Our fligh tarrived very late (or very early, it was 2 am) so we stayed in an apartment close to the airport, Al Qastal Buildng, which we booked via Booking. They offered airport pick up and they were waiting for us when we exited the gates.
We bought some snacks in the WHSmith before leaving. The apartment was ok, simple but comfortable to spend the night.
If you want general tips for traveling through Jordan, click here.
Day 1 – Driving from Airport to Petra
Given the fact we had gone to bed at 4 am, we only woke up around 10 am and had a quick breakfast, just juice and cookies. After check-out we walked 10 minutes to the Montecarlo Car Rental to pick up our car. We spent around 20 minutes there, doing all the paperwork, and finally got an automatic 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage that was pretty worn-down and made some very weird noises. It had over 120,000km in the odometer!
While we are surprised the car was not what we expected, the company service was quite good as referenced by other travelers on Tripadvisor.
After signing the papers and packing the car, we set off towards Wadi Musa, which is approximately 300 km from the airport via Desert Highway. There’s not much to see on the way, just desert (duh!) and some small towns that look lost in time.
Closer to Petra there’s an exit that is well signaled to merge onto King’s Highway. There we made a quick stop at the ruins of Shobak Castle, which is included in the Jordan Pass.
We continued our way to Wadi Musa and finally arrived at our hotel, Petra Gate, which was the cheapest we could find. Staff was really nice but the facilities not so much, although the location was good and we could park our car in the street in front of the entrance for free.
Since it was already almost sunset we didn’t do much, just walked around. There’s not a lot to see in Wadi Musa to be honest. We had an early dinner (shawarma) and went to bed early as we wanted to start before dawn the following day.
Day 2 –Petra
We woke upat 5:30 am, had a quick breakfast in the room (just juice and cookies), grabbed our picnic bags prepared by the hotel and drove to the Petra Visitor Center, which has a big free car park right next to it.
As we had the Jordan Pass we didn’t need to buy tickets, but we had to go into the visitor center to stamp our pass. We also bought tickets for Petra by Night that same evening. After walking through a market, we reached the ticket control office, where they asked for our passes and IDs. Then the long walk began.
There are men offering to take you on carriages or horses claiming it is included in the ticket, but they expect to receive a large tip afterwards. We said ‘no, thank you’ and continued walking the 800 meters that separate the gate from the Siq. On the way you can see the Obelisk Tomb
And then we reached the Siq, a huge winding walk through a giant canyon. We were alone there and stopped to take many pictures, marveling at each turn. The Siq is 1.2km long and probably takes half an hour to cross.
After many turns, you finally see the most magnificent sight in Jordan: the Treasury, the famous construction in the rock. We were in awe. We spent almost an hour taking pictures from all the different angles. There were some tourists at that time, but nothing compared to the crowds at noon. It was the perfect moment.
Petra holds a community of Bedouins living there and they are the ones that offer donkey or camel rides and sell souvenirs. They also offer to take you up for a view of the Treasury from above, in exchange for a big tip undoubtedly, to which we said no several times. We weren’t really planning on going up, but we did in the end, the “free way”.
We continued walking and enjoying the sights: lots of caves, an amphitheater and the Royal Tombs. The place was almost empty, so we got to enjoy it a lot. The tombs are very interesting.
Behind the tombs, we followed signs for Al-Khubtha Trail which was very close to another sign that read “Enjoy the spectacular view of the Treasury from above”, and got to a set of stairs.
We started climbing, pretty easy at first, then the path became more rocky, but still not too hard. The climb took us around an hour, with a few stops to catch our breaths, and we finally made it to the fabulous view.
There’s a Bedouin tent right in the spot with signs that read “If you want to see the view you have to drink something”. As we were already there, we bought two cold beverages for 2 dinars each and sat in the camp waiting for other tourists toget the perfect shot. It was also a nice rest from the hike.
After 30 minutes enjoying the view up there, we went back down the same way, which took us half an hour.
Once down we sat on some rocks to have our picnic lunch, while we contemplated how the place was slowly filling up with tourists.
We walked a bit more to see the Great Temple, which consisted of ruins of a Roman era, and the Qasr al-Bint. We could have continued the long way to the Monastery, but we wanted to rest as we had to come back that night to see the light show, so we headed back.
Qasr al-Bint
It took us a bit more than an hour to reach our car, as the only way out is through the Siq. It was 1:30 pm and by then both the Treasury and the Siq were completely crowded.
We went back to our hotel, took a shower and had a short nap. Then after having dinner, we drove back to Petra for the night experience.
So is Petra by Night worth it? The short answer is no. At a cost of 17 JD, not included in the Jordan Pass, it isn’t really life-changing. The guides take all the tourists through the poorly illuminated Siq – be careful not to trip and fall or step on donkey poop – until we reach the Treasury, which is filled with candles.
