Jordan travel guide writers face the challenge of a country whose most famous attraction — the rose-red city of Petra — so completely dominates the imagination of potential visitors that everything else tends to blur into the background. The thing is, Jordan is a small country. Roughly the size of Indiana. You can drive from the northern border to the Red Sea coast in five hours. And yet it contains the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, the Byzantine mosaics of Madaba, the Crusader castles of the King’s Highway, the Roman city of Jerash, the Red Sea diving of Aqaba, and some of the most remarkable hospitality I’ve encountered in sixty-plus countries of travel.
I spent two weeks in Jordan on my first Jordan travel guide–worthy visit and came home with the quiet conviction that it was the most complete single-country experience I’d had — diverse in landscape, concentrated in distance, manageable in logistics, and genuinely difficult to leave. This Jordan travel guide will give you the full picture, not just the Treasury.
The Basics
Visa: The Jordan Pass (jordanpass.jo) is the single most important practical piece of information in any Jordan travel guide — it covers the visa fee ($76), free entry to Petra (one, two, or three days), and over 40 other archaeological sites. If you’re visiting Petra for even one day, the Jordan Pass costs less than the visa plus Petra entry combined. Buy it before you arrive.
Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JOD); 1 JOD ≈ $1.41. The dinar is strong and pegged to the US dollar — Jordan is not a cheap destination by regional standards. Budget travelers can manage $60–$80/day, but it requires discipline. Mid-range sits at $150–$250/day.
When to go: March–May and September–November are the best windows — comfortable temperatures (18–28°C), clear skies, and manageable crowds. June–August is hot (35–40°C in Petra and Wadi Rum; cooler on the Dead Sea coast and in Aqaba). December–February can be cold in Petra — I’ve been there in January when it rained for two days and the Siq turned into a river, which was dramatic and miserable in roughly equal measure.
Getting around: Renting a car is the best option for this Jordan travel guide itinerary — Jordan is compact, the roads are good, and a car unlocks the King’s Highway and the landscape between sites that’s genuinely beautiful. JETT buses connect Amman to Petra ($5–$7; 3.5 hours) and Aqaba if you’re not driving. Taxis in Amman are cheap and metered (insist on the meter or agree a price before getting in).
Amman: Better Than Its Reputation
Most Jordan travel guide itineraries treat Amman as a transit point — fly in, spend one night, head south to Petra. This undersells a city that, once you get off the tourist trail, is genuinely interesting.
Amman is built on seven hills (jebels), with the old downtown (East Amman) in the valleys and the wealthier western neighbourhoods on the higher ground. The gap between them in wealth and character is significant, and the more interesting half is the east.
The Citadel — Jordan travel guide’s Amman highlight: The hilltop archaeological site above downtown — the Temple of Hercules (2nd century CE; two enormous columns and a detached hand the size of a bathtub, presumably from the cult statue; free after Amman Citadel ticket purchase; €3), the Umayyad Palace (8th century; a domed reception hall), and the Jordan Archaeological Museum. The view from the Citadel over the Roman theatre and the city spread across the hills is the best panorama in Amman.
The Roman Theatre: A 6,000-seat theatre carved into the hillside below the Citadel in the 2nd century CE; still remarkably complete; entry included with the Citadel ticket. The theatre sits in the middle of downtown, surrounded by juice stands, falafel shops, and the noise of a working Jordanian city — the contrast of ancient and contemporary is more vivid here than at most sites in this Jordan travel guide.
Rainbow Street: The main street of the Jabal Amman neighbourhood — cafés, bookshops, restaurants, and the kind of pedestrian evening atmosphere that exists in most Arab cities but is somehow more relaxed in Amman. The Friday market at Jara below Rainbow Street is the best street market in the city.
Amman food — Jordan travel guide essentials: Jordan’s national dish is mansaf — a whole lamb leg served on a bed of rice and flatbread, drenched in jameed (fermented dried yoghurt sauce), topped with toasted almonds and pine nuts; eaten communally with the right hand. Hashem Restaurant (downtown; open 24 hours; operating since the 1950s; the hummus, ful medames, and falafel plate costs JOD 3; the King of Jordan has eaten here; the queue is always long; it’s worth it). Sufra Restaurant (Rainbow Street; the best sit-down Jordanian food in Amman; mansaf, musakhan, and maqluba all done properly; JOD 15–25 per person).
