Petra and Dead Sea Day Tour from Amman

Petra, the Nabataean city carved in stone

Petra was the capital of the Nabataeans, Arab merchants who controlled the incense and spice routes of the ancient Near East. From around the first century BC they carved tombs, temples and a theatre into the rose-coloured sandstone and engineered channels and cisterns to survive in the desert. The city came under Roman rule in AD 106 and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Is Petra worth visiting as part of a long day trip? For most travellers it is the highlight of Jordan, and the main valley can be explored in four hours. On this tour your Petra entry ticket is not included: you can use the Jordan Pass or buy the ticket at the visitor centre, and a local guide can be hired at the gate.

The Siq, the Treasury and the Street of Facades

The Siq is a narrow gorge about 1.2 kilometres long, with walls up to 80 metres high, ancient water channels and fragments of original paving. It opens dramatically onto the Treasury, or Al-Khazneh, a facade about 40 metres tall carved in the first century AD as a monumental tomb. It is the image most people remember long after leaving Jordan, and the narrow valley keeps its details remarkably sharp.

Beyond it, the Street of Facades lines the valley with rows of rock-cut tombs, followed by the great Theatre carved into the mountain. Allow about 30 minutes to walk the Siq and an hour to enjoy the Treasury and this first stretch with time for photographs.

The Royal Tombs and the Monastery

Facing the Theatre, the Royal Tombs rise in a row from the cliff: the Urn Tomb with its vaulted terrace, the colourful Silk Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the tiered Palace Tomb. A short climb leads inside the Urn Tomb, and the afternoon light brings out the bands of colour in the stone. From here the Colonnaded Street leads to the Great Temple and Qasr al-Bint.

Fit visitors with enough time can continue to the Monastery, or Ad-Deir, a facade around 47 metres high reached by a climb of about 45 minutes. On this combined day, with the Dead Sea still ahead, most guests choose the Royal Tombs and the Colonnaded Street and keep the Monastery for a longer Petra visit.

The Dead Sea, the lowest point on land

The Dead Sea lies about 430 metres below sea level, the lowest point on the surface of the earth. Its water is roughly ten times saltier than the ocean, so dense that you float effortlessly on your back without trying. The lake is fed by the Jordan River and is slowly shrinking, which leaves white salt formations along its shore.

The black mud of the shore is rich in minerals such as magnesium and potassium, and covering yourself in it, letting it dry and rinsing it off in the sea is part of the ritual. Is a Dead Sea day trip from Amman worth it? Combined with Petra, it gives you the contrast of a desert city and a mineral lake in a single day.

Your afternoon at a five-star Dead Sea resort

Rather than a public beach, the default option includes access to the beach and pools of a five-star resort on the Jordanian shore, where you have showers, changing rooms and sunbeds. A lunch buffet is served at the resort, a welcome break after the morning in Petra and the drive down to the sea.

Stay in the water for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time, keep it away from your eyes and float on your back rather than swimming. After the salt and mud, the resort pools are the easiest way to rinse off and relax before the drive back to Amman, which takes about an hour.

How to get to Petra and the Dead Sea in one day

Petra is roughly 235 kilometres south of Amman, about three hours by the Desert Highway, while the Dead Sea is less than an hour west of the capital. Linking them requires a long loop: north from Petra and down into the Jordan Rift Valley to the Dead Sea Highway, then up again to Amman.

That is why travellers who ask how to get to Petra and the Dead Sea in one day usually choose an organised tour with an early start. With pickup at 5:30 or 6:00 from any address in Amman or the airport, this tour handles all the driving, and you only need comfortable shoes, swimwear and energy for a full day.