We had seen so many pictures of this that we were really excited, only to be disappointed. It was so full of tourists walking around that you can never really get a good picture of the illuminated Treasury. There’s a long show of Bedouin music that was quite boring to be honest and after 30 minutes of freezing in the night they light up the building with colours. Nothing really special.
We walked all the way back through the Siq, then drove back to our hotel and went to bed.
Day 3 –Petra
Another early morning, we got to Petra at around 7 am and once again crossed the Siq. We took some pictures again, we couldn’t help it! After we got to the Treasury, we didn’t stop for long, just continued straight all the way to the Monastery trail.
The trail is not well marked, probably because the Bedouins offer to take you up on a donkey, to which we said no many times. We think that it is safer to walk than ride an animal through that path.
The way up is not hard, just stairs that go up the mountains, with great views along the way. We were almost alone, it was so early that most souvenir stalls weren’t even open. After 40 minutes we got to the Monastery, which is even bigger than the Treasury. It is amazing!
We took our time with pictures from different angles until we were satisfied and then continued to the “Best View of the World”. There are two signs leading to different viewpoints, each of which has a camp that will charge you for the view.
We went to the left and started climbing to get amazing views of the Monastery and the mountains. It was not necessary to go all the way up to the tent in order to get these views.
We started the way down right when the crowds of tourists were hiking up – good timing for us to leave! As we had seen almost everything in Petra, we headed out, which took us an hour, and had lunch at the visitor center (not really cheap).
Because we had time, we drove for 15 minutes to get to Little Petra. It is not included in the Jordan Pass as it is supposed to be free, but there are locals that offert o show you around. We politely said “no, thank you”, expecting some anger, but they just let us go through. There’s not a lot to see here, just some more caves, smaller than in Petra. We spent 15 minutes and then left.
We went back to the hotel, bought some sweets and enjoyed the sunset over Wadi Musa from the rooftop. Then it was dinner and bed time.
Day 4 –Dead Sea
We set off early again and drove 250 km to the Dead Sea. This road wasn’t easy, specially the first hour and a half, going through towns and up the mountain, until we reached the Jordan Valley Highway (Route 65); from then on it was pretty straightforward.
We arrived at our hotel, the Grand East Resort & Spa, checked in and went straight to the beach. The hotel is a big resort on the beach with many pools; it was the cheapest we could find on the Dead Sea, and for us it was great. Almost completely empty at the time, since it was winter.
The beach isn’t nice, it’s a very small piece of rocky beach with chairs, but all we wanted was to experience floating in the saltiest lake on Earth. The weather wasn’t the best, it was a bit windy, but at least it wasn’t cold. Pablo could float perfectly, but not me: a wave knocked me over and I drowned. I know, who drowns in the Dead Sea? I can tell you something: it is really really salty.
After that we put some mud on our faces: it’s supposed to help your skin.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the resort, there’s not much you can do there actually.
Day 5 –Jerash – Amman
Another early morning, we checked out of the Grand East Hotel and drove 2 hours to Jerash to visit the Roman Ruins.
It is a huge complex, obviously not as big as Petra but bigger than we imagined, which took us an hour and a half to walk. It is included in the Jordan Pass, and even if it weren’t this is the only place in Jordan worth visiting after Petra if you have the time.
You go through Hadrian’s Arch and see the Hippodrome, then walk to the ticket control. After that is all columns, gates and temple remains. Go all the way up to the Temple of Artemis as it is beautiful.
You can also get a good view of the city of Jerash from up there.
We then headed towards our hotel in Amman. We had booked a hotel outside the city centre to avoid the traffic, or that’s what we thought. We couldn’t avoid traffic at all, it is crazy to drive in this city, specially on Thursdays (that’s what we were told).
After parking and checking in at the Easy Inn Amman, we still had a few moments of daylight, so we went to King Abdullah I Mosque. We didn’t drive, we just got an Uber, which was quite cheap, only 2 or 3 JD.
The visit to the Mosque is not included in the Jordan Pass and it costs 2 JD. You have to go through a small market where they provide you with proper clothing and give you tea. The temple is nice, quite modern, nothing like what you would see in Istanbul, but it was interesting. We don’t consider this place a must.
By the time we arrived back to our hotel it was already nightfall, so we bought bread and cheese and had sandwiches at our hotel for dinner.
Day 6 –Amman
We had one more day to see what Amman had to offer, so off we went to the Amman Citadel, which is located at the top of a hill. Honestly, we didn’t love it. The nicest thing is that you get a good view of Amman from above.
After that we walked downhill to the Roman Amphitheatre. Both of these attractions are covered by the Jordan Pass.
We also walked around the downtown area, full of shops, cafes and restaurants, watching he locals. The rest of the day was just relaxing.
In the afternoon we returned the car. That night we stayed in Faraseen Apartments close to the airport as we had an early flight the following morning.
After 6 days in Jordan, seeing almost everything there is to see, our recommendation would be to skip Amman altogether and go straight to Petra and the Dead Sea.