Most people tend to gravitate towards Jordan for one reason; Petra. That’s nothing to be ashamed about. Petra is a top tier, five star world heritage site. Quite a few other countries have far less to offer. I’m looking at you Qatar!
I do feel that Jordan is worth more than a quick day trip to see Petra, but I can forgive people for having tunnel vision. Petra is incredibly attractive, unique, and featured in a high profile movie that has enjoyed enduring popularity.
A True World Heritage Site
Petra is an ancient city located in the southern area of Jordan dating back to the fourth century B.C. The tombs, temples, and living structures of the city were carved into the rose-red sandstone cliff canyons. There is no other place on Earth quite like it, as any visitor will attest. The ancient city is located near the modern city of Wadi Musa.
I’ve been to hundreds of world heritage sites all over the world. Some were completely jaw dropping, while others produced more of a yawn. UNESCO and their practices is a topic for another day. Petra is one of the most amazing places on Earth, no question. It is a must see.
The Face of Petra
Once you have hiked all the day to base of the canyon you will be greeted by Al-Khazneh, the treasury. It’s easily the most recognizable part of Petra. If you’ve seen the Indian Jones trilogy than you will certainly know it; being that it was featured in a major Hollywood movie it only makes sense that it would become the face of tourism in Jordan. Deservedly so, as the treasury makes for one hell of a grand entrance.
Although it’s called the treasury, it doesn’t contain any treasure, artifacts, or riches. In fact, it was never used as a treasury, instead acting as a temple.
Pro TIP: For the best light, see Al-Khazneh between 9am-10am. The rub is, this will also be when most tour groups are getting there.
*If you need it to yourself, best get down there at 6am.*
One thing that really surprised me was that a large number of day trippers don’t venture beyond the treasury. I’m guessing most are short on time, but I talked with tourists around Jordan that confessed that they didn’t realize there was anything else to see at Petra.
Al-Khazneh is only one small part of what makes up Petra, which is why you need two days there.
Beyond the Treasury
After getting your fill of Al-Khazneh, follow the road around the bend. At first glance it will see like there’s nothing much to see, but after walking less than five minutes you’ll have hundreds of structures carved in the canyon walls on both sides of you. Unlike the treasury, you can enter most of these areas.
Of course, none of these on their own are as impressive as Al-Khazneh, the sheer number of them and their city-like layout is incredible.
Petra’s Church
In this city section is where you’ll find the remains of a Byzantine church. Maybe in another place this would be a 5-star attraction, but in Petra this is pure side show. Most of the structure is gone, but the mosaic floor work is great. However, there are better mosaics to see in Jordan. There are better things to spend your time in the Petra complex. Probably it’s best to catch this on your way out if you have twenty minutes and some extra energy.
There are also a number of hiking trails one can take. One trail takes you pretty far off the beaten path up a mountain where ritualistic sacrifices took place. The trail is actually called ‘the high place of sacrifice.’ If you follow the trail fully then it’s a fairly long hike which took about 3 hours to complete.
This is really a must do in Petra. Not so much for the high place of sacrifice, but for the numerous great views, dozens of tombs, and countless cave homes you can explore. It’s also incredibly secluded. We didn’t see a single other person, tourist or local.
This is a good morning trail, when there is a lot of shade and it’s cooler.
The Monastery
Everyone knows the treasury, but few talk about Al Dayr, the monastery. As I already mentioned, some visitors don’t even realize there is anything beyond the treasury, so it should come as no surprise the fair number of people don’t make it out to Al Dayr.
The distance between the two is a good two hour hike, with an hour of that uphill. So, I assume some decide to completely skip it. This is a huge mistake.
Al Dayr is one of the key sites to Petra, and is not to be missed. It’s just as impressive as the treasury, plus there are far few people that venture there since it is also the hardest site reach in Petra.
If you want to see it with good lighting, head here in the late afternoon. If you don’t care about photographing it, come in the early morning when it’s cool out.
Just beyond Al Dayr the rouged landscape stretches out almost endlessly. There are three or four great viewpoints a further ten minutes beyond the monastery. There is no additional climbing required, so it’s an easy walk to get to them.
The Museum
Close to the car park and ticket gates, there is a museum. The entrance price is included in your ticket, so it is worth a quick look. You shouldn’t t expect anything super engaging, but it is air conditioned. That alone makes a worthy stop on your way out.
You really on need about 15 minutes to see everything. Do skip the movie though, which is unwatchable due to how the screening room is set up.
There are a number of shops situated around the museum. Most are selling tacky, overpriced tourist wares. The shop owners are pretty friendly and are pretty gung-ho about having you try on whatever they are sell. We didn’t buy anything, but certainly we had fun window shopping and trying on everything.
