PETRA
The first time I heard about Jordan and it caught my eye was when I saw magnificent photos of Petra. That moment I knew - I want to see this place with my own eyes! I had not heard much about Jordan itself and I went there to see Petra, but the moment I saw Amman, whilst enjoying my nightly view through the minibus window taking us to the hotel, I fell in love with Jordan. I have been to Jordan twice and only seen snippets of the country and what it has to offer but it has totally taken my heart already.
Why Jordan? If you are on the hunt for World Wonders and enjoy tranquil desert scenery and Arabic culture, Jordan will be for you.
Top Things to see - Petra, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea and Amman.
Best time to visit - Early spring and late autumn
Safety - I found country to be very safe and would recommend for solo female travel.
Costs - Country is very cheap, except organised tours and entrance to Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead sea.
The first time I came to Jordan was back in early October 2019 with an aim to visit Petra on my 24 layover in Amman. I have heard that it gets very hot in Jordan during the summer so I strategically wanted to wait for the weather to cool down slightly. October seemed a perfect time of the year, however it was still pretty hot so if you are planning to visit Petra, my advice would be to visit it in November or in an early spring. The second time I visited Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead Sea was in May 2024 and it was equally hot.
After arriving late all that I could think of is - I need to get some sleep before our early pick up for Petra so I hit the bed. Our pickup was around 6am after a few hours of sleep and I still felt very tired from last nights flight but hey ho, my excitement was much greater than my tiredness. I am finally here and will visit Petra! The drive from Amman took around 4.5 hours with a stop for breakfast where we enjoyed some local Jordanian flatbread with zataar and some local Turkish coffee. Our driver told us that Turkish coffee does not really come from Turkey and it is the same in all Arabic countries but just called Turkish coffee. Hmm, do not take this as a fact from me! But it tasted exactly the same as Turkish coffee.
The second time in 2024 we hired a 7-seater car from the AMM airport and the journey to Petra without any stops took 2.5 hours. Hiring a car in Jordan is easy and driving is safe and straight forward - it is mainly a straight road leading up to all famous sights. Car hire cost £350 for a 7-seater via Europcar with full insurance and additional driver. In Petrol for 2 days we spent additional £100.
The scenery through Jordan was breathtaking. Never ending desert, sand and a lonely road leading to Petra. That is if you love desert scenery. It is one of my favourite scenes, it feels so peaceful. After about 4 hours were started to reach mountainous region and after driving through some local villages here we were - at the gateway of Petra.
The entrance in Petra varies depending on what passport you hold. If you are a local, I believe it was JD1, if you are Lebanese it was around JD5-10 and if you have European, UK or USA passport, the price was much higher JD55 (approx. £57).
There are two main sights that people chose to visit in Petra - The Treasury and The Monastery. To reach The Treasury it only takes around 30 min and the walk is quite easy - it leads through the canyon and you can find a lot of spots where you can walk in the shade. However, if you also decide to visit The Monastery, the walk takes around 2-3 hours depending on how fast of a walker you are and is a much harder hike. We decided to visit both as we really thought, when again we will come to Petra? There is only really one way to walk to reach The Treasury and you can just easily follow other tourists. You will see a lot of donkeys and horses along the way that are available for you to ‘rent’, however I found them really sad and saw their struggle, so if you are an animal lover your heart might break!
After half an hour walk we finally saw The Treasury peaking through the canyon walls and it was truly breathtaking! Hand on heart - one of the most impressive views I have seen! If you are like many other people and really want to take that stunning photo of just you and The Treasury, good luck to you as most likely you will find hundreds of other tourists in the background. If you are up for a little hike - climb up one of the stairs around the monument, you might get a better picture. It was time to head to see The Monastery. The walk took around another 1.5 hours for us and we found it very challenging towards the end where the last 30 min you will have to hike up the hill and you will have many steps to complete. And your heart will break once more seeing poor donkeys battling the steps up and down all day long with tourists to carry on their backs.
As it was around midday, the heat also became unbearable even in October. There are a few cafeterias on the way and many spots to buy very overpriced water or coke or freshly squeezed cranberry juice. It is all well worth it though - the scenery is magnificent and once you finally reach The Monastery as there are much less people completing this route. There is a little cafeteria up the mountain overlooking The Monastery where we enjoyed our lunch and drink and took a little rest before heading down again and back to our transfer to Amman.
