Jordan - 7 days Itinerary
- Irene
- Jul 21, 2024
- 14 min read
Updated: Jan 22
Best time to go: I would recommend to visit in April, May or October. Ideally you want to go when it is sunny and a pleasant temperature during the day but not very hot, as there is a lot of walking to do on this trip and barely any shade anywhere! The reason why you don’t want to go during the winter is because some activities such as Wadi Mujib will be closed.
General advice: rent a good car. Cars in Jordan are not the best and it is definitely difficult to find something fancy so my recommendation is to rent a superior car to what you would usually pick in Europe and it would be even better if it is a big car as you are going to spend some hours on the road. Driving in Jordan was not terrible, the roads are in good condition, the locals drive a bit crazy but it is doable. One strange thing that you need to be aware of is that there are a lot of police controls on the road, they are not trying to get money or anything like that, we were stopped numerous times and had no issues. Basically they will make you stop on the side of the road and you will have to give them your driving licence and a similar driving licence type card that should be in the car. Make sure the rental company tell you where this is when you pick up the car as this is what they will want to check.
Another thing to note is… dress appropriately and be respectful. In the end Jordan is a relatively conservative country and therefore you should dress accordingly. In my experience, it is better not to wear shorts, mini dresses or revealing clothes. I would recommend to wear linen or cotton trousers and long dresses which are more appropriate but also more transpirable and will help you to deal with the heat. Always remember to take a hat with you as the temperatures can be very high and there is not much shade.
Jordan Pass: for sure you are wondering…Should I get the Jordan pass? For us it was a yes. The Jordan pass is not cheap but by buying it you will get access to tons of sightseeing spots and the visa cost that you have to pay on the spot when you arrive to the country. My recommendation is that you compare prices and make sure it is actually cheaper to get the Jordan pass depending on your planned activities. For us the price of the Jordan pass was cheaper than paying for entry visa, Petra 1 day, Wadi Rum 1 day and Jerash 1 day. If you are doing a similar itinerary or visiting even more things then get the Jordan pass. Prices for the Jordan pass as of May 2024 are 70 JDs with 1 day visit to Petra and 75 JDs with 2 consecutive visits to Petra.
Day 1: Arrival
On our first day we arrived very late and went directly to the hotel after picking up the car. If you decide not to get the Jordan pass note that the fees for a single entry visa without the Jordan Pass are 40 JDs as of May 2024.
From what we saw in booking, there doesn’t’ seem to be any nice hotels or well rated ones by the airport so we drove 20 min to a hotel on the road basically because we didn’t want to go into Amman with the car. The hotel we stayed at was OK and a good price. The name of the hotel is - Opal Hotel Amman.
Day 2: Jerash
On your first day, I would recommend to wake up early and make your way to Jerash. We didn’t find Jerash very busy however the parking was absolute chaos so the earlier you arrive the better. The drive from the hotel took around 55 min. If you have the Jordan pass you can use this to access the site, if not you can buy a ticket at the entrance for 10 JDs.
Jerash is one of the world’s best preserved ancient Roman sites. It is believed to have been inhabited since the Neolithic Era. However, it is the impressive Roman city built here that has left its greatest mark on the area, becoming Jordan’s second most popular tourist site after Petra.
Jerash formed part of the Roman province of Syria following General Pompey’s conquest of the region in 64 BC. It later became one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis league, flourishing and growing wealthier over two centuries of Roman rule. By the third century AD, Jerash had reached its peak as a thriving centre of trade with a population of up to 20,000 people – even awarded the status of being a colony. However, this success was soon followed by Jerash’s slow downfall. Several events over the next centuries, including the destruction of Palmyra in 273 AD, looting of its temples to build Christian churches under the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century and the Muslim conquest of the region in the 7th century all contributed to Jerash’s decline. This was further exacerbated by an earthquake in 747 AD. In fact, notwithstanding a brief 12th century occupation by Crusaders, Jerash had fallen and lay deserted by the 13th century.