Petra By Night
The Petra archaeological area is closed to the public after sunset, but for an additional fee of 17JD ($25US) you can attend a special night light up of Petra. The whole idea sounds a bit hokey and we were really on the fence about doing this. It was also another $50US that we had to drop. Additionally, we had read a lot of negative reviews about this activity.
We decided to bite the bullet and give this a try. There really isn’t much to do in Wadi Musa at night. I know it’s a shocker, but Jordan isn’t really the party destination most think it is. Anyway, we were really quite surprised by how much we enjoyed this.
I will give one caveat: this activity is not designed for people with short attention spans. If you cannot sit still and be quiet for an hour and enjoy pure sound and sight, than this isn’t for you.
Not All of Petra
Petra By Night only allows limited access to the site. You will be lead down the familiar canyon road, which is lined by a thousand plus candles, the Treasury area. The entire area is decked out with candles. There you will sit on mats, drink tea, and listen to some performances of traditional Bedouin music.
The entire experience relies on the natural acoustics of the environment and the light of all the candles. In fact, the performances are not miced, which makes it incredibly impressive. The walls of the canyon help amplify the sound. I truly felt transported back in time.
I feel that many people don’t realize the shear amount of set up and work that goes into setting up several kilometers of candles and fail to appreciate how natural stripped down the event is. It is truly amazing what they have done here, which is sadly lost of the masses.
One thing that was disappointing was that the gift shops next to Treasury opened in the middle of the event. They turned on their lights, which goes a long way to ruining the atmosphere.
The Other Petra
Al-Beidha, affectionately called Little Petra, is a nice little site. In all honesty, nothing is going to impresses you after you’ve been inside the real Petra.
The fact is, we had a car, so getting out to the site was easy. The drive there is fun and pleasant for the hyper energetic scene at Petra. Al-Beidha is free to enter, devoid of tourists, and really easy to cover. Maybe that last part isn’t so good. If there had been a little more to the site I might be more inclined to push people to visit it.
As it stands, I wouldn’t skip anything in Petra or make too much of an effort to get here. If you have some extra time and your own transportation, go for it. If not, no harm done.
How Long to Stay
As mentioned in our write up on Wadi Rum, lots of people come to Petra from Israel on a day trip. This has become such an issue that Jordan has instituted an ‘a-hole tax’ of 40JD ($60US) to any day trippers entering Petra.
To be crystal clear, Petra is huge. If you come on a day trip you will be seriously shortchanging yourself. For starters, you’re going to lose most of the day traveling. Honestly, you really need two full days to do the site and the surrounding area justice. Besides having limited time at Petra on a day trip, you’ll also be there at the hottest and worst time of the day. On top of all that, it’s more cost effective seeing the site over multiple days. If you do a day trip from Israel, you will pay 90JD ($127US). If you buy a 2-day ticket for Petra you will pay 55JD ($77).
It’s also very important to realize that you cannot simply drive up to Petra. The entrance to the site, where the ticket gates are located, leads to a narrow sandstone street. This road leads down the canyon towards the main area of the ancient city and takes about 40 minutes to traverse on foot. The road doesn’t have any steps or ladders, but it is a steady decline down the canyon. Getting in and out of the main site takes time, which is a handicap, especially for day trippers with limited time. During high noon there is little protection from the sun, so by the time you actually get to the real starting point most are somewhat exhausted from the heat.
The Best Plan of Attack
If you’re planning to see Petra over two days, you’ll be staying in Wadi Musa.
If you have the Jordan Pass, entering is simple and fast. They will scan your barcode and you’ll be on your way.
The site opens at 6am, and you should totally take advantage of that. For starters, the weather is much cooler at this time. As well, few people can be bothered to wake up this early. This is about 4 hours before the tour groups arrive. Lastly, since many people don’t visit at this time there are few Bedouin around running scams. You will practically have the whole place to yourself.
You can spend the first morning exploring around the Treasury and possibly heading up to ‘the high place of sacrifice.’ This should take about 4 or 5 hours, and by this point it will be close to noon and really hot. The tour groups will have descended and will feel like a different place.
Break Often!
Since this is the hottest point of the day, it’s best to leave Petra and head back into town for a few hours. Get lunch, restock your supplies, and see what local life is like in Wadi Musa.
Things will start to cool a little by 2pm. This is great chance to head back into Petra. This is a great time to hike all the way out to the Monastery.
That should take a full a day, and that’s really pushing yourself.