Petra: Two Days Minimum, Not One
The most important thing this Jordan travel guide has to say clearly: one day in Petra is not enough. Most tour packages offer a single day. The tour operators are wrong.
Petra covers 264 square kilometres. The famous Treasury (Al-Khazneh) — the 1st-century BCE Nabataean rock-cut facade that opens the Siq gorge — is the opening image, not the destination. Beyond it lies the Colonnaded Street, the Royal Tombs carved in tiers across the eastern cliff face, the Monastery (Ad-Deir; 800 rock-cut steps from the valley floor; 45 minutes of climbing; the largest monument in Petra and, in the afternoon when the light comes from the west, more dramatic than the Treasury), and the High Place of Sacrifice (a rock-cut altar on the ridge above the valley with views that cover the entire site).
The Siq itself — the 1.2km canyon approach to the Treasury, its sandstone walls narrowing to 3 metres in places, carved by a Nabataean watercourse — is worth walking slowly, because the moment the Treasury reveals itself at the end is one of the more cinematically satisfying moments in any Jordan travel guide, and you don’t want to rush it.
Day one: Enter early (gates open 6am; the Siq in morning light is a different place from the midday version). Treasury, Street of Facades, Theatre, Royal Tombs. Afternoon: the High Place of Sacrifice via the main steps.
Day two: The Monastery. This requires energy and the right footwear — 800 steps cut directly into the rock, starting from the Lion Triclinium. The Monastery itself (Ad-Deir; 48 metres wide, 45 metres tall; larger than the Treasury; less visited because of the climb; a Bedouin tea tent operates at the summit with the best view in Petra) rewards the effort entirely. The Little Petra (Siq al-Barid; 8km north of Petra; a smaller Nabataean site with painted dining rooms; free with Jordan Pass; often missed in Jordan travel guide itineraries; go on day two as an afternoon add-on).
Where to stay: Wadi Musa (the town adjacent to Petra’s entrance) has accommodation at every price level. Budget: Rocky Mountain Hotel (JOD 15–25/night; rooftop with Petra views). Mid-range: Petra Guest House (JOD 60–90; literally at the entrance gate). Splurge: Movenpick Resort Petra (JOD 150–250; directly adjacent to the entrance; the best location in the valley).
Wadi Rum: Mars, on Earth
Wadi Rum — the protected desert valley 60km north of Aqaba — is where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, where The Martian was shot, where Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury stood in front of a rocket in Bohemian Rhapsody, and where I spent two nights in a Bedouin camp looking at more stars than I knew were available and understanding, viscerally, why desert cultures developed the most sophisticated astronomical traditions in history.
The landscape is not subtle. Red and orange sandstone mountains rise hundreds of metres from a valley floor of fine rust-coloured sand, with rock bridges, carved canyons, and ancient Nabataean inscriptions at intervals. The light changes every hour from dawn to dusk and the colours change with it.
The jeep tour: The standard introduction to Wadi Rum — a 4WD tour with a Bedouin guide covering the major rock formations, the Lawrence of Arabia spring, Khazali Canyon (a narrow slot canyon with Thamudic inscriptions and Nabataean engravings carved at eye level), and the red dune for the sunset. Half-day tours cost JOD 25–35; full-day JOD 50–70. Book through your camp or the Wadi Rum visitor centre.
Overnight camp: This Jordan travel guide considers staying at least one night in the desert mandatory. The camps range from simple Bedouin tents (JOD 20–40/person including dinner and breakfast) to the “Martian-pod” bubble camps (clear-roofed domes for stargazing from your bed; JOD 150–300/night). The food — slow-cooked zarb, a Bedouin underground oven of meat and vegetables buried in sand — is worth planning an overnight stay around regardless of accommodation tier.
Practical note: Wadi Rum entry costs JOD 5 (not covered by the Jordan Pass). The village of Rum is the access point; most camps organise pickup from the visitor centre. No private vehicles are allowed in the protected area — all access is by licensed 4WD.
The Dead Sea: Float, Peel, Repeat
At 430 metres below sea level — the lowest point on earth’s surface — the Dead Sea is so saline (ten times saltier than ocean water) that nothing lives in it and nothing sinks in it. Floating on your back reading a newspaper is a cliché because it genuinely works; the buoyancy is so extraordinary that lying back is instinctive and swimming in any conventional sense is nearly impossible.
