Must-See Places in Jordan; You Cannot Skip

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When you see photos of Jordan and Petra specifically on social media you think to yourself, “I need to go here” and not surprisingly it is one of the must-see places in Jordan. At least for me that was the immediate thought that came to mind. I had been planning a trip to Turkey and Egypt and adding Jordan to the itinerary seemed like the logical thing to do.

When I have to spend quite a bit of money on a flight, I try to optimize on destinations to justify the cost. It was surprisingly not a big difference, cost-wise to add Jordan to the flight plan. The route plan looked like this: Boston – Turkey – Egypt – Jordan – Boston. Sometimes doing the multi-city flights works out for a good deal. Anyways back to Jordan!

Jordan is not a huge country and I recommend getting a car and driving yourself to all the must-see places in Jordan. I got a car through Rentalcars which was great for renting a car and the process is very easy. Remember to download the ‘maps.me’ app which allows for offline navigation and it worked everywhere. I will caution you right now even before I get into the weeds that Jordan is an expensive country.

The Jordanian Dinar is very strong and if you are using dollars you lose money! But even with that the unique sites and the unique landscape makes it worthwhile because there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

Table of Contents

Itinerary of Must-See Places

The itinerary below is for the all the places that I felt are worth visiting based on my experience. Reading numerous blogs prior to going I felt slightly overwhelmed because there were so many places to go. Don’t worry though I have narrowed it down to what are really the must-see places in Jordan.

Jordan is renowned for its archeological sites including one of the Seven Wonders of the world, the desert landscape which looks like Mars and the Dead Sea which is the lowest point on earth. You can definitely see the appeal in visiting the country and the itinerary below covers all those sites.

Day 1 Amman and Jerash

Day 2 Wadi Rum and Petra by Night

Day 3 Petra and Wadi Mujib

Day 4 The Dead Sea

Housekeeping Items

Best time to Visit

The best time to visit Jordan is in the spring or autumn. We were there in May and while it was hot it was bearable. I cannot imagine being there in the summer – it would be brutal. Spring and autumn will bring large crowds but if you are strategic about when you get to popular sites you can void them. Most people travel in tours so if you rent a car then you can structure your visits to avoid the crowds.

The Jordan Pass

If you are in Jordan for more than 4 days, I recommend getting the pass. It includes the visa cost and 40 attractions. It however does not include Petra by night. I suggest looking at the sites you want to visit and doing a cost analysis. For example, the cheapest level of the pass is $100. Petra will cost you about $70 and the visa is about $45. If you are there for more than 3 nights and 4 days, then it will save you some money.

Safety

With all the reporting you see on the news of the middle east safety is always a concern. I never felt threatened in Jordan and we drove ourselves everywhere. The people are generally friendly and tourism is a big source of income. I caution solo lady travelers to exercise caution especially in Petra. You will undoubtedly meet the Bedouin men who may try their tricks on you. The best advice is to give a firm no especially when something they are offering sounds too good.

Four Day Itinerary

Day 1: Amman and Jerash

In Amman the only thing to do is visit the Citadel. We arrived overnight and I had booked an Airbnb in Amman that was an 8-minute drive to the Citadel. It was an easy drive form the airport to the Airbnb and the directions on my maps.me app were very direct. As mentioned earlier Jordan is expensive so Airbnb was a great alternative in terms of accommodation.

Visit the Citadel early because it gets hotter later in the day and to avoid the crowds that come in later in the morning. The Citadel can underwhelm you but when you think about the history there, the appeal increases. Make sure you stop by the temple that has been preserved so well. The views of the city are amazing from the Citadel.

Jerash is about an hour away from Amman and it’s a great site for all you archeological buffs. I’m not huge on old buildings call me vain but eeh they are just stones after all. However, Jerash is quite beautiful and it has been maintained quite well. If you are short on time though I would skip this.

Day 2: Wadi Rum and Petra by Night

I chose to do a day tour of Wadi Rum. I used Wadi Rum Tours for a three-hour tour of the desert which included lunch. It’s a 4.5 hours drive from Amman and the desert scenery is beautiful. We met the owner of the tour business, Saleh Mosa, his wife and his children at his home where she made a delicious lunch for us. I remember talking to her about life in the desert and we had quite a candid conversation. It’s probably one of my best memories of Wadi Rum.

The desert tour included most of the key spots that overnight tours have minus the expense of staying in the camps. I felt that after doing an overnight in the Moroccan desert I didn’t need another one. I leave that up to you. If you have more time, it’s one of those highly recommended experiences and Saleh has an excellent camp that he gave us a tour of. Be prepared for an epic jeep ride in the desert with Bedouin music blasting from the jeep speakers. Truly once in a lifetime experience.

Petra by Night:

This is an experience in itself and it always gets mixed reviews. Some people like it some people think it’s a tourist trap. I fall in the middle. It will cost you about 17 JD. I thought that it was a good experience, quite touristy but also only possible to see in Jordan. It is only offered on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday which impacted the Jordan itinerary quite a bit because I wanted to do Petra by night. So please keep this in mind and remember it is not included in your Jordan pass. Petra is 1.5 hours from Wadi Rum.

The night show is held at the Treasury and it’s a long walk by most standards so get there early to get good seats. They will not allow you in before the show is about to open so getting there too early means you will just seat and wait at the gate. Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes to walk to the Treasury. There are no rides offered at night so you will have to walk there yourself.

For a great overnight stay in Petra I would pick the Movenpick or Marriott. There are many budget options also so be on the lookout for that.

Day 3: Petra and Wadi Mujib

Finally, your main reason for visiting Jordan has arrived. Wake up early to beat the crowds and the heat. This is a long day for you and will involve a lot of walking. My goodness by the end of visiting Petra I felt like I had completed a mini marathon. Petra is huge folks and remember that I mentioned its 30-45-minute walk just to get to the Treasury which is the first and main attraction in Petra. If you want beautiful photos with no crowds get there when they open.

After the Treasury we headed to the Monastery and this was brutal. There’s no other way of putting it and I do not want to mislead you. It’s a long hike in the sun because we spent so much time taking photos and it’s mostly uphill. You can pace yourself to get there in good time bearing in mind that you want to beat the crowds to get good photos. There are Bedouin ladies who sell ice cold water along the hike and you can support them by buying the water. Always bargain they will try to rip you off! Afterwards you can walk around the village in Petra before heading to the next destination.

Wadi Mujib is a great spot before heading to your hotel in the Dead Sea. The views on the way were amazing with the Dead Sea offering a gorgeous backdrop. You couldn’t tell where the sky and the ocean met. It’s such an epic sight. Go canyoneering and you do not have to complete the whole trail. In fact, it’s cheaper to do the Siq trail because you don’t need a guide and you still get great photos!

After spending some time in Wadi Mujib which will cool you after a long day in the desert sun we checked into our last stop in Jordan.

Day 4 The Dead Sea

Being the lowest point on earth you do not have to know how to swim to float in the Dead Sea. It’s the strangest feeling because the water pushes you up. It is very salty, so you ladies don’t shave before you get into the water. It will sting like a MUTHA. The sunsets and sunrises were amazing. This was a great way to end the trip because the Dead Sea is an hour drive to the airport so depending on what time your flight is you can get to the airport relatively quickly.

Make sure you do a mud bath followed by a salt scrub. My skin was noticeably softer after doing this ‘spa’ treatment right at the sea. We stayed at Kempinski which unfortunately I cannot recommend. The hotel is gorgeous, but we got subpar treatment which I thought was racially motivated and I wouldn’t stay there again for all the tea in England!