Jordan Travel Guide: Costs, the Jordan Pass and Where to Go

Jordan is one of the easiest countries in the Middle East to travel independently, and the single decision that shapes the whole budget is whether you buy a Jordan Pass before you fly. The pass bundles the tourist visa with entry to Petra and more than forty other sites, and skipping it can cost you an extra 20 to 60 dinars before you have seen anything.

Jordan sits north of the Red Sea and east of the Mediterranean, bordered by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank. It packs Petra, Wadi Rum, Jerash, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea into a country smaller than Portugal, which means a first trip can cover the headline sights in a week.

Jordan quick facts

The facts you need before booking are listed below.

• Currency: Jordanian dinar (JOD, written JD), pegged to the US dollar. One dinar is worth well over one dollar, which catches people out when reading prices.
• Capital: Amman
• Size: 89,342 km² (34,495 sq mi)
• Population: roughly 11.6 million, including one of the world’s largest refugee populations relative to national size
• Government: constitutional monarchy under King Abdullah II
• National day: 25 May, Independence Day
• Time zone: UTC+3 all year. Jordan abolished daylight saving in October 2022 and stays on the same clock year-round, so older guides that say UTC+2 with a summer change are wrong.
• Language: Arabic. English is widely spoken in Amman and throughout the tourism industry.
• Power: 230V, plug types B, C, D, F, G and J. That is an unusually long list, so pack a universal adapter.
• Driving side: right. An International Driving Permit is accepted.
• Phone code: +962
• Vaccinations required: none for entry from most countries.
• Tap water: treat it as not drinkable. The supply is chlorinated but the storage tanks and pipes it passes through are the weak point, so bottled or filtered water is the sensible default. A refillable bottle plus a LifeStraw filter beats buying plastic twice a day.

Want the quirks, the history and the trivia instead? Read our 37 interesting facts about Jordan.

Do you need a visa for Jordan, and what is the Jordan Pass?

Most visitors need a visa for Jordan, and for almost everyone the right way to get one is inside a Jordan Pass. A standard single-entry tourist visa costs 40 JD and can be issued on arrival at the airports and most land borders, but the Jordan Pass waives that fee and bundles in the entry tickets.

The Jordan Pass comes in three tiers, and the only difference between them is how many days at Petra you get.

All three include free entry to more than 40 sites, Petra, Jerash, Wadi Rum, Karak Castle and the Amman Citadel among them, and all three waive the tourist visa fee.

The visa waiver has conditions, and they are the part people get wrong. The official Jordan Pass site states two: you must buy the pass before you arrive in Jordan, and you must stay a minimum of two nights (three days) in the country. Buy it at the airport after landing and the waiver does not apply. Some guides state the minimum as three nights; the official site says two nights and three days, so plan to comfortably exceed it rather than test the edge.

Buy it only at jordanpass.jo, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities site. You print the PDF or keep it on your phone, and it is scanned at immigration and at every site gate.

What does Petra cost?

Petra’s entry price depends on how many days you want and, critically, on whether you sleep in Jordan. The site charges two completely different scales.

If you stay overnight in Jordan, entry is 50 JD for one day, 55 JD for two days and 60 JD for three days.

If you do not, meaning you arrive and leave the country on the same day, the fee is 90 JD for a single day. This catches cruise passengers and day-trippers crossing from Israel or Egypt.

There is a wrinkle worth knowing. If you visit Petra on your arrival day and then spend that night in Jordan, you are charged the 90 JD rate at the gate and can claim a 40 JD refund from the ticket office the following day, bringing it back to the 50 JD rate. Keep the ticket.

Run the arithmetic and the pass sells itself: the visa alone is 40 JD and a single day at Petra is 50 JD, so 90 JD before you set foot in Jerash. The 70 JD Wanderer covers both. Find tours and activities in Petra here.

Jordan’s governorates and what each one is for

Jordan is divided into 12 governorates across three regions, and almost everything a visitor wants sits in six of them. The table below is the short version.

