How to do Jordan right in 5 days

Make your 1 week count while visiting Jordan.  In case you didn’t know, you need to stay in Jordan at least 3 days, one or two of which can be spent seeing Petra, one of the world’s seven wonders.  

Jordan also has the Citadel, Dead Sea, and Wadi Rum, which I’d recommend you check out. 

Oh, and for being a Muslim country, they actually have great Petra beer hehe, try it!

Preface:  A word on the Jordan Pass
I bought the Jordan pass which allows yoou to not have to pay to get your visa to enter the country, but then they did not check my Jordan pass even once.  I was prepared to use it for experiences at the Castles, Petra, and more and they never checked it aside from at immigration when I arrived.

Also, I bought the Jordan pass at the airport after I arrived while waiting for the lines to go down.  They’re friendly as long as you have it on mobile (I’d also recommend a screenshot in case you don’t have data). ​

Speaking of data, I have T-Mobile back home in the US so I get free 2G data which is awesome to have when in a country for a short period of time, but 2G is incredibly painfully slow and sometimes my emails don’t even load.

Day 1: Fly into Amman
Stay somewhere near the Citadel and the Roman amphitheater, both of which are walkable if you stay in between them. ​​ You'll see lots of vendors and will enjoy better prices here, as the next resort towns all have 'tourist pricing.'

Day 2: Rent a car, stop in Madaba on your way to one of the Dead Sea Resorts
As a heads up, meals here are about 5x the cost of what they are in metro Amman.  Jordan has their tourist game figured out. But it’s all worth it when you walk down to the Dead sea, which is now well below 420m below sea level.

Day 3: Drive to Petra
If Jordan is the country you choose to splurge on, like my friends Boldly Go Travel who I traveled with, check out the brand new Petra Bubble Luxotel, which is a drive away from Petra (but you like will have your rental car).  If you want somewhere budget and walkable to Petra visitor center, check out Candles Hotel if you like crooked beds, or Hotel Mansior for only a few Dinars more per night.  If you get in late check out Petra at night which is only certain days of the week. 

Day 4: Early morning start to Petra, then drive to Wadi Rum for a Bedoiun tour in the Dessert.
There’s several spots included in the Jordan pass that you will have to time to visit.  I’ll let you research those, and beware, some are closed on Sundays. The most important part is that you make it to Wadi Rum and ride a camel or truck into the dessert.

Day 5: Head into Wadi Rum for lunch, and get back in time for your night flight.
We actually left Petra around 8am  and made good enough time to meet our Wadi Rum tour before the planned 10am meeting time.  We did a truck which was very therapeutic and carefree to view the landscape after so much walking and planning at Petra! We watched the sunset which was around 430pm and still had enough time to drop off our rental, and cross the border into Eilat.  We did Israel after but if you fly out from Aqaba, you can make a late flight on this day if you move quickly. 

​People have asked so here it is: A word on crossing into Israel from Aqaba to Eilat.
Before we crossed from Aqaba to to Eilat we needed to figure out 1. is the border crossing going to be a problem while we're there (long lines? does it close at a certain time? ask for a paper instead of a stamp?), and 2. Transportation to the border on the Jordan side and then transportation from the Israel side to hotel.

1. It was a very simple crossing, we went through the regular ongoing questioning about all the details of each of our trips.  Yes, many questions but just be honest with simple answers. Don't volunteer additional information unless requested.  And don't worry, unlike the border from Singapore to Malaysia, you can simply walk from one end to the other. 
​
2. Transportation on the Jordan side seemed to be a flat 10JD, and I was able to ask 3 cabs, then one accepted my offer of 7 Jordan Dinars.  On the Israel side, we were worried about how to get a ride to the hotel, but conveniently there was one cab that pulled up and we hopped in right away.  Not sure what we would have done if that cab wasn't there, plus, there was not a money exchanger so he got paid in JD which of course involved rounding up so be aware of that.

Always best to have the local currency.  And usually cheapest to pull out the exact amount you will need from at ATM with a card that pays for your ATM fees. 
--> Sign up for Aspiration if you need a free online account that pays for your ATM fees. 

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