Petra + Wadi Rum, Jordan

January 2020 – 2 Days with the family

Grab your fedora a la Dr. Jones and see one of the wonders of the world in Petra! But don’t settle for a daytrip with only a view of the famous Treasury, we also recommend the hike up to the Monastery and glamp overnight with the Bedouins in the beautiful Wadi Rum desert.

The Avventura’s Israel + Jordan Map

Overview

Jordan is a magical country. As we were discussing heading to Israel, an Italian friend of ours shared with us that the Wadi Rum was one of his top experiences of all time. We’re glad that Dave powered through on the planning of this part of the trip (it was confusing and difficult) because it has also made the list as some of our top experiences of all time. The amazing archeological city of Petra is believed to date back to the 5th century BC and is surprisingly intact and incredibly impressive. However, the Wadi Rum is really what blew us away. This UNESCO heritage site also dates back to prehistoric times. The expansiveness of the topography and the juxtaposition of the mountainous high peaks (1840m) with endless dunes of sand was just mesmerizing.

Avventura Favves

As we mentioned above, Jordan was the hardest part to plan during our trip to Israel because it’s expensive and there are many ways to do it with different expenses involved. We spoke with many travel agencies and actually needed a spreadsheet to figure out all the different variations. If you want to see Petra, understand it’s going to be expensive and we highly recommend booking through Jordan Horizons to get the most for your money ($350 per adult/$275 per child under the age of 12; all inclusive for 2 days). It was a private tour and was still cheaper than a day trip group tour with Israeli companies, and it was only slightly more than coordinating everything on our own. Plus they were super easy to work with, well organized when we met them on the Jordanian side of the border to handle our paperwork in both directions, transported us throughout the trip, and provided an amazing guide at Petra.

Highlights from Petra (Clockwise): The Monastery, overlooking to the town, walking through the Sig, the amphitheater, and exploring the caves inside

At Petra we walked through the Siq (to the Treasury with the guide who told us all about the rich history of the Nabataean people in the area and the buildings they created. After a quick bite to eat inside the park at one of the small cafes he led us to the start of the hiking path to Monastery (the largest building at Petra) for us to do on our own. Another reason we were happy to be on a private tour is because often they don’t allow you to do this extra hike as part of group tours who are visiting Petra for only a day and we really enjoyed this part.

• One downfall of Petra is that you need to be prepared for locals who are trying to sell you on a donkey or camel ride, but who are not very nice to the animals. It’s getting better but still a sad situation (particularly for the animal lovers and the veterinarian in the family). We really discourage you from hiring them.
• We also considered seeing Petra at night because the photos online look amazing. However, there are so many things to see and do and we’re very glad we skipped it so that we could go from Petra to the Wadi Rum at night.

Ouside and inside at the Wadi Rum Quiet Village Camp

Wadi Rum (Valley of the Moon) – Jordan Horizons booked us at the Wadi Rum Quiet Village Camp, which was not exactly roughing it. This beautiful Bedouin camp consists of cabin-like tents with wooden floors and are extremely clean, and there are bathrooms with proper plumbing. There’s even wifi in the large communal tent. A delicious buffet homemade dinner and breakfast were included. This was much more glamorous than our Bedouin experience in Morocco. As in Morocco, they offer camel rides. If you’ve never been on one before, this would be an amazing place to do it. Oh, and the stars at night, wow!

In the morning they took us on a 3 hour jeep tour around Wadi Rum, where we hiked up a sand dune, climbed across arches, and saw where Lawrence of Arabia stayed. At the end of the tour they drove us the hour back to the border and helped us with the crossing. Maybe we should have stayed a second night in Jordan for the reduced visa fee (see below) and to experience Jordanian city life in Aqaba, but it was the last night of our trip and we had to be back at the Tel Aviv airport by noon the next day and we were worried about potential delays at the border crossing.

As always, there is much more we could have seen at Petra or hikes in the Wadi Rum, but for us we felt like it was enough to see the highlights and there’s never enough time for everything.

Logistics and Other Notes:

• Jordan is wisely trying to encourage travelers to visit more of their country than just Petra. If you spend at least 1 night in Jordan the entrance fee to Petra is discounted by about $60, and if you stay at least 2 nights the visa fee (around $60) is waived. There is a separate departure tax from Jordan (around $15 per person) that is waived for groups/families of 5 or more. Jordan Horizons handled all of this for us, but it’s just something to be aware of to understand the costs of the trip you book.
• We crossed from Israel to Jordan at the Yitzhak Rabin Border Terminal in Eilat. The border opens at 8am, but we arrived around 7:45am and there were already people in line. There is plenty of free parking, but it’s also only about a 10 minute taxi ride from the hotel areas of Eilat.
• There is a departure tax from Israel for land crossings (around $30 per person). It was easy to do this online in advance of our trip at: https://borderpay.metropolinet.co.il/en/
• You should allow plenty of time at the crossings, but for us it only took about 15 minutes in each direction.
• Also, bring some warm clothes. We all had on everything we brought with us and were still cold. The temperature got down to 30°F in the desert.