Amman

Amman is Jordan’s capital, its largest city and the arrival point for almost every visitor, and it is built across a spread of steep hills known as jabals. The old core is compact enough to walk if you accept the gradients.

The Citadel crowns the highest hill, ringed by a wall and holding the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace. The Roman theatre cut into the hillside below seats 6,000 and still hosts performances. The Jordan Museum holds Dead Sea Scrolls and finds from Petra and Ain Ghazal, and it is the best single museum in the country. Beyond that, Amman is cafés, galleries and Rainbow Street rather than monuments. Find activities in Amman here.

Jerash

Jerash holds one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities anywhere, and it is an easy day trip from Amman at around 50 km (31 mi) north. Allow three hours on site.

Hadrian’s Arch, the oval forum, the colonnaded cardo, the South Theatre, the hippodrome, the Temple of Artemis and the Nymphaeum all stand. It is included in the Jordan Pass.

Madaba and Mount Nebo

Madaba is the City of Mosaics, and the one to see is the sixth-century Madaba Map on the floor of the Greek Orthodox church of St George, the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land. The town sits on the King’s Highway 30 km (18.6 mi) south of Amman.

Mount Nebo is 10 km (6.2 mi) further on, the hill from which Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land. On a clear day you can see the Dead Sea, Jericho and sometimes Jerusalem. Wadi Mujib, the Grand Canyon of Jordan, drops down towards the Dead Sea from the same governorate, and its Siq Trail is a wet canyon walk that runs seasonally.

Petra and Wadi Musa

Petra is in Ma’an governorate and the town at its gate is Wadi Musa, the Valley of Moses, where almost all the accommodation is. The Nabataeans carved the city into red sandstone and it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

The walk in through the Siq to the Treasury is the famous part, but the site is far larger than that: the Royal Tombs, the Street of Facades, the Great Temple and the long climb to the Monastery all take time. Two days is the honest minimum. Shobak Castle, a Crusader fortress, is an hour north on the King’s Highway.

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a protected desert of sandstone mountains and red sand in Aqaba governorate, listed by UNESCO in 2011 for both its landscape and its rock inscriptions. It is not technically a national park, though it is usually described as one.

The standard visit is a 4×4 tour with a Bedouin operator followed by a night in a desert camp. Rock climbing, camel trekking, hot-air ballooning and scrambling through the canyons are all on offer. Check the many things you can book for Wadi Rum.

Aqaba and the Dead Sea

Aqaba is Jordan’s only port and only coastal city, on 26 km (16.2 mi) of Red Sea coast at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the diving and snorkelling base, with reefs and wrecks close to shore and warm water year-round. Look here for activities and tours in Aqaba.

The Dead Sea is a different proposition: a hypersaline lake about 440 m below sea level, and the lowest dry land on the planet. You float rather than swim, you must not put your head under, and you should not shave the day before. Resorts along the Jordanian shore sell day passes for beach and pool access if you are not staying.

How do you get to Jordan?

You get to Jordan by air for almost every itinerary. Queen Alia International Airport, about 30 km (18.6 mi) south of Amman, handles the great majority of international traffic and is the hub for Royal Jordanian. King Hussein International Airport at Aqaba takes seasonal and regional flights and is the better arrival if Petra and Wadi Rum are the whole trip. Check Trip.com for flight options and prices to Jordan.

By land. Jordan has crossings with Israel and the West Bank, with Saudi Arabia and, when open, with Iraq and Syria. Border rules, opening hours and fees change with the regional situation, and the Jordan Pass visa waiver does not apply at every crossing. Check your own government’s current travel advice and the Jordanian embassy in your country before planning an overland entry, because this is the one area where a page like this goes out of date fastest.

By sea. A passenger ferry has historically run between Aqaba and Nuweiba in Egypt. Sailings have been intermittent, so confirm with the operator rather than assuming a timetable.