When visiting Jerash you shouldn’t miss: Hadrian’s Arch, Hippodrome, South Theatre, Forum, North Theatre, Temple of Artemis, Upper Temple of Zeus and Cardo Maximus.
The visit will take you around 3hours.
When you finish with Jerash, you can make your way to Petra. The drive will take approximately 4 hours. In Petra, I highly recommend to book your hotel next to the visitors entrance so you don’t have to worry about where to park your car.
We stayed at “Petra Moon Hotel” and had a fantastic experience. It was in a great location, the rooms were spacious and the swimming pool on the roof was great after a long day of walking. Other recommended hotels to stay at are: “Mövenpick Petra” and “Petra Moon Luxury Hotel”. Note that the only one that sells alcohol is Mövenpick Petra as this is an international brand and the other are local brands which don’t serve alcohol.
After checking in, we went directly for dinner to “My Mom's Recipe Restaurant”, which is a very cute place with great views and good food.
After dinner if you fancy a drink or cocktail, you can go to “Bar in the Cave” which is the only place alongside the Movenpick that serves alcohol.
Day 3: Petra
The best advice I can give you about visiting Petra is… wake up early!!!! I am not usually a fan of waking up early during holidays but I read everywhere that here you should do it because you have to beat the crowds and the tour groups which are plenty given that this is one of the wonders of the world! We were at the visitor entrance at 7.45 and it was the best decision ever. Make sure you carry with you plenty of water, a hat and very comfy shoes. Sandals are not a good idea.
The price of Petra entrance without the Jordan pass is 50 JDs for 1 day and 55 JDs for 2 days. Petra is open from 6am to 6pm in the summer and 6am to 4pm in the winter.
Now I am going to provide you with my view on how to visit Petra which could be considered an unpopular opinion as it contradicts everything I read in other blogs.
For me one day to visit Petra it is enough. I read everywhere that you need two days and we bought the Jordan pass with access for 2 days and ended up not using it. It is true that we are relatively fit and even though it was tiring to see everything in one day, you can perfectly do it unless you have any disability or mobility issues.
Another thing that we disagree with is how long it takes to visit the site, at the hotel they told us that it takes 9 hours to visit the whole thing but for us it was only 5 hours. We were not running around and we had time to take pictures and see everything.
Some people also recommends to start the visit in little Petra and walk from there to the monastery and from there down the steps towards the roman ruins finishing at the Treasury. I would not do this for 2 reasons – i) it is difficult to get to little Petra via public transport (you need to take bus + taxis etc) and the walk from little Petra to the monastery feels like you are in the middle of nowhere in a very hot dessert with nothing around; also ii) you want to see the Treasury as early as possible so it is not full of people which defeats the purpose of waking up early!
History of Petra - Petra was built by the Nabataeans around 312B.C. The Nabateans carved palaces, temples, tombs, storerooms and stables from the soft stone cliffs of Petra. From here, the Nabataeans controlled the trade routes from Damascus to Arabia, profiting by the taxes paid on the caravans that passed through Nabataean territory.
Around 106.A.D the Romans arrived to Petra adding their constructions such us the byzantine church or vía columnata, which connected the main points in the city and at the same time was the main commercial road. The Romans took control of the commercial route and deviated this away from Petra, and this is when the Nabataeans decline started by losing their power and income. When the Umayyad dynasty established the capital in Damascus in 661 A.D, this left Petra completely isolated from everything. At this point, Petra started to be forgotten and suffered few earthquakes that left the city in ruins and completely abandoned. Centuries passed during which the city was hidden without anyone knowing about its existence until 1812 when it was rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhard.
When you first enter you will walk for around 10 min until you find the Siq. The Siq is a gorge surrounded by mountainous rocks that the water has eroded during centuries. It will take you around 20 min to walk down the Siq which ends by the Treasury.
