Whenever you hear people talking about Jordan, it is very likely that they are discussing about the country’s amazing cultural heritage and its very friendly people. It should be no surprise to anyone, especially if we take into account that Jordan has thousands or tens of thousands archaeological sites.
This country, although a relative small country in the Middle East, is a good destination for tourists that would like to travel on the same steps where the history was written, long time ago: you’ve probably heard or watched documentaries about the famous city of Petra or about the holy sites, that are also mentioned in the Bible, like Mount Nebo or Madaba.
Another important thing, that probably makes Jordan such a good touristic destination, is the political stability of the country: being a neutral country, people don’t pay too much attention to the existing problems in other Middle East countries. Therefore, as a tourist, you are going to feel safe, without nothing to worry about it – just enjoy your vacation.
During our visit to Jordan, we visited Amman,the city of Petra, the Wadi Rum desert and other archaeological sites (unfortunately we did not have time to visit the Dead Sea). A car is a must if you travel by yourself,as you need to drive a couple of hours daily, between the main attractions of the country.
Overall impressions
We are not going to lie, but due to the fact that Jordan was the first country to visit from the Arab World, we were a little bit nervous, especially because it was DIY vacation. Please don’t have this misconception when planning your vacation – the people are very friendly and trust us, they will make you feel like home. We think that Jordan has a lot ‘underestimated treasures’ where you can put your mind at ease and take a break from the daily routines. At the same time, we were a little bit disappointed by how the local authorities are managing the wonderful masterpiece Petra (animal cruelty, people trying to scam you etc).
- People-Friendly 85%
- Cost of living 50%
- Weather 75%
- Facilities 65%
- Attractions 70%
Top travel tips and facts
Jordan is safe!
I cannot stress this enough, but Jordan is a very safe country for tourist, regardless of your religion, gender, nationality etc: you won’t see any violence in the streets, as in burning tires or other types of violence you might hear in other countries. A good example is that some muslin women cover their hair, you are not required to cover your hair – e.g. Queen Rania of Jordan, doesn’t cover her hair in public.
GET THE JORDAN PASS
The Jordan Pass is a must before traveling Jordan as you will be granted access to Petra and other tourist attractions and, on top of that, it waives the visa fees, if you stay for a minimum of 3 whole nights (4 days)
RENT A CAR IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GUIDED TOUR
Unless you are visiting Jordan with a private tour operator, you must rent a car. Don’t try to save too much money when it comes to a good car, as you might regret not picking a car with air conditioner, while being on the desert highway. We rented from Monte Car and although the air conditioner was not great, the communication was excellent and we had no other issues after returning the car.
PICK the right accomodations for your trip
Don’t try to save money when picking a place to stay in Jordan, unless you want to be really disappointed about your accommodation. Do your research and pick either five stars hotel or booking reservation with 9+ score and a lot of reviews.
tap water is not considered safe to drink
Although people might tell you that it is safe to drink tap water, we strongly encourage you to only drink bottled mineral water, available in shops, restaurants, hotels etc.
It can be cold in Jordan
Make sure to check the weather before going to Jordan. Unless you are only visiting Aqaba, where it is warm for the most period of time, you must be prepared for temperatures below freezing even in the dessert, for periods between November and April
You can drink alcohol in Jordan
Although you can bring your own alcohol drinks in Jordan, you won’t be able to purchase alcohol there. Also, you are allowed to drink alcohol only in bars, hotels – it is illegal to drink alcohol on the street.
RELAX and have fun
In Jordan we met a lot of nice people, ready to help you and make you feel like home. Their kindness and hospitality made our trip really enjoyable and we will always remember it a one in a lifetime experience.
Travel itinerary overview
Unfortunately, due to the flights schedule from Bucharest to Jordan, we only had three nights to spend in Jordan. Firstly, let me point out the obvious: three nights are definitely not enough for Jordan, especially if you plan to visit the desert area, in Wadi Rum (you should spend there, at least two nights to enjoy the desert).
