Petra Travel Guide: Things to Do, Best Time & Tips

Petra's Treasury reveals itself at the end of the Siq, a narrow, kilometer-long canyon with sandstone walls towering overhead — and the facade carved directly into the rock more than 2,000 years ago is only the first of a site large enough to fill several days on its own. Built by the Nabateans, an Arab trading people who controlled the region's caravan routes, Petra was lost to the wider Western world for centuries after the decline of the Nabatean kingdom, rediscovered only in 1812 by a Swiss explorer traveling in disguise. This guide covers what actually matters for planning a visit, including the realistic Amman-to-Petra routing almost every trip actually follows.

Best Time to Visit

March to May and September to November bring daytime temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s Celsius, ideal for both the Siq walk and the Monastery's climb, with October widely considered the single best month — sunny, clear, and warm without summer's heat. Summer is genuinely hot but has fewer tourists at the site itself, with temperatures at Petra's lower elevation often exceeding those in Amman. Winter can drop below freezing at night, with occasional snow at Petra's elevation and properly cold nights in Wadi Rum's desert camps — worth knowing if a desert overnight is part of your plan.

Getting Around

Most visitors fly into Amman rather than directly to Petra, so the trip realistically starts there. From Amman, JETT, Jordan's main intercity coach line, runs an air-conditioned bus with an on-board toilet to Petra (departing around 6:30am) and to Wadi Rum (around 7:30am) daily, with a less frequent direct route between Petra and Wadi Rum. A rental car or an organized tour are the other two realistic options, each trading some cost for flexibility, and a rental car gives the most freedom to stop at Jerash or the Dead Sea along the way. Inside Wadi Rum itself, private cars aren't permitted past the official Visitor Center — every visitor continues into the reserve by licensed Bedouin-driven 4x4 jeep.

Where to Stay

Wadi Musa, the town at Petra's entrance, is where the real, better-value local restaurants are, in contrast to the pricier cluster of restaurants immediately at the site's gate. Downtown Amman makes a practical arrival and departure base, close to the Citadel and the city's markets. Rainbow Street, also in Amman, has a livelier concentration of cafes and restaurants for an evening before or after Petra. In Wadi Rum itself, an overnight stay in a desert camp — under genuinely dark, star-filled skies with minimal light pollution — is worth treating as its own destination rather than a logistical stop, and camps range from simple shared-tent setups to increasingly popular "bubble" tents with clear domes for stargazing from bed.

Top Things to Do

The Siq, a narrow canyon roughly 1.2 kilometers long, is the dramatic lead-up to Petra's most famous sight — about a twenty-minute walk between sandstone walls that narrow overhead before opening onto the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), Petra's iconic rock-cut facade and most photographed monument, believed to have been a royal tomb rather than an actual treasury despite the name.

The Monastery (Ad Deir), Petra's largest monument at roughly 50 meters wide, requires climbing more than 800 uneven steps to reach — a real deterrent that means it draws far fewer visitors than the Treasury despite arguably rivaling it, making the climb worth the effort for anyone reasonably fit; a small cafe near the top is a welcome, if basic, reward. Petra by Night, held Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings around 8:30pm, lights the Siq and the Treasury with roughly 1,500 candles for a genuinely different atmosphere than a daytime visit, ending with traditional Bedouin music at the Treasury itself.

Beyond Petra itself, Wadi Rum's red-sand desert is reachable as a half-day trip or, better, an overnight stay — Bedouin-guided jeep tours cover the landscape's dramatic rock formations (familiar to many visitors from having doubled as Mars in several films), with an overnight desert camp adding a night sky that's hard to replicate elsewhere in Jordan.

In Amman, the hilltop Citadel overlooks the city and includes the columns of the Temple of Hercules, and Jerash, about 45 minutes from Amman, is one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities outside Italy, with colonnaded streets and a still-intact hippodrome that reward at least a half-day visit on the way to or from Petra.

Food

Mansaf, lamb cooked in a fermented dried-yogurt sauce (jameed) and served over rice, is Jordan's national dish, traditionally eaten by hand and worth trying at least once in its proper communal form, typically shared from one large platter. A mezze spread — hummus, mutabbal (a smoky eggplant dip similar to baba ghanoush), falafel, and tabbouleh — is the reliable, widely available option at almost any restaurant. Knafeh, a sweet cheese pastry soaked in syrup, is the dessert to end a meal with. In Wadi Musa specifically, eating in town rather than at the restaurant cluster right by Petra's gate gets both better food and meaningfully lower prices.

What to Pack

Serious sun protection and more water than feels necessary are essential — Petra's site is shadeless desert with long distances between monuments, and refill points are limited. Sturdy, closed-toe shoes matter for the Monastery's 800-plus uneven steps and for walking on Wadi Rum's sand. A warm layer is worth packing even in shoulder season, since desert nights, especially in Wadi Rum, run surprisingly cold, sometimes dropping 20°C or more from the daytime high.

Suggested Itinerary

A reasonable four-day shape: Amman on day one; a full day at Petra on day two; a second Petra morning followed by travel to Wadi Rum on day three; and a Wadi Rum sunrise before returning to Amman on day four.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Underestimating Petra's physical demands is a common early mistake — this is a large site with serious walking and climbing, not a quick photo stop, and treating it as one means missing most of what it actually offers. Eating at the restaurant cluster immediately by Petra's entrance, rather than in Wadi Musa town itself, means paying tourist prices for a worse meal. Not budgeting enough days for the site — many visitors try to see Petra in a few rushed hours when it easily rewards a day and a half or two full days. And skipping water refills because the Siq feels shaded and cool is a real risk once you're deeper into the site, where the sun and distances add up fast.