The second day will start off the same way. In the park by 6am, and down to the Treasury. You will never get tired of seeing it, trust me.
You can hike up to one of the view points of the Treasury so you can see it from a different view.
After that you can pick off some of the sites you missed on the first day. There are countless places to see.
As the afternoon heat starts to kick, you head out again for lunch. You can spend the afternoon seeing some the less sites around Waid Musa.
At night you finish things off by seeing Petra at night. Remember to carry lots of water with you.
Scams, Dangers, & Annoyances
Petra is a fairly safe site to visit; however it is not free from hassles entirely. Unfortunately there are many local Bedouin bad actors. There are a number of hustles going on throughout the site. Mostly price gouging and fake guides. You’ll see a bunch of young touts doing everything from begging to selling overpriced water and postcards.
These are fairly easy to avoid by simply not buying anything inside the park. This will require you to bring enough food and water, especially the latter. It gets incredibly hot so count on having 2 to 3 liters per person.
Also, just avoid the guides. The trails are all well marked and it’s easy to get around on your own. If you’ve read any of the popular guide books out there, like Lonely Planet, you’ll probably know more about Petra the so-called guides trying to fleece you.
Camel Scams
One of the most common scams visitors get hit with is the Horse & Camel Ride Scams (read about it here).
Romance Scams
The most dangerous issue is the Bedouin Romance Scam (read about it here).
There are also some series issues with animal abuse and mistreatment. For the most part, there is no oversight or animal protection. Donkeys, horses, and camels are saddled with weights that are too heavy and are extremely overworked. It’s best to avoid employing any animals here, as you’ll just be feeding into a system of abuse. There are also a number of local dogs which have clearly been abused by the local Bedouin inside Petra.
During our time Wadi Musa we befriended a local dog who came with us everywhere. He would find us in the morning before we entered Petra and would follow us all day until we want back to the hotel. We gave him some food and made sure he had water when he was with us.
He was an incredibly friendly dog with deep brown eyes that would melt your heart. Not aggressive in any way towards us, but I noticed as we traveled through the archaeological site he would get visibility aggressive and growl at the Bedouin. They would kick at him and try to shoo him away. It was quite sad and disappointing to see their behavior.
Wadi Musa itself seems to be really low key. It doesn’t seem like there are any scams happening outside of Petra. The townies were all very pleasant and helpful, with some local merchants giving us free stuff.
Wadi Musa
Wadi Musa is a pleasant enough town to spend a little bit of time in. If you have a car, you can get out of the very center of the small city and see the more authentic side of life.
The city does feel a little sleepy; especially during the hot afternoons There isn’t much nightlife, which should surprise no one.
There are some nice places to eat, and even a few bars to check out. Because of this, Wadi Musa does warrant a little bit of time to explore.
There’s even a great cooking school, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Where to Eat
Wadi Musa is an ok place to spend a few days in. There are enough good restaurants here to keep you happy for at least 5 days. Beyond that and you might get tired of the scene. Luckily, few tourists stay the long.
If you’re a late eater, you might want to adjust your eating schedule. Even heading at 8pm might be a little late. If you’re doing something like Petra By Night, you might end up out of luck getting a hot meal. In those cases, you can check with your hotel as a last resort for a late meal. I would check before hand and make sure you have some packaged food just in case.
Here are all the places we dropped into while in town. They are listed alphabetically, and not by any ranking system. Just click on the link to read our reviews.
Where to Stay
There are a bunch of tourist friendly hotels in Wadi Musa, but in our honest opinion most of them seem incredibly overpriced for what they offered. For what it’s worth, you will be comfortable staying at any of these places. There has been a focus on getting international tourists to spend more time in the area.
During our stay we choose the Petra Moon Hotel (read our review here).
Getting There
Petra is south of Jordan’s capitol, Amman. If you’re driving, it’s a pretty easy 3 hour trip on the Kings Highway. You can also travel by the much more scenic secondary roads. That will take longer, but it’s far more interesting, especially if you want to see desert castles and various sites, small towns, etc. along the way.
There is public transportation, but it’s limited. The daily bus leaves at 6:30am from the 7th Circle JETT bus station in Amman.
Alternatively, you could also book a tour package, which should have all the transportation arranged for you.
Tour packages are the easiest way to do, but probably the least satisfying, in our humble opinion. However, for those short on time or less able, this might be the only way. As always, you should choose the best option for yourself.
Contact & General Information
Google: Petra/Wadi Musa
Website: Petra
Need more information about Jordan?
Check out our full write up on Amman HERE.
Read about our amazing miscellaneous adventures off the beaten path HERE.
See our stories about Wadi Rum HERE.
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