Nevertheless, we agreed that we should spend one night in each place we visited: Amman, Wadi Rum and Petra so that we try to have a small glimpse of each part of Jordan.
As we arrived in the middle of the day in Amman, the capital of Jordan, we spend our half of day walking in the old downtown area, a place with lots of local shops and restaurants. After Amman, we went straight to Wadi Rum desert and last, but not least, in our way back we visited the magical place of Petra.
Amman Aiport
Mount Nebo
St George's Greek Ortodox Church
Wadi Rum
Petra
St. George Church
Travel itinerary in depth
Amman
The capital city of Jordan and the largest city from Jordan is a modern city, with a lot of Roman ruins, but also with numerous restaurants, malls or museums. It is a good stop, before your trip to Petra or Wadi Rum, as you can enjoy the Middle East experience in a town with a population more than four million people . Before planning your itinerary in Amman, take into account that the traffic conditions are anything but normal in there: do try to use Uber as much as possible, it is very safe and reliable. Downtown Amman, the Citadel and the Romman Amphiteatre are must-see attractions in Amman, but you can also enjoy the malls or have a nice dinner at some of the top restaurants from the city. The nice thing about Amman is that you can visit Amman’s main attractions by foot, although there are some hills and steps that you need to ‘conquer’. Then again, you can always grab an Uber in your way back to your hotel. Unless you have a lot of time to spare in your vacation, we think that one day is more than enough for Amman.
A quick detour to Madaba and St. George’s Church
The city of Madaba, an hour drive from Amman is the home of a very large Jordan Christian community, therefore, as Christians ourselves, we decided that we have to visit it as well. Even though this might not be a valid reason for you, you should also consider Madaba, as an alternative base to Amman, for exploring the Dead Sea or the King’s Highway – the Queen Alia International Airport can be reached in twenty minutes by car . The main attraction of the town is The St. George’s Church – a Greek Orthodox Basilica, built in 1896, over the remains of a 6th century Byzantine church. There, in the middle of the church, you are going to find the world largest mosaic map of the Holy Land. Although only a small portion of the original map survived through time, the level of detail, is astonishing. Apart from visiting the church, we went a little bit shopping – we bought a few nice, traditional Jordanian Keffiyeh scarfs, at a very decent price.
A Short Trip to Mount Nebo
One of the most important religious site of Jordan, the Mount Nebo is a significant place mentioned in the Old Testament. The Bible says that this is the place from where Moses, after leading 40 years the Israelite people in the desert, only viewed the ‘Promised Land’, as God previously told him he wouldn’t be able to enter it. According to the legends, Moses lived out his final days in here and died on Mount Nebo at the age of 120 – no one knows the exact burial site of Moses, until this day. Mount Nebo became a world wide tourist destination, after the visit of the Pope John Paul II, in his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in the year of 2000. Since then, tourists around all the world, visit the Mount Nebo, either to experience the stunning views of the Promised Land (the Dead Sea, the Jerusalem city on a clear day) or to be inspired by the biblical vibes of the area.
On top of the Mount Nebo is the Moses Memorial Church, a basilica that was rebuilt many times since its original form, from the 4th century. Here, you are going to see, probably, the best mosaics from Jordan, dated around the 6th century and also a famous sculpture of the Nehushtan – a sacred object in the form of a snake of brass upon a pole, similar to the one built by Moses. Do take your time when visiting the site, as the views from the main viewing platform are astonishing: you can see the valley of the River Jordan, the Dead Sea and some people say, that on a clear day, you can even see the city of Jerusalem.
It is worth mentioning that the site opens very early in the morning (around 7am) and just before the entry point, there is a free parking, where you should have no trouble finding a spot for your car. At the time of our visit, this attraction was not included in the Jordan Pass , but nevertheless, the entrance fee was quite cheap – around two Jordanian dinars, payment only by cash money. Again, if you have a lot of time, you can even hike to Mount Nebo, for about 6 hours, from Dead Sea area.
