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Visit Petra in Jordan

The Rose Red City

There are many magnificent archaeological sites in the world and the Rose Red City of Petra is undoubtedly one of the greatest. It had long been an ambition to visit and it was top of our list when exploring Jordan. Here is a guide to a visit to Petra.

The most famous image of Petra that of Al-Khazneh, The Treasury (the one you see in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and we knew that we would walk through a dramatic canyon, known as As-Siq, to reach it. What we didn’t realise was quite how extensive the site is.

Visit Petra Jordan Treasury

The History Of Petra

Petra was built by the Nabateans, an ancient Arab tribe, around the 1st Century BCE. The Nabateans were involved with caravaneering, trading in goods from all over the Middle East and Far East, and they became very wealthy protecting the region’s trade routes. Goods came from as far as China and India. What was fascinating about the Nabateans was that they were a clever, enlightened people. They believed in cultural inclusivity and appropriated technology from all over the world, absorbing influences from the places they traded with. You can see many different architectural styles throughout Petra.

In 106 CE the city was overtaken by the Romans who renamed it Arabia Petraea. The city did thrive under Roman rule for many years but its importance as a trade route declined as sea trading routes developed and became more important for transporting goods. It was significantly damaged by an earthquake in the 4th Century CE. It declined further during the Byzantine era and the city eventually was abandoned became ‘lost’ for centuries. It was re-discovered by explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

Visit Petra In Jordan – Practicalities

The site is located around 240km from Jordan’s capital city, Amman. The time it takes to reach the area does vary depending on the traffic, especially in Amman, which can be quite congested, but also the route you take. It’s around three hours by car on the modern desert highway or five hours on the King’s Highway. It is possible to do a day trip to Petra from Amman by bus, leaving early in the morning and returning in the evening, but the visit would be very rushed. It is also possible to reach the site using a hire car (the driving would be easy except in Amman where the roads are quite chaotic) or via a private tour – there are many options available.

We had travelled to Petra via Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea having spent some time in Amman, and after visiting the Roman city of Jerash.

You can’t stay in Petra itself (edit – that is, there are no hotels in Petra), but there is a town called Wadi Musa nearby. Our hotel was about a ten minute walk from the site entrance at Wadi Musa, which was a further kilometre away from the start of the Siq. Included in the ticket price is a horse ride to the Siq, which we declined. We don’t feel comfortable using animals when we are travelling as we can never be sure how they are treated, so avoided these. We prefer to walk anyway. Since we visited, an initiative has been established to use electric vehicles that will replace the horse-drawn carriages.

We had two full days to explore. We needed them. You cannot enter the site without purchasing a ticket at the visitor’s centre at Wadi Musa and we recommend finding a guide for at least part of your visit. We found the most delightful guide at the visitor’s centre who was with us the first morning; he showed us Petra’s main features and explained a lot of the history.  We spent the rest of the time there exploring the site for ourselves. (This link will take you to current entrance fees and costs for guides.)

The Siq

Just before the entrance to the Siq you can see the Obelisk Tomb and the Bab as-Siq Triclinium.

Obelisk tomb

Then you enter the gorge itself. The Siq is about 1200 m long. It is deep (up to 80m in places), at times narrow, and stunningly beautiful. You can see all sorts of natural features, rock formations and fossils, as well as the remains of carvings showing caravans and camels.

The photo shows drainage channels carved into the rock, inspired by Chinese bamboo irrigation channels, which carried water to Petra.

Petra Jordan The Siq

Then, at the end of the walk, you get a tantalising glimpse…


…of the Treasury, Al Khazneh. It’s actually a tomb of a 1st century Nabatean king. It’s about 30m wide and over 40m high. As with all the tombs at Petra, it was carved from the top down. (This process is similar to the amazing underground churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia.) You can see lots of indentations in the sandstone at the side of the structure. No-one is really sure about what they were for, but they could have been used by the craftsmen and masons for climbing to the top.

Petra Jordan Treasury

Exploring Petra

The Treasury is just the start of the site. It’s the only place you are not allowed to go inside. Everywhere else is open for exploration. There are no restrictions and no barriers so you need to take care.
From the Treasury you follow the Street of Facades, which has rows of tombs, all intricately carved from the rock.

Visit Petra in Jordan

At the end of this street is the amphitheatre, carved into the rock, which appears to have a Roman influence. Its maximum capacity was around 7000 people.

Petra Jordan amphitheatre



At the end of the street you can see further Nabotean tombs to the right…

Visit Petra in Jordan Nabatean Palace Tomb
Palace Tomb, thought to be the tomb of the kings of Petra.
Visit Petra in Jordan
Urn Tomb
Visit Petra in Jordan Nabatean Corinthian Tomb
Corinthian Tomb

If you make a left turn you will walk along a colonnaded street, with marble pavement much of which is still preserved, which was effectively the city centre. It would have been lined with temples and public buildings.