The Treasury was not a treasury - but a mausoleum for the 1st century AD Nabatean King Aretas IV, later used as a place of worship. But it got its name from the Bedouins who lived in the area in the 19th century and thought the structure held a hidden treasure.
After spending around 15 min admiring the Treasury, keep walking toward the royal tombs, there is still a lot to see! The Royal Tombs are a series of large mausoleums with impressive facades. It is not possible to associate them to particular Nabataean rulers, due to the lack archaeological evidence. But recent research seems to confirm their royal context.
After the tombs instead of continuing straight on the path, try to get up the stairs you will see on the right to reach an elevated area from which you will have an impressive view of the Theatre. The Theatre was originally built by the Nabataeans and was enlarged by the Romans to hold about 8500 people soon after they arrived in 106 CE.
Continue walking on this side of the mountain and you will have a good view on the other side of vía columnata, Qasr Al-Bint and the Great Temple. From this point, you can go down to the vía columnata (the main path). Qasr Al-Bint is one of the few free-standing structures built in around 30 BCE by the Nabataeans dedicated to Nabataean gods. It was later adapted to the cult of Roman emperors. The Great Temple is a major Nabataean temple built on the 1st century BCE and remained in use until the late Byzantine period. A miniature theatre stands in the centre. The temple was once 18m high, and the enclosure was 40m by 28m. The interior was originally covered with striking red-and-white stucco.
Until this point the walk can be considered flat and quite easy (you will be ok with normal trainers), however, after this point you are starting to approach the monastery and the terrain is more uneven with rocks etc so I would have preferred to be wearing hiking boots for this part. You will have to go up around 850 steps. This will take you a while so just take some breaks, rest on the sides when you can and try to start the way up as early as possible so you are not climbing when the heat is more intense. Please do not accept to be taken up to the monastery by donkey, we should try to stop animal abuse and we should not be contributing to this type of tourism.
6. The Monastery is similar in design to the Treasury but far bigger (50m wide and 45m high), it was built in the 3rd century BCE as a Nabataean tomb. It derives its name from the crosses carved on the inside walls, suggestive of its use as a church in Byzantine times. The courtyard in front of the Monastery was once surrounded by columns and was used for sacred ceremonies.
After admiring this incredible sight you can make your way back. I have to say that the way back, especially from the Treasury to the exit, felt so long! We were tired at this point and the sun was very intense which wasn’t helping!
For me to summarise the experience I should say that at this point, I have been to 46 countries and visited 4 of the 7 (modern) wonders of the world and I have to say this is the most impressive place that I have ever been to…. I was simply not expecting to be so big! It is a full city! And the fact that was abandoned for centuries is incredible… a place that you should visit at least once in your life.
When we finished, we decided to go to the Mövenpick for lunch and it was a great idea because we really wanted a cold beer! We accompanied the beers with a really nice mezze and when we finished we went straight to the swimming pool at our hotel and chilled there until dinner time.
For dinner we went to “Old Street Cafe & Restaurant” and the food was lovely.
Day 4: Little Petra and Wadi Rum
This is the first day that you will not need to wake up early!! Finally it is starting to look like a holiday!
We decided to go first thing in the morning to Little Petra, which is around a 20 min drive from the Petra visitor centre area, and spent around 30 mins there. You don’t really need more time because it is very little! But still if you have the time it is nice to see because there is basically no one there! The entrance is free so you don’t need to get tickets or use the Jordan Pass.
Like Petra, Little Petra was probably built by the Nabataeans during the 1st century C.E. While the purpose of some of the buildings is not clear, archaeologists believe that the whole complex was a suburb of Petra meant to house visiting traders on the Silk Road. After the decline of the Nabataeans, it fell vacant, used only by Bedouin nomads, for centuries. Little Petra was excavated in the later 20th century by Diana Kirkbride and Brian Byrd.