The second time I went to visit Petra, I found out that they have opened a 'back entrance' starting at about 45min distance from the Monastery. To get there you can park a car at the main entrance (as this is where you will end your Petra visit) and then take a local taxi for about JD20 to the other entrance located near Mini Petra. You can then buy the official government entrance ticket there as well as jeep ride to the starting point for JD5 (it takes 10-15min) and you get dropped off in the middle of nowhere and then hike through the beautiful mountainous scenery for about 45min and you reach The Monastery. Our taxi driver recommended us not to use local jeep providers as they drop you off much further away from the starting point, so you will end up walking for nearly 2 hours. I recommend visiting Petra this way as you will save time and also will not have to walk the same road twice. It is possible to see the main sights in 3 hours this way.
The whole visit to Petra took us 5 hours but you can spend there even days wondering off the usual tourist tracks. If you have a very little time, the Treasury will take you around 1 hour to visit and it is in my opinion the most impressive of the two monuments, however the views you will see by visiting The Monastery will be breathtaking.
The way back to Amman took us around 5 hours this time due to traffic and we arrived back in the hotel for around 6pm ready to hit the bed for our early flight the following morning. The drive through the desert in the sunset was just magical and I knew I will be coming back to Amman very soon…
AMMAN
Two weeks later, in late October was my second time I went to visit Jordan. Again, sadly, only for 24 hours. This visit was much more relaxed and not so rushed as I did not have to spend 9 hours driving to Petra. This time I decided to explore Amman city. A group of us used Uber as our mode of transport as it was pretty cheap and convenient. First we visited the King Abdullah I Mosque. The entrance cost was around £2 and that also included the hire of the gown to cover up. We were greeted by some lovely locals in the souvenir shop that also offered us a local tea.
After a brief visit to the mosque, we took the same Uber that waited for us to the Rainbow street which is filled with lovely restaurants and shops. As we were feeling hungry we found this lovely local cafeteria. It was filled with locals that were smoking shisha and ladies next to our table were dressed like Arabian princesses. What amazed me was that majority of the locals would speak in English between themselves and turns out that it shows their level of education. The food was just absolutely delicious - I had halloumi, pita bread and some hummus.
After our lunch we took a stroll through the local markets filled with arabic spices and oud (arabic oil perfume) to the Roman Theatre and Hashemite Plaza square where locals were playing football and enjoying their time. And there up the hill was also the Temple of Hercules. We decided to take a taxi as those steps seemed little too hard towards end of the day. Oh, the view is just magical from the Temple of Hercules - the whole Amman is at the footstep and it is never-ending scenery of these sand coloured buildings. And that was it! It was the end of my 24 hours in Amman and time to head back to the hotel.
This article is a mixture of what I wrote in 2019 and 2024 when I visited Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead Sea.
WADI RUM
After visiting Petra for the second time in 2024 as we had a car, we then continued our journey to Wadi Rum which is about 1.5 hours drive away further south near Aqaba. You will have to pay JD7 entrance fee to this World Heritage Site and then you can camp in one of many camp sites. Basic accommodation will cost you around £15-20 and luxury glamping around £50-100. You can also camp in a tent. I opted for a basic room for £16 and I was very satisfied. We stayed at the place called 'Aljawhara Camp'.
I highly recommend this campsite. The owner and staff were lovely and helpful. We had breakfast included in the room rate and dinner cost JD10 per person and was delicious. You can then opt for various tours that camp site provide such as jeep tours, camel side, stargazing and sand-boarding. We did 3 hours jeep tour for JD25 where we visited some famous sights in Wadi Rum such as the Arches , bedouin camp, The Martian filming location and I also did try sand-boarding. It was harder than I thought (I do snowboard so I thought I will be fine, but it is not that easy).
What is Wadi Rum famous for then? It is a nomadic Bedouin home for centuries formed of red rocks and dune sands. It offers authentic experience to spend a night under the stars and explore the desert. Wadi Rum is also a protected UNESCO World Heritage site since 20211.
After a jeep tour (7am-10am) and a nice breakfast, we headed for a 3.5 hour drive to the Dead Sea. There are 2 ways to swim in the Dead Sea. First one is the 'free option' where you can stop on the side of the road and have a dip for free and then pay JD3 for a bucket shower. Or you can pay one of the resorts for the access. Marriott will charge you JD50 to use their facilities or Ramada will charge you JD15 (or JD20 with lunch). Choice is yours. The most beautiful 'free' spot to swim in is in southern area of the Dead Sea. If you search for 'Salt Beach Dead Sea' you will find that spot. From there it takes about 1.5 hours back to Amman. It is only recommended to swim in the Dead Sea for max of 10-15min and then you can apply mud on yourself for another 5 min before taking the shower. If you wear any kind of jewellery lower than 24carat gold - it will tarnish. It felt like an amazing spa experience! And then it was time to leave back for Amman.
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