Petra vs Wadi Rum — which one, if you can only do one?
If you have the time, do both — they're 90 minutes apart and they're the natural pairing of any Jordan trip. But people do ask us to choose, and the answer is more interesting than you'd expect. Petra is the more important place. Wadi Rum is, for a lot of visitors, the more memorable one. Here's how to work out which one is yours.
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The honest one-line answer
Choose Petra if you want to be astonished by what human beings can do — a city carved into a cliff face by a civilisation most people have never heard of. It is one of the genuinely great places on Earth, and it is not overrated.
Choose Wadi Rum if you want to be astonished by what the planet can do, and by what silence sounds like. It is the trip people describe at dinner parties three years later.
If you only have one day: Petra. It's the once-in-a-lifetime sight, and you'd regret skipping it.
If you have one day and one night: Wadi Rum, honestly — because a night in the desert is an experience, and a rushed half-day at Petra is just a hot walk to a famous façade.
Side by side
| Petra | Wadi Rum | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A 2,000-year-old Nabataean city carved into rose-red rock | 720 km² of red desert, granite mountains and total silence |
| Time needed | 1 full day (2 is better) | 1 night (the day alone misses the point) |
| Cost | 50 JD entry (covered by the Jordan Pass) | 5 JD entry + camp ($15–140) + jeep (30–60 JD/jeep) |
| Effort | High — ~15km of walking, 800 steps to the Monastery | Low — you're driven; walking is optional |
| Best for | History, architecture, hiking, being awestruck | Stars, silence, sunsets, hospitality, doing nothing |
| Crowds | Heavy from 9am. Empty at 6am. | Light. The desert absorbs people. |
| With kids | Hard work — long, hot, lots of walking | Excellent — jeeps, dunes, camels, a fire |
The case for Petra
You walk 1.2km down a natural canyon three metres wide in places, and then it opens and the Treasury is standing there, 40 metres of carved façade lit gold, and everybody — everybody — stops talking.
Then you find out that's just the front door. Petra is a whole city: 800 tombs, a Roman theatre cut into rock, a colonnaded street, and 800 steps up to the Monastery, which is bigger than the Treasury and has a fraction of the crowds.
It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the New7Wonders, and it deserves both. The catch: it's hard work, it's hot, and if you arrive at 10am with a tour group you will see it at its worst. Do it properly.
The case for Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum doesn't hit you the way Petra does. It creeps up. You spend the afternoon being driven between rock formations the size of office blocks, you run down a dune, you drink tea a Bedouin makes on a fire in the middle of nowhere, and you watch the sun set over a valley Lawrence of Arabia called "vast, echoing and God-like".
Then it gets dark. And the camp turns its lights off. And you look up.
There's no light pollution for a hundred kilometres, and the Milky Way isn't a faint smudge — it's a structure. People go quiet. That's the moment, and there's no photograph of it that works, which is why people keep telling you about it in words.
It's also easy: you're driven everywhere, the food is excellent, and it works brilliantly with children. Choosing a camp is the only real decision — and there's a trap in it.
Do both — here's the route
They're an hour and a half apart, and the classic Jordan run is Amman → Dead Sea → Petra (2 nights) → Wadi Rum (1 night) → Aqaba → back, which takes about 6–7 days and is close to a perfect trip.
The best version of it: two days at Petra (the 2-day Jordan Pass tier costs 5 JD more than the 1-day one), then drive an hour and a half south and let the desert undo you. Doing Petra first and Wadi Rum second is the right order — you finish on the quiet one.
Still can't decide?
That's genuinely what our quiz is for — seven questions and Salim will tell you which Jordan you actually are. It takes three minutes and it's free.
Frequently asked questions
Is Petra or Wadi Rum better?
Petra is the more important place — a 2,000-year-old carved city and one of the great sights on Earth. Wadi Rum is, for many visitors, the more memorable one: a night in the desert with no light pollution is the thing people describe years later. With one day only, choose Petra. With a day and a night, Wadi Rum rewards you more.
Can you do Petra and Wadi Rum in the same trip?
Easily — they're about 90 minutes apart. The classic route is Amman, Dead Sea, Petra (2 nights), Wadi Rum (1 night), Aqaba, which takes about 6–7 days. Do Petra first and Wadi Rum second, so you finish on the quiet one.
Is Wadi Rum worth it for one night?
Yes — one night is the minimum that makes sense, because the sunset, the zarb dinner and above all the night sky are the point. A day trip to Wadi Rum without staying over misses most of what makes it special.
Is Petra good for children?
It's hard work — roughly 15km of walking, much of it uphill on rock, often in serious heat, and 800 steps to the Monastery. Wadi Rum is far better with kids: they're driven everywhere, there are dunes to run down, camels, and a fire at night.
How much does it cost to visit Petra and Wadi Rum?
Petra entry is 50 JD (covered by the Jordan Pass). Wadi Rum costs 5 JD to enter the protected area, plus a camp at $15–140 per person and a jeep tour at roughly 30–60 JD per jeep. Buying a Jordan Pass before you fly covers Petra entry, the Wadi Rum entry fee and the 40 JD visa.