The Jordanian shore is less developed than the Israeli side and considerably cheaper. The public beach at Amman Beach (JOD 20/person; includes pool, beach access, showers, and changing rooms) is the most straightforward access point on any Jordan travel guide budget. The resort hotels (Marriott, Kempinski, Hilton) run JOD 150–300/night and include private beach access.
The Dead Sea black mud — scraped from the shoreline, applied to the skin, left to dry for 15 minutes, and rinsed in the salt water — is sold in beauty products worldwide. Do it for free from the shore. Your skin will feel different for days.
Warning that every Jordan travel guide includes for good reason: Do not get Dead Sea water in your eyes. Mouth, nose, eyes — none of them. The salt concentration causes immediate and serious burning. Float on your back and keep your face out of the water entirely.
The King’s Highway: Jordan’s Scenic Route
The King’s Highway — the ancient road connecting Amman to Aqaba through the Jordanian highlands, running along the edge of the Wadi Arabia rift valley — is the most scenic drive in this Jordan travel guide and one of the most scenic drives in the Middle East.
Madaba — Jordan travel guide’s mosaic city: The “City of Mosaics” — a 6th-century Byzantine map of the Holy Land made from coloured stone tesserae, embedded in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St George (free; still an active church; the oldest cartographic representation of Jerusalem and the Nile Delta in existence). The town also has an archaeological park of Byzantine mosaic floors that covers several city blocks.
Karak Castle — Jordan travel guide’s Crusader stop: A Crusader castle (1142 CE) on a hilltop spur, used by Saladin’s forces as a forward base after its capture in 1189, later occupied by the Mamluks and Ottomans — the most complete Crusader castle in Jordan (JOD 3; the subterranean Crusader gallery system is lit and walkable; allow 2 hours).
Dana Biosphere Reserve — Jordan travel guide’s nature detour: A nature reserve running from the highland plateau into the Wadi Araba desert — the most biodiverse reserve in Jordan, with hiking trails from Dana village (a restored Ottoman-era stone village on the cliff edge) down into the canyon toward Petra. The two-day Rummana to Feynan hike is the best trek in this Jordan travel guide.
Aqaba: Red Sea, Coral, and the End of the Road
Aqaba is the Jordan travel guide destination most people rush through — a port town on the northern tip of the Red Sea where four countries (Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt) share an almost comically small stretch of coastline. The water is warm year-round (22–28°C), the coral reef is accessible directly from the beach (the Japanese Garden coral reef, 500 metres offshore by boat, is among the best reef diving accessible without a liveaboard), and the town itself is a useful staging point for Wadi Rum.
The diving: Royal Diving Club (the established operator; PADI courses from $350; fun dives from $50; the Cedar Pride wreck, a deliberately sunk Lebanese cargo ship at 30 metres, is the headline dive) and the snorkelling from the public beach (fins and mask rental from $10; the hard coral garden north of the South Beach is accessible by swimming and impressive without diving qualification).
Budget Breakdown
| Category | Budget | Mid-Range | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | JOD 15 ($21) hostel | JOD 70 ($99) hotel | JOD 200+ ($282) resort |
| Food | JOD 8 ($11) local restaurants | JOD 25 ($35) restaurants | JOD 60+ ($85) |
| Transport | JOD 5 ($7) shared taxi/JETT | JOD 20 ($28) rental car | JOD 35 ($49) |
| Activities | JOD 10 ($14) | JOD 25 ($35) | JOD 50 ($70) |
| Daily Total | JOD 38 (~$54) | JOD 140 (~$197) | JOD 345+ (~$486) |
The Jordan Pass ($76, purchased before arrival) is the Jordan travel guide’s single most important practical tip — it covers the visa and Petra entry — essential for any Jordan travel guide budget calculation.
Ten Days in Jordan: A Route That Works
Amman (2 nights, including a day trip to Madaba and the Dead Sea) → King’s Highway south by rental car: Karak Castle, Dana (1 night) → Petra (2 nights; both the Treasury circuit and the Monastery) → Wadi Rum (1–2 nights; overnight camp mandatory) → Aqaba (1–2 nights; diving or snorkelling, rest before the flight home).
That’s 9–10 nights and covers every major site this Jordan travel guide considers essential without feeling rushed. The driving between stops is genuinely part of the experience — the view from the edge of the King’s Highway plateau down into the Wadi Araba rift is one of the most dramatic roadside landscapes in the region.
For visa requirements and the Jordan Pass, the official Visit Jordan site has current information.