A Ride Back to Queen Alia from Petra, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum or Aqaba

A ride back to Queen Alia uses the same roads as the ride out, so the times are the same: about 1 hour from the Dead Sea, 2.5 to 3.5 hours from Petra, 3.5 to 5 hours from Wadi Rum and 3.5 to 4 hours from Aqaba. Work back from your flight: add the time your airline asks you to be at the airport, often about 3 hours for an international departure, to the drive and a margin.

The last column assumes the airline asks you to be at the airport 3 hours before departure, which is Royal Jordanian’s counter deadline for most flights. It uses the longer end of each drive and leaves no margin, so move the time earlier if you want one. Check your own airline.

Make the return its own request

The return is a new request: the hotel or camp is the pickup and Queen Alia is the destination. Write the flight number, the date and the pickup time, how many people and bags. For the airport side of the plan, read a car to Queen Alia for your flight.

Tell the hotel or camp

A very early departure means breakfast and checkout before the usual time. Tell the hotel the evening before. For Wadi Rum, tell the camp the pickup time and whether the last stretch of track is driven by its own vehicle.

Routes out and back

The out and the back are described on the route pages: Petra, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. An Aqaba departure can also be a flight; the road suits a group or a family with luggage.

Checklist before you travel

• The pickup time from the table, with a margin added
• The hotel or camp told about the early start
• Breakfast and checkout arranged the evening before

Meals and rest on the long road back

Routes of three hours or more need a plan for food and rest. Tell us if you want a stop and for how long, and add it to the margin in the table. Eat a real breakfast before an early start, because the road passes few places to stop.

Do not cut it close

The table leaves no margin. A long drive, a rest stop and a busy road can each take extra time. On a morning departure, leave earlier than the table says rather than later, and keep the airline’s time in mind.

What to send

Write the pickup address, the flight number and time, the pickup time you want, how many people and bags. Start on the Queen Alia airport transfer page.