Petra

The ancient city of Petra is one of Jordan's national treasures and now a UNESCO world heritage sites.  One of the world's most breathtaking ancient sites, Petra has headed travel wish lists for 200 years.  Used in the final sequence of the film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", the towering facade of the Treasury is only one of many archaelogical wonders to be explored at Petra. 

Various walks and climbs reveal literally hundreds of buildings, tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways, colonnaded streets and rock drawings, a gigantic first century Monastery, a 3000 seat open air amphitheatre and a modern archaeological museum, all of which can be explored at leisure.

The giant red mountains and vast mausoleums of a departed race have nothing in common with modern civilization, and ask nothing of it except to be appreciated at their true value - as one of the greatest wonders ever wrought by Nature and Man.

Petra, is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling. As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury).

This is an awe-inspiring experience. A massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

Book a guide

A visit to Petra is a must and we recommend going with a guide to get the most of it. We can help you to book transfer and guide. You will be picked up at your hotel and a driver and the guide (if required) will take you the 2h drive to the entrance of Petra.
Here you will start to walk and for 4h the guide will tell you stories about this accent city. After 4h the guide will leave you so that you can walk around by yourself or ride on a hourse or camel if you prefer and then the guide will meet you back at the entrance.
If you decide to go without the guide, you will still have a driver take you there and then you simply have the day to yourself to explore this wonder of the world, before the driver take you back to Aqaba. It is also possible to stay overnight at a hotel outside of Petra.

Although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares you for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed.