show from the tourist office. The gates open at 8pm- try to be the first or the last at the site to get uncrowded photos (but be aware they turned off the lights on us afterwards to get us to leave!). The music isn’t that impressive but the 1000s of candle lanterns lighting up the site are so beautiful and worth seeing.
🏜️ Wadi Rum: 2 nights
Stay in a Bubble Dome in this Mars-like desert, which is a protected UNESCO world heritage site and has some of the most dramatic landscape I’ve ever seen. Consider Memories Aicha Luxury Bubble Hotel (luxury) or Magic Rum Bubble Hotel (mid range) or a Bedouin camp (budget, not a bubble, but super cheap).
🏖️ Aqaba 1-2 nights (optional)
Aqaba is renowned for scuba diving or alternatively you can take a day trip to Eilab in Israel. I would skip Aqaba if you’re short on time, but schedule some dives if you are an avid scuba diver as they have a lot of really cool dive sites (sunken airplanes and tanks) and vibrant sea life (near the red sea).
🛫Fly out of King Hussein Intl Airport, Aqaba