By rail. Jordan has no international passenger rail service. The Hejaz railway that once linked Amman to Damascus survives only as a heritage operation and short tourist runs, and the Jordan Pass includes one of them on certain days. Do not plan to arrive by train.

How do you get around Jordan?

You get around Jordan by hire car or by tourist coach, and the choice comes down to whether you want the King’s Highway. The country is small: Amman to Petra is about 240 km (149 mi).

By car. Driving in Jordan is straightforward outside Amman, where traffic is heavy and lane discipline is optional. Three roads run north to south: the fast Desert Highway, the scenic King’s Highway through Madaba, Karak and Dana, and the Dead Sea road. The King’s Highway is the reason to hire a car at all. Compare rental car prices for Jordan here.

By bus. JETT runs comfortable coaches on the tourist routes from Amman to Petra, Aqaba and the Dead Sea, and it is the cheapest reliable option. Book ahead in season. Local minibuses connect everywhere else, cost very little and leave when full rather than on a timetable.

By taxi and app. Amman has metered yellow taxis and ride-hailing apps. Agree a price or insist on the meter.

Where should you stay in Jordan?

Stay in Wadi Musa for Petra, in a desert camp for Wadi Rum, and in Amman for everything in the north. Splitting the trip that way saves hours of driving.

Booking.com is my go-to for hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts, because the filters cut a long list down to the places that actually have what I want. If you are hunting accommodation in Jordan you can check there. When I want an apartment with a kitchen rather than a hotel room, I look on Vrbo.

A Wadi Rum camp is worth doing properly. The Bedouin-run camps range from basic tents to the bubble domes you have seen in photographs, and the good ones include dinner cooked in a zarb pit and a guide who knows the rock art.

When is the best time to visit Jordan?

The best time to visit Jordan is spring, March to May, when the desert is not yet punishing and the wadis are green. Autumn, September to November, is the second window and is nearly as good.

• March to May: warm days, cool nights, wildflowers in the wadis and the best light at Petra.
• June to August: very hot, and brutal in Wadi Rum, Aqaba and at the Dead Sea, where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40°C (104°F). Start walking at dawn.
• September to November: warm, settled and quieter than spring.
• December to February: cold and wet in Amman and the highlands, occasionally snowy, and you will want a coat. Aqaba stays mild and is the winter sun option.

Aqaba runs roughly 10°C (18°F) warmer than Amman year-round because it sits at sea level in dry desert air.

Independence Day on 25 May is the national celebration if you want to be there for one.

What should you eat in Jordan?

Eat mansaf at least once, because it is the national dish and the centre of Jordanian hospitality rather than just a meal. Lamb is cooked in jameed, a fermented dried yoghurt, and served over rice and thin flatbread on a shared platter. UNESCO added it to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2022.

The rest of the table is listed below.

• Maqluba: “upside down”, a pot of chicken or lamb, rice, aubergine and cauliflower inverted onto a platter to serve.
• Musakhan: roast chicken with sumac, onions and pine nuts over flatbread, eaten with your hands.
• Zarb: meat and vegetables cooked in a covered pit in the sand, the Bedouin method you will meet in Wadi Rum.
• Falafel: ground chickpeas and herbs, fried, and the standard Jordanian breakfast with hummus and bread.
• Mulukhiyah: a thick stew of jute leaves, served over rice with lemon.
• Warak enab: vine leaves stuffed with rice and sometimes meat.
• Shorabat adas: lentil soup with lemon, the winter staple.
• Makmoura: chicken and onion layered between dough and baked, cut like a savoury cake.
• Kunafa: shredded pastry over melted cheese, soaked in sugar syrup and dyed orange. Eat it hot, from a shop with a queue.

What should you pack for Jordan?

Pack modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees, because it is the practical choice as well as the respectful one in a hot, sunny country. Three things belong in every bag whatever the season: modest layers, a refillable water bottle, and for women a wide scarf. Something like this pashmina is light enough to carry all day and big enough to cover hair, shoulders or legs when a site requires it.