At the end of the street is the route to the Monastery.

The Monastery

We climbed 800 steps to Ad-Deir, The Monastery, which we found to be a moderate walk. It is classed as difficult on the trail guide because some of the steps have worn over the years. We needed to scramble a little on some sections.

When we arrived we were delighted to discover that the Monastery was as spectacular at the Treasury.

Visit Petra in Jordan

If you look closely at the photo below you can see a man sitting on the building, high up on the central colonnade. We had watched him climb all the way up the adjacent cliff face and then onto the building itself, leaping across the colonnades with absolute confidence – an amazing form of parkour. It was utterly terrifying watching him.

Petra Jordan Monastery

Petra Jordan Monastery

Exploring The Trails At Petra

There are numerous trails you can follow, some of which involve pretty tough climbs where the stairs have been eroded. The guide indicates the options available and the trails are well marked with brown signs.

Petra Jordan trail guide

The other walk we did was the Al Khubtha trail, a climb to view The Treasury from above. We met a woman who was on her way down who said she had counted the number of steps, and sadly we can’t quite remember what her count was, but it was several hundred. The view was fantastic when we reached the summit.

Petra Jordan Treasury from above



We also really loved the colours of the rock as we explored the various tombs. The white is silica, the red is iron oxide and the yellow, sandstone.

It is possible to see a night-time sound and light show at the Treasury. Walking through the Siq in the dark to see the Treasury lit up by lanterns is an ethereal sight.

Visit Petra in Jordan Treasury by night

Practicalities To Visiting Petra In Jordan

There are restrooms on site at either end of the colonnaded street and nearby cafes which offer refreshments. We recommend the lemon juice with mint – it’s refreshing and delicious.

It’s advisable to wear a sunhat and use sun protection if you are exploring the walking trails as there is no shelter from the sun. Good walking shoes are advisable. Make sure you carry water with you. Use the bins provided to dispose of rubbish.

Keep on the trails. You may meet local people as you walk – we ended up chatting with some people on the Al Khubtha trail and were invited to enjoy a cup of tea with them. (We weren’t asked for money but we did offer a contribution towards the tea.)

After Your Visit To Petra – A Foodie Evening At The Petra Kitchen


After a full day’s exploring we were pretty tired and there’s not a lot to do at Wadi Musa. But we did manage to join a cookery course at the Petra Kitchen on one of the evenings. One of the chefs was the uncle of the guide who showed us around the site. We learned to make Jordanian food and then eat it – a fine way to spend an evening. We made Shourbat Adas (lentil soup), Baba Ganoush, Fatoush, Tabbouleh, Tahina salad, Galayet Bandora, Araies Iahma (Bedouin pizza – pittas stuffed with minced meat and covered with Galayet Bandora) as a mezza. The main course was Maqluba, an upside-down hotpot, which was scrummy. Sadly, we were too busy cooking – and eating – to take photos! But we do plan to cook the recipes at home and will no doubt blog about them in the future.



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35 Comments

    • Thanks so much for reading and commenting. The gorge walk is really beautiful. We ended up doing a lot of walking while we were exploring – it is really the most amazing site and so much more extensive than we had realised.

    • Thanks for the comment. The text should have been clearer – in that there are no hotels at Petra itself! I’ve made an amendment. Staying with Bedouin must have been marvellous.

  1. Excellent guide! Visiting Petra has been a dream of mine since I was little and watched Indiana Jones! 😂 I can’t wait to visit and see the first glimpse of the Treasury from the channel. The Monastery looks incredible too. I’d definitely want to climb to the top for the view and stay for the candlelight experience!

    • Thank you so much! We do hope you get to visit one day. It is the most wonderful place. Although we have to admit – we didn’t manage to find the grail!

  2. What an amazing place. Haven’t been there myself but have had several friends come back with amazing stories and photos. Great post.

  3. Petra is right at the top of my must see list and this post has confirmed its place there. It looks absolutely wonderful. I would definitely want to stay close by, as you did, and take my time to explore. I agree about hiring a guide too. Experience has proved that this makes all the difference to really experiencing and appreciating a site.

    • Thank you so much! We do hope you get to visit – it is a truly wonderful place. The guides are fantastic in helping you understand the history – and are also great at knowing where the perfect photos can be taken! And you absolutely need lots of time – we were there for two days but could easily have spent another day – possibly even longer – exploring this vast and fascinating site.

    • Thank you so much! Hope you get to visit – it really is the most amazing place. You definitely need lots of time to explore the site.

  4. I’ve wanted to see Petra for so long! Good to know about the hiking trails and the gorge. I hope to make it there sooner rather than later.

