Wadi Rum and Petra: Two Requests, About 1.5 to 2 Hours Apart

Wadi Rum and Petra are two requests when both are on your trip. From Queen Alia, Petra is about 2.5 to 3.5 hours and Wadi Rum about 3.5 to 5 hours, and the two are about 100 to 110 km and 1.5 to 2 hours apart. The airport car goes to the address you put first; the ride between the two is a separate request.

Petra first, then Wadi Rum

Most travellers go to Petra first, because it lies on the road south, and then continue to the desert the next day. Jordan Tourism Board advice for the second leg is to leave Petra by early afternoon if you want to reach Wadi Rum in time for a jeep tour and the sunset. Plan the day around that, and tell the camp when you will arrive.

Wadi Rum first, then Petra

Going to the desert first puts you on the longest road on arrival day, 3.5 to 5 hours. It works for a morning landing and a camp you want for the first night. The next day you reach Petra in about 1.5 to 2 hours and can walk into the site after check-in.

A worked example

A flight lands at 09:00. The car leaves near 10:00 and reaches Wadi Musa between roughly 12:30 and 13:30. The next day, a second car leaves Petra by early afternoon, about 13:00, and reaches the camp or the visitor area between roughly 14:30 and 15:00, in time for the afternoon in the desert.

Choose the first address

Camp first: Wadi Rum. Hotel in Wadi Musa first: Petra. The Dead Sea is a third option on a different road: see name the Dead Sea resort. And if Aqaba is also on the trip, it is another request: Wadi Rum and Aqaba.

What to ask the camp

Ask where the camp meets guests, what time check-in and dinner are, whether the last stretch is by its own vehicle, and what to bring for the night. Send the camp your arrival time from Petra, because the road between the two stops is 1.5 to 2 hours and a jeep tour has its own timing.

If your flight is delayed

A delay on arrival day moves the whole plan. Send the new landing time, tell the Wadi Musa hotel, and ask the camp whether a later arrival at the desert is possible, or move the camp to the next night.

Checklist before you travel

• The Wadi Musa hotel name and the camp name from the bookings
• The pickup time for each ride, with the drive time between the stops
• The camp’s meeting point written in the request

What to send

For each ride write the pickup, the destination, the date, the time, how many people and bags, and ask for the fare. The comparison of a bus into the city with a private car is in Queen Alia airport bus or a private car. A reply confirms each car.