Spring and summer: a hat, sunglasses, sun cream, loose lightweight trousers such as these, walking sandals, proper walking shoes for Petra, swimwear for the hotel and the Dead Sea, and a light jumper for the evenings.

Autumn: layers, a jacket or jumper, a scarf and walking shoes.

Winter: a waterproof coat, a scarf, warm socks, layers and walking shoes. Amman genuinely gets cold and hotel heating is not always generous.

Petra is a walking day. Whatever else you bring, bring shoes you can cover 10 km of uneven rock in.

Is Jordan safe to travel to?

Jordan is a safe country for visitors and has been one of the more stable states in a volatile region, with low levels of crime against tourists. The practical risks are the everyday ones.

• Scams are the usual tourist ones: overcharging, a “free” gift that turns out not to be, unofficial guides at Petra. Fix prices before you agree to anything.
• Traffic is the genuine hazard. Amman driving is assertive and pedestrian crossings are advisory.
• Heat kills more visitors’ days than anything else. Carry water, start early and respect the desert.
• Border regions with Syria and Iraq carry standing advisories. Check your own government’s current advice before travelling, because regional conditions change faster than any guide.
• Animal welfare at Petra has been a persistent problem. You do not need a horse, donkey or camel to see the site, and walking is better for you and for the animal.

Cash, cards and getting online in Jordan

Carry dinars for anything small and use cards for hotels and restaurants. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted at hotels, larger restaurants and tour operators; small shops, taxis, local buses and market stalls want cash. ATMs are widespread in Amman, Aqaba and Wadi Musa and thin elsewhere.

For data, an eSIM is the simplest answer if your plan does not cover Jordan. It installs on the phone before you fly, with no shop visit and no physical card. Check out Airalo here. Use code HARRY5578 for €3 off your first eSIM. An eSIM suits one phone; if several of you need to share one connection, a pocket Wi-Fi device is the better shape of product.

Do you tip in Jordan?

Yes, you tip in Jordan, and it is expected rather than optional in the tourism industry. Waiting staff, taxi drivers, hotel staff and guides all work on the assumption of a tip, and around 10 per cent in a restaurant is the normal figure unless a service charge is already on the bill. Our guidelines on what to tip in Jordan have the amounts by situation.

Cultural customs worth knowing

Dress modestly, use your right hand and accept the coffee. Those three cover most of it, and Jordanians are forgiving of visitors who get the rest wrong.

1. Cover shoulders and knees away from hotel pools and beaches, for men as well as women. A scarf to cover the hair is needed in mosques and appreciated at some religious sites.
2. Greet people standing, and shake hands. Wait to see whether a woman offers her hand first rather than extending yours.
3. Accept Arabic coffee when it is offered, and shake the cup gently from side to side when you have had enough. Without that signal it keeps being refilled.
4. Eat with your right hand. The left is considered unclean for food and for handing things over.
5. Do not praise a possession too warmly, because a host may feel obliged to give it to you. If something arrives at your hotel, insist on returning it.
6. Alcohol is legal and available in hotels, licensed restaurants and shops, and is drunk in private rather than in the street.
7. Do not walk in front of someone praying, and ask before photographing people, particularly women.
8. During Ramadan, do not eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight. Opening hours change, some restaurants close in the day, and booking accommodation with breakfast included saves a daily problem.

Public holidays in Jordan

Banks, government offices and many businesses close on the days listed below.

• New Year’s Day, 1 January
• Labour Day, 1 May
• Independence Day, 25 May
• Eid al-Fitr, which moves with the Islamic calendar
• Eid al-Adha, which moves with the Islamic calendar
• Islamic New Year
• The Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
• Christmas Day, 25 December

The Islamic holidays shift roughly eleven days earlier each year, so check the dates against the year you are travelling rather than assuming.

Basic Arabic phrases for Jordan

Learn six phrases and Jordanians will meet you more than halfway, because almost no visitor tries. The table below uses rough English sounds.

