Jordan in a week: Petra, Wadi Rum and the pass that pays for itself
One government pass covers your visa fee, Petra and forty other sites — as long as you stay two nights. The route, the costs and the timings that matter.
onesim team
Jordan is small, and that is its advantage: Petra, the desert, a Roman city and the Dead Sea all sit within a few hours of each other on good roads. A week does it comfortably.
The first decision is not the route. It is the pass.
Buy the Jordan Pass before you fly
The Jordan Pass is a government scheme, and for almost every visitor it is the obvious purchase. One digital pass gives you:
- Entry to more than forty sites, including Petra, Jerash, Wadi Rum, the castles and the museums.
- Your Petra ticket for one, two or three consecutive days.
- A waiver of the visa fee, provided you stay at least two nights.
| Pass | Days at Petra | Price |
|---|---|---|
Jordan Wanderer | 1 | 70 JD |
Jordan Explorer | 2 | 75 JD |
Jordan Expert | 3 | 80 JD |
Petra ticket alone | 1 / 2 / 3 | 50 / 55 / 60 JD |
Look at those two rows together. The pass costs 20 JD more than the Petra ticket by itself, and that 20 JD buys you the visa fee waiver plus forty other sites. There is essentially no version of a week in Jordan where you should not buy it.
Two conditions catch people out: you must buy it before you arrive, and you must genuinely stay two nights. Buy the two-day Petra option unless you are certain one day is enough — it rarely is.
The route
| Nights | Where | Drive |
|---|---|---|
2 | Amman, with Jerash as a half-day | — |
2 | Petra (Wadi Musa) | 3 h via the Desert Highway, 5 h via the King's Highway |
2 | Wadi Rum | 1 h 30 |
1 | Dead Sea | 4 h |
Take the King's Highway at least one way. It is the old road along the ridge, past Madaba's mosaics, Mount Nebo, the Crusader castle at Kerak and the Wadi Mujib canyon. It takes twice as long and it is the drive.
Petra, in the order that works
Petra is much bigger than the photograph suggests. The Siq to the Treasury is about 1.5 km; the Treasury to the Monastery is another 4 km and 800 steps.
- Day one: go at opening, before the tour groups, and walk the full length to the Monastery. Come back along the Colonnaded Street in the afternoon light.
- Day two: the high places. The trail to the High Place of Sacrifice, and the back route to the Monastery via Little Petra, which almost nobody takes.
Petra by Night runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings: the Siq lit with candles. It is a separate ticket, not included in the pass, and opinions divide — it is beautiful and it is crowded and silent-ish rather than silent.
Wear real shoes. It is sand over polished rock, and people turn ankles daily.
Wadi Rum
Stay in a camp rather than day-tripping from Petra. The point is the light at either end of the day and the sky at night, and you get neither on a jeep tour that leaves at ten.
Camps run from basic Bedouin tents to the bubble domes you have seen online. Everything is booked through the camp: a half-day or full-day jeep tour, camels, and usually a climb up a dune for sunset.
It is desert: 40°C by day in summer and genuinely cold at night year-round. Bring a fleece even in August.
The Dead Sea, and one warning
Float, do not swim. The water is roughly ten times as salty as the ocean and getting it in your eyes is an event. Do not shave the day you go, and rinse thoroughly afterwards.
Access is through the hotels and the public beach at Amman Beach; the free shoreline access people imagine has largely gone as the sea has receded.
Practical notes
Most of the 120-plus eligible nationalities get a visa on arrival, valid 30 days — but with the Jordan Pass the fee is waived, and you show the pass at immigration.
The currency is the dinar, which is strong: roughly 1 JD to €1.30. Cards work in hotels and restaurants in Amman and Petra; cash is needed for camps, taxis and small places. Tipping is normal at around 10%.
Friday is the weekend day; sites stay open but city life slows in the morning. During Ramadan the country shifts to the evening.
Jordan sits next to places with active conflicts and is itself stable and welcoming — but check your government's travel advice before booking, especially for the northern and eastern border areas, which are not on this route anyway.
