Petra | Tourist Information

Petra sights are at their best in early morning and late afternoon when the sun warms it's multicolored stones. Prepare yourself to enjoy the most majestic and imposing ancient site still-standing nowadays. 

Location:

Petra is about 262 km (164 m - 2½ hours drive) south of Amman and 133 km (84 m - 1½ hours drive) north of Aqaba.

General Tips::

  • Allow 1 to 3 days to tour Petra, bring water and some candies with you.
  • Guided Tours are available, and staff at the Petra Visitor's Center at entrance of the site are at your service to answer your questions and provide help. Maps and excellent guidebooks are.
  • We suggest that you walk the one-kilometer-long Siq, or hire a horse-drawn carriage to enter the site. You can hire a donkey, horse, or camel inside the site (the donkey is useful for climbing!). Its better to hire a horse when leaving the site through the Siq.
  • Remember to pace yourself, as the site is large and can involve some steep climbs. The way to Al-Deir takes about an hour with around 800 steps, and it takes about 35 minutes to the High Place of Sacrifice with around 1050 steps.

Climate:

  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Low C 4.1 4 6.1 10.7 14.3 16.6 18.1 18.2 16.5 13.9 9.5 5.5
High C 11.5 12 15.3 21.7 26.1 28.4 29.6 29.5 27.7 23.9 18.4 13.5
 
Low F 39.4 39.2 42.9 51.3 57.7 61.9 64.6 64.8 61.7 57.0 49.1 41.9
High F 52.7 53.6 59.5 71.0 79.0 83.1 85.3 85.1 81.9 75.0 65.1 56.3

Suggested Tour:


Day 1: Al-Siq, The Treasury, Street of Facades, The Theater, The Royal Tombs, The City Center, Qasr Al-Bint Temple, Al-Habees Museum, Petra Archeological Museum, Al-Deir, and back.

Day 2: Al-Siq, The Treasury, High Place of Sacrifice, The Lion Monument, The Garden Temple Complex, The Triclinium, The Renaissance Tomb, The Broken Pediment Tomb, The Roman Soldier Tomb, and back.

What to Wear:

 

Sportswear, baggy pants, and walking shoes are advisable. Keep in mind the relative conservatism of Middle Eastern societies. Summer evenings can be cool, so one should prepare to wear a shawl or sweater. Winters are cold, windy and rainy.

Where to Eat:



Local restaurants and American style restaurants like Pizza Hut are to be found nearby the entrance and in Wadi Mousa town. There are three restaurants inside the site, one adjacent to Petra Archeological Museum, another behind Qasr Al-Bint, and the third nearby The Monastery.

Museums:



Petra Archeological Museum is located inside the site (see Petra Map #22), which houses a wide variety of finds from Petra (Hours 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM).

Another small but interesting museum is to be found in an unusual Nabataean structure set into the hillside of Al-Habees (Hours 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM), see Petra Map #21.

 

Petra Guide: Before the Nabataeans | Beidha | The Edomites | The Nabataeans | Farming | Caravan City | The Nabataean Language | Religion | Houses | Pottery | Prosperity and Decline | Christianity and After | Aaron's Tomb Petra |Tourist Information