When you finish you can make your way to Wadi Rum. The drive will take 1.50hrs to the visitor centre where you will have to stop to either get the entrance ticket or stamp your Jordan pass. The entrance per person is 5 JDs. If you need to have lunch, I would recommend you eat at the visitor centre. Once you pass this point there is barely anything for miles.
For the 4x4 tours and to access the hotels in the desert, you will have to leave the car in a car park at a nearby village and a driver with a 4x4 will come to pick you up. Just ask your hotel and/ or tour the exact location.
It is important that you check few things before choosing which hotel/ camp to go for:
Ensure the accommodation covers the cost of picking you up at the parking and driving you to your hotel, otherwise they will charge you extra for this
Ensure the dinner is included and provided at the hotel. You are going to be literally in the middle of nowhere so they need to feed you!
If you want to stay in a bubble (I think this is what everyone pictures when staying in the dessert) pay attention to what you are actually booking. Some camps have both basic tents and more fancy bubbles which are obviously more expensive.
Unfortunately, even though we liked where we stayed location and decoration wise, we did not like the treatment we got from the owners so we are not going to recommend them here.
In Wadi Rum, the most common thing to do is a 4x4 tour and you can do from a whole day to just 3 hours. The easiest thing to do is to hire your 4x4 tour through the hotel. We did a 4 hour tour and for me this was a good length. I feel I could have done the 5 hour tour but I think the full day one would have been too much for me, it can get a bit repetitive I have to say.
In the 4 hour tour you will see: Lawrence Spring, Red Sand Dunes, Khazali Canyon, Little Bridge and Um Frouth Rock Bridge.
Day 5: Drive to Dead Sea
The drive from Wadi Rum to the Dead Sea takes around 4 hours.
It is important to note that the Dead Sea doesn’t have easy access for swimming so it is better to stay in a hotel with access to the sea. In the hotel they will have showers so you can remove the salt after swimming and also an area with mud baths as well.
When I was planning the trip, a few people told me that it wasn’t worth it to stay in the Dead Sea because the hotels there are quite old and not well maintained. However, I decided not to listen and I don’t regret it at all! I think simply you need to look closely at which hotel to stay. You can stay at the “Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea”, which is simply incredible, or if you want something less expensive you can stay at the “Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea”. We chose the latter and had a very nice stay for a couple of days. It is also important to note that in the area there are no restaurants and not much else around so you will have to have dinner and lunch at the hotel. The hotel has 3 a la carte restaurants so you can have different things for dinner each night.
After the long drive we decided to chill for this day, swim in the sea and relax by the pool.
Day 6: Dead Sea
The most famous thing you can do in Dead Sea (apart from floating like a cork in the Dead Sea) is to do the Wadi Mujib experience, The Siq Trail to be precise. The entrance fee is not covered by the Jordan pass and the price is 21 JDs per person.
The trail starts at Mujib Adventure Center where you will take the cantilevered walkway and follow the course of the river between the towering sandstone cliffs to the base of a large waterfall. Depending on seasonal rainfall levels, the gorge may contain pools deep enough for swimming. The trail is self-guided and is marked easy to moderate. The distance is 1.5km and takes 2 to 3 hours to complete.
This activity is only available from April 1st through October 31st and depends on weather conditions. Even though we were planning on doing this activity, it rained a lot during the night before and in the morning when we woke up the rain was still going so we couldn’t do it. The opening time is 8am to 3pm and it is recommended to go as early as possible as there are limits on the amount of people that can access at one time and if you go in the middle of the day you might need to wait for 2 hours before getting in.
So instead, we decided to chill, wait until the rain had passed and go to swimming pool to enjoy a relaxing day.
Day 7: Departure
Next day we woke up early, did the check out and made our way to the airport which took us 1 hour driving.
In our case we had to exclude Amman from the itinerary as unfortunately we didn’t have enough days of holidays. However if you can stay one more day, ending your trip in Amman could be a good idea!
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