Planning a perfect trip to Jordan

Best Time To Visit

The general recommended seasons are Spring – March to May and Autumn – September to November. The regions can get varied temperature, on a lower side in Amman, Jerash and higher side on the coast of Aqaba.

We went in the month of February, when the weather was a mix of both warm and chill temperatures and the tourist crowd was also minimal. Hence, February was a perfect pre-tourist season visit with decent weather and a lot of places all to yourself. 

Visa Process

Indian passport holders – Visa on Arrival – 40 JD

💡Quick tips: Jordan Pass:

  1. If you’re eligible for Visa on arrival, buy the Jordan Pass, which includes the visa cost and also entrance fee to 40 sites including Petra, Amman Citadel, Jerash, etc.
  2. A minimum of 3 nights (4 days) stay in the country is necessary for this pass.
  3. It’s a digital pass with a QR code, so you can save the pass on your smartphone and travel with ease.
  4. You can buy this in advance and save time and costs.
  5. Three options for Jordan Pass are available on depending on your plans for the Petra Site.
  • Jordan Wanderer – 70 JD (USD 99) – 1 day visit to Petra – We got this one
  • Jordan Explorer – 75 JD (USD 106) – 2 consecutive days to Petra
  • Jordan Expert – 80 JD (USD 113) – 3 consecutive days to Petra

Transport and getting around

Flights

We generally use the flight aggregator https://www.skyscanner.ae/ to search for best available flights. However, once we selected our flight, we prefer to book directly from the carrier’s website. Our ride was the national carrier of Jordan – Royal Jordanian, to land at the Queen Alia International Airport. There is another international airport at Aqaba – King Hussein International Airport, but has limited flight options from many countries.

Public Transport

Domestic connectivity: Majority of the cities and towns are connected by roads and small people mover buses/ tempos are available (very crowded and longest way to reach any point since they stop multiple points).

Car: Travelling by car is the most used and a feasible mode. You can either take a chauffeur along or take a self-drive rental car just like us. We booked through Rentalcars.com and got a Toyota Corolla from Budget Cars for $237 for 8 days (a steal we would say!) and additional driver charges of $5 per day (optional). Jackie’s UAE license and my Indian driving license were accepted.

One of the most iconic highlights of the road trip was the King’s Highway. If you are not comfortable driving on the valley roads, you can opt for a chauffeur too, but we highly recommend to explore Jordan using this highway. Read on to know more.

Attire

Yes, we understand your first thought. Don’t worry, the Jordanians are welcoming for tourists. They are conservative but not very strict with dress codes as compared to its neighbouring countries, as long as we are respectful. Depending on the season you opt to visit Jordan, you may have to carry down jackets or summer clothing (or even both).

Also, the weather varies a little along the country. We used www.accuweather.com to know about the weather and packed our clothes accordingly.

While the chilly winds of Amman and Wadi Rum made us wear some layers, the town of Aqaba and Dead Sea is where we ditched them.

For the days on road, we recommend wearing comfortable clothing. We also packed and kept a small bag handy with snacks to munch on while we’re on road, and also bought the water bottles in stock from a general store in Amman and carried the same with our luggage in the car for easy access.

Quick tip: Keep sunscreens and caps handy as sun can get little nasty on many high points in the country.

Currency and Costs

Jordanian Dinar is the official currency in Jordan (1 JD ~ 5.18 AED, 1 JD ~ 1.41 USD, 1 JD ~ 108 JD as on April 2022). We recommend carrying USD from home country and exchange for JD, while in Jordan, for much better rates, rather than exchanging INR / AED to JD. USD may also be accepted widely.

The costs depend on the type of accommodation and flights. A tentative budget for two persons is given below:

  • Accommodation – bed and breakfast for 8 nights – 700 JD for two
  • Round trip flights – depending on your location. Royal Jordanian has a good flight connectivity from the Middle East countries, specially UAE.
  • Car rental, with an additional driver – 200 JD for 8 days
  • Food per meal average – 20 JD for two
  • Jordan pass (includes visa cost) – 70 JD per person – you can’t miss this if you want to save some substantial costs
  • Entry tickets to attractions – Most of the sights are free with the Jordan pass, hence, you may end up spending close to nothing on the entrance fees
  • Wadi rum jeep safari – 70 JD per jeep for a 4 hour tour