  5. Great pictures! People don’t often realize how much more there is to Petra besides the Treasury. This would be a really fun place to visit. Did you just visit the one day or was this spread out over two? Sorry if I missed that.

    What the hell was that guy doing up there?!

    • Thank you so much. We didn’t realise quite how extensive the site is. We had such fun exploring. We had two full days there (and could have spent longer). We were both hugely impressed and utterly terrified watching the guy on the monastery!

    • Thank you so much! Petra was one of the places we had long wanted to see and it exceeded our expectations. We do hope you get to visit one day!

  6. I had no idea that Petra was more than just the Treasury. Amazing how enlightened the Nabateans were. That parkour guy, though… I froze stiff just looking at the pics… I love that you two always take the time it needs to explore a destination and that you are so thorough researching and exploring it. I’ll be sure to revisit your post before I’ll finally visit. (Ellie keeps on banging on about how great her visit was, long before I met her.)

    • Thank you so much, Stefan! We didn’t realise how extensive the site at Petra was. It’s absolutely fascinating and we needed the days we had there to explore it. Yes – watching the parkour guy, we were both thoroughly impressed and utterly terrified! Do hope you get to visit, it’s one of the most remarkable places we have seen.

  7. […] The north end of the sea is mainly comprised of resort hotels of varying degrees of poshness, which have private beaches where you can do all sorts of spa type stuff, and the rest is rather beautiful coastline. We travelled along the shore on the Jordanian side on our way to the rose red city of Petra. […]

  8. I enjoyed visiting Petra with you. Walking through the As-Siq to the Treasury looks like an awesome experience. Your photos, explanations and descriptions bring it to life — and it’s good to know how extensive the site is. I have bookmarked this post so I will remember to check back when it’s my time to visit.

    Lyn | http://www.ramblynjazz.com

    • Thank you. The Siq walk to the Treasury was fantastic, full of anticipation. It was joyful to see the famous building itself but even better when we discovered how extensive the site is. We hope you get to visit, we are sure you will love it.

  9. I felt like I was navigating those stone walls – nice and steady (limping a little) and tracing their curvature with you. I always wanted to see this Petran gem in person. Looking at the pictures alone can instantly transport you to this breathtaking landscape. It’s nice to read about your take on Petra and the how you enjoyed the cooking class – which of course until now had been a great resource of inspiration for you both in your culinary flair #flyingbaguette

    Jan – https://flyingbaguette.com/

    • We do hope you get to visit Petra, it’s such a remarkable place. The cooking class was so much fun as well.

  10. Looks like we stood in the same place when you took some of these marvellous photos.
    Petra was a real delight, a place so unique and historical that exists in such a creative form still.
    I did most of the area in a full day trip from Amman but it does feel rushed and I did walk at a good pace to ensure I got to see all I could – the site is enormous!
    Love those pics of the rock stratas and formations.
    Glad you got some good food recommendations into the post as I didn’t have enough time to enjoy them.

    • Thank you! Yes, some of the shots of Petra are iconic. Glad you enjoyed your time there – it sounds as though you made the most of it.

  11. What a magical site to explore. I have wanted to visit for so long but didn’t actually know that much about the history so thanks for the introduction to this wonderful place. I would be really excited to take some of the trails, and really spend some time exploring. It’s really good you have freedom to look around almost anywhere. Going there at night would be an even more impressive sight I’m sure

    • It really is a magical site and it’s fantastic that you really can explore it fully. The trails are great and become a lot less crowded the further away from the Treasure you venture. Hope you get to visit, it will be worth it!

  12. I would love to visit Petra one day. The site is huge and they are still excavating new buildings on site. I watched a documentary about it a while ago and the Romans had a huge influence on the infrastructure and installing functional water systems. Petra was in fact designed as a spa city in the desert and not as a burial site (as I’ve seen it described on other blogs). I would be intrigued to find out if you need a guide in Petra or if there are displays with information. Seeing the difficult levels of the hiking routes I would probably take three days there to see everything.

    Carolin | Solo Travel Story

    • We’d definitely recommend spending three days at Petra if you can. It’s such an extensive site, and there is so much to explore. We recommend getting a guide, at least for a morning, as they can explain the history and suggest places to visit.

  13. I’ve really only seen the main treasury in photos, so I’m really happy you gave more detail and photos of what it’s really like to visit Petra. I don’t think I knew it was a hike to get there and that there were trails around the tombs. I love your pictures of the designs in the rocks too!

  14. Petra is a world within the Nabatean universe. A fascinating city that is part of everyone’s imagination.
    While the Siq is what we are most familiar with in so many Hollywood films, it was the Monastery that surprised me the most.
    Walking the trails of the archaeological site is an adventure not to be missed if you want to get a perfect idea of how extraordinary the place is.
    As for Petra by Night, I have to be honest, it left a lot to be desired for what was expected… and the price.

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