Petra – A new wonder of the world
Dating to around 300 B.C., Petra, the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom, is a World Heritage Site and the main attraction, for the tourists that visit Jordan. Although most of the people recommend two days for a Petra visit, we think that one day is just enough to enjoy this famous archaeological site. The one thing that we really disliked in Petra, was the mistreatment of the animals: it is true that the road to the monastery is not easily reachable by all the people and donkeys are supposed to carry stuff and people, but these are no excuses for the local authorities, to ignore the situation completely.
Petra has many points of interest and viewpoints – the most known ones, are the Treasury, the High Place of Sacrifice and the Monastery. To our surprise, if you want to get some nice shots of the Treasury, you must pay the local a few dinars for it. Anyways, the main trail, from the Visitor’s Center, to the Monastery point of view, it will take around 1.5 hours both ways, but you will probably want to add other side trails as well (e.g The Royal tombs have a great view and can be reached in less than 10 minutes from the main trail). Do not forget that the sun in the desert is no joke: make sure to start your visit as early as possible, have plenty of water on you (unless you want to pay around 5 American dollars for a bottle of water) and for the love of God, wear some good hiking shoes.
It goes without saying that you should protect and respect this heritage site and not destroy the archaeology of the site. Be aware that if you choose to ride a donkey, there can be some exorbitant fees, as there is no ‘regulated’ prices for it. Also, if you want to buy some souvenirs from Petra we must warn you that you have to bargain a lot (the initial told price is way higher than the ‘correct’ price of the souvenir) and the quality of the souvenirs is not that great. Nevertheless, if you do buy souvenirs from there, you are not only going to help the local Bedouin community, but you might learn a few things about their Bedouin culture – they are really friendly and talkative persons.
There are at least two other things that might be interesting for you, especially if you have more time in Petra – the Petra by night experience and little Petra. The Petra by night experience runs every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week and the main thing is that you will reach the Treasury point, by walking along hundreds of candles, that are going to light your path in the night. Little Petra is a similar archaeological site, located north of Petra, free for visiting and as its name suggests, it is also a Nabataean site, with buildings carved into the walls of the canyons.
Wadi Rum – The Valley of the Moon
After a four hour drive from Amman, on the Desert Highway, you are going to reach Wadi Rum, a desert landscape with red and strange rock formations, where there are human existence proofs older than 12 000 years. It is best to visit from April until September – the Wadi Rum’s weather can easily switch between unbearable heat to freezing temperature, in a couple of hours. There are many ways to fully experience the Bedouin life – our choice was the Hasan Zawaideh Camp and we were very happy with it. You can pay everything by card (accommodation, tours, food), but that’s not the most important thing: the people that run this place are very friendly and you really feel that you belong to that place, as soon as you check in. The traditional dinner was amazing: the food was exceptional, regardless if you are vegan or not, and the music after it, was a delight for our ears.
The jeep tours are a nice way to see as many places as possible in a couple of hours – we stayed only one day in Wadi Rum, but we were a little bit sad that we did not have more days for Wadi Rum. We do recommend at least two or three days for this amazing place, where movies like ‘The Martian’ or the ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ were filmed. Why? Just because you can take genuine desert adventures and explore the rugged landscape: it covers an are of 74200 hectares (about 183,352 acres)
Nearly all the residents here are Bedouins, an ancient nomad tribe, who are now specialized in tourism and offering services through this protected area. From the locals, we found out that there are several hikes that you can do in the area and you can even try the rock climbing. Being less crowded than other tourist attractions, here, in the desert, you feel like you are in a movie, a beautiful movie. Do take into account that at night can be really cold, so make sure to pack some warm clothes as well.
The sunset and sunrise in Wadi Rum are probably as best as you can get in a desert place. Staying in the red sand and watching how the sun slowly disappears or appears, it is an experience that is very difficult to be described by words. It’s truly a feast of different views – the color of the sky will change from azure blue to a pale pink, to a brilliant orange and eventually to a burning red. We are pretty sure that we won’t travel to Mars, but Wadi Rum, with the red sands and the sandstone mountains, do make you feel like stepping foot on a different planet.
“Trust in Allah, but tie your camel.” – prophet Mohammed
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