A short history of Jordan

Jordan’s ground has been continuously occupied for a very long time, and the modern state is less than a century old. Biblical kingdoms including Edom, Moab and Ammon were here; so were the Nabataeans, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Umayyads, the Crusaders and the Ottomans, and each left something standing.

The Ottoman Empire ruled until the First World War, when the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918, advised by T. E. Lawrence, helped drive it out. Britain administered the territory as the Emirate of Transjordan under a League of Nations mandate, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan became independent in 1946.

Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950 after the 1948 war, lost it to Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, and formally renounced its claim in 1988. Each conflict sent a wave of Palestinian refugees east, and later wars in Iraq and Syria sent more, which is why Jordan’s population has more than tripled since 1980. The Palestine Liberation Organisation was expelled in the 1970 conflict known as Black September. Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, ending 46 years of formal war. King Hussein died in 1999 after nearly half a century on the throne and was succeeded by his son, King Abdullah II.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Jordan Pass worth it?

Yes, for almost every visitor. The tourist visa is 40 JD and one day at Petra is 50 JD, so the 70 JD Jordan Wanderer pays for itself before you visit anything else. It only fails to pay if you are staying under two nights, because then the visa waiver does not apply.

How many days do you need in Jordan?

Seven days covers Amman, Jerash, Madaba, two days at Petra, a night in Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea without rushing. Ten days adds Aqaba, Dana and the King’s Highway properly.

Is Jordan expensive?

Jordan is more expensive than its neighbours. Site entry fees, hotels in Wadi Musa and desert camps are the big costs; food, local transport and fuel are cheap. The Jordan Pass is the single biggest saving available.

Can you drink tap water in Jordan?

Treat it as no. The supply is treated, but storage tanks and old pipes make it unreliable. Use bottled water or carry a filter, and use bottled water for brushing teeth outside good hotels.

What should women wear in Jordan?

Loose clothing covering shoulders and knees in public, plus a scarf for mosques and some religious sites. Swimwear is fine at hotel pools, Aqaba beach clubs and Dead Sea resorts. Jordan is more relaxed than much of the region, particularly in Amman.

Is Jordan safe for solo travellers?

Yes, Jordan is one of the more comfortable countries in the region for solo travel, including for solo women. The usual precautions apply, and persistent attention from men is a more common complaint than any actual danger.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

Five things that will save you money or an argument in Jordan are listed below.

1. Buy the Jordan Pass before you land, and stay at least two nights. Both are conditions of the visa waiver on the official Jordan Pass site. Buying it at the airport voids the waiver, and a one-night stopover voids it too, which turns a 70 JD pass into a 70 JD pass plus a 40 JD visa.
2. Never visit Petra as a day tripper from outside the country. Non-accommodated visitors, meaning people who arrive and leave Jordan the same day, pay 90 JD against 50 JD for anyone sleeping in Jordan. One cheap night in Wadi Musa saves 40 JD and gets you a sunrise at the Siq.
3. If you are charged 90 JD and then stay the night, go back for your refund. Visitors who enter Petra on their arrival day are charged the day-tripper rate, and the ticket office refunds 40 JD the next day once you can show you stayed. Keep the ticket.
4. Jordan is on UTC+3 all year. Daylight saving was abolished in October 2022. Flight and tour times booked off an older guide that says UTC+2 with a summer change will be an hour out.
5. Plan Petra as two days, not one. The walk to the Monastery alone is around 800 steps beyond the main site, and most one-day visitors turn back at the Treasury having seen a fraction of it. The two-day Explorer pass costs 5 JD more than the one-day Wanderer.

More about Jordan

Click here for everything we have written about Jordan, and read our 37 interesting facts about Jordan for the background.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, who travels on a European SIM and a rolling insurance policy and has spent years working out which destinations reward a week rather than a weekend. The team covers Jordan for independent travellers, including the Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead Sea tours, the hotels and desert camps, the rental cars and the packing gear worth booking, and updates this page when prices, entry rules and site fees change.