Getting to Petra
JETT buses leave Amman at King Hussein Street, not far from the Abdahli busstation. Another possibility is to go to Wahabat busstation and take a minibus from there to Petra .
From Aqaba they leave from the Corniche in front of the excavations of Ayla on the road to the Aqaba Hotel and the Aquamarina I hotel . From Wadi Rum you need to take minibuses .
Petra can also be visited from Israel, but it's better not to rush since otherwise you will spend a lot of time on the bus and a lot of money on entrance fees, exit fees and transport.
- One possibility is to book an organized tour from Jerusalem or Eilat. A one-day trip or even more is possible.
- For example, Jerusalem-Petra-Jerusalem costs US$189 or Eilat-Petra-Eilat costs US$139, both with BTC Travel & Tours (Tel 02-623 3990). (prices from 1/98)
- A cheaper but more difficult way is to organize it yourself:
· From Eilat to the border by taxi: US$5
· Israeli border tax: 71 shekels (5/2004)
· Jordanian visa: 10 JD (5/2004)
· From the border to Petra by taxi: 70 JD for four people, roundtrip
· Petra entrance fee: 22 JD (discounted to 11 JD in 5/2004)
· Jordanian border tax: 5 JD
· Taxi back to Eilat: US$5
That makes it about US$85 per person, not including the visa. The tourist information office in Eilat can provide you with a lot of information – though contrary to what they will tell you, it is not always easy to find people to share a taxi with on the other side of the border.
Source: Mathias Bischer & Bianca Kuttroff, Germany, (Jan 98, prices updated 5/2004)
Accommodation
A bit higher up the scale is the
Hotel Al-Anbatt II (Tel 00962/32157200 fax 00962/32156888). It costs 22 JD for a double including dinner and breakfast. The rooms are clean, and the food is good. They have a shuttle to the entrance of Petra. they were building a swimming pool which is unique in this price range (5/2004).
The
Al Anbatt I is situated in the center of town, not far from the roundabout. Rooms are decent with hot showers. Price is 7 JD pp including breakfast (5/2004).
Visiting Petra
IntroductionEntrance fees are quite high, student discount of 50%:
- 1 day: 21 JD
- 2 days: 26 JD
- 3 days: 32 JD with fourth day for free
- Remark: in order to stimulate tourism, the prices were discounted with 50 % (5/2004).
A guide costs 35 JD for 5 hours (5/2004)
Two days should be enough for the average tourist. If you leave very early and walk fast you can see everything in 1 day. Take plenty of water. You could take your own food, but for 7 JD you can have a good lunch buffet.
Make sure you've agreed on any price before you order anything. People here are very used to tourists and often try to overcharge.You can take a horse to the site for 7 JD.
It's opened from 6 am till 6 pm.
Al Beidha (Little Petra)At about 8 km from Petra. Take the paved road on the right side at the visitor's center in front of the Mövenpick hotel in the direction of the bedouin village of Umm Seyhun. From here you could enter Petra for free, but chances of meeting a guard are very high, s you should buy entrance tickets on beforehand, and this can only be done in Petra (5/2004).
Al Beidha is beautifully situated, free of charge and not yet too touristic. Plenty of offers for souvenirs though.
The site of PetraStart as early as possible.
This is a possible itinerary:
- Through the siq via El-Khazne Firaun towards the Corinthian grave and the Palace grave. Behind it you will find path that goes up. Above, you have a marvelous view over the site and you can have breakfast picnic.
- Afterwards you could go through the colonnade street to Ed Deir (climb for about 1 hour). This is a magnificent climb, and Ed Deir itself is also beautiful. The path is sunny in the morning, but there are not so many people.
- Then you could go to High Place on the steps left of the theatre. From here you also have a marvelous view. The descent can be done through the Farasa valley.
- I also did the alternative siq. The first part is not spectacular, but afterwards the siq gets very very narrow. It's worth the trip.
Petra by nightA brand new way of seeing Petra (11/98) is to join a tour with "La Bedouina", a local travel agency. The local group lights the entire siq & the Khazneh (Treasury) with candles. You walk down the km. long siq in silence which just adds to the whole beauty of the event. The Bedouin then play music on traditional instruments, burn incense and then tell a story. The trip costs 12 JD, but this does not include the entrance fee (10/2000).
I did this in 5/2004, and apparently it is not sure this event will still go on. Also, they are not allowed anymore to illuminate the treasury (unlike the pictures you see). Thus, for me it was a bit of a disappointment.
HammamThere are 2 hammams. We went to the one near Al Anbat II. Normal price is 15 JD, but you can get it for 9 to 10 JD. First you go into a steam bath, then you get a massage, then you can shower, and then you get tea as much as you can drink.
Leaving Petra for Wadi Rum and Aqaba
The bus for Wadi Rum leaves at 6 am and picks up passengers at all hotels.
There used to be 2 buses for Aqaba leaving at 7 am and 1 pm, but nowadays there's only 1 at 7 am (9/99).
There are about 12 buses to Amman between 6 am and 12 am. Price is 2 JD pp and 1 JD for a bag (1/99).
If you get stuck in Petra, you can take a taxi to Ma'an for 7,5 JD, and then from Ma'an there are regular buses both to Aqaba and Amman (9/99). The bus Ma'an to Aqaba costs 1,5 JD.
Otherwise a taxi to Aqaba will set you back with 25 JD (9/99).
Go to Wadi Rum
Article Comments:
| 06/04/2006 |
| Henri Blanc (1) |
|
Hello,
We are french tourists. We will visit Israel during next august.
We will arrive at Eilat on august 13.
We would like to visit Petra. Is it possible to leave Eilat on the 14th afternoon, to sleep near Petra, so we can visit the ruins early in the morning, and be back to Eilat on the 15th afternoon?
We will be 5 or 7 people.
Thank you for your help.
Henri Blanc
|
