Jordan — where to go and when
3 destinations covered
One site dominates Jordan's reputation, and Petra deserves it: a Nabataean city carved into sandstone cliffs, entered through a kilometre-long crack in the rock, with tombs, a theatre and a monastery cut from the living stone across a valley that takes days rather than hours to explore properly. Around it sits a small, stable country of desert plateaux, Roman ruins, a salt sea and a Red Sea coast, all within a few hours of each other. Costs run roughly three-fifths beneath French prices on the index we use, which matters because the site entry itself is the single largest expense of a trip here and the multi-day ticket is far better value than a single day. Jordan suits travellers who walk in heat, who want archaeology without crowds on the scale of Egypt or Italy, and who are comfortable in a country where tourism is concentrated in a handful of places.
When to go
April, October and November are the months our figures back, and they sit either side of a summer that reaches 37.5 °C by day at its hottest, on terrain with almost no shade. Winter is the surprise: the coolest month still reaches 14.9 °C in daytime but drops to 2.7 °C at night, and the sandstone canyons hold cold. Rain is nearly absent, 5 rainy days a year in the desert and 13 at Petra, though flash flooding in the narrow gorges is a real and occasional hazard.
The places we cover, side by side
| Place | Favourable months | Warmest month, avg. high (°C) | Coldest month, avg. high (°C) | Rainy days a year (≥ 1 mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Sea | April, May, October, November | 34.3 | 14.1 | 23 |
| Petra | April, October, November | 37.5 | 14.9 | 13 |
| Wadi Rum | January, February, March, November, December | 41.7 | 22.0 | 5 |
Figures measured at the weather station nearest each place, then averaged over the warmest and the coldest months of the year — not over a fixed calendar season. Each destination page carries its own month-by-month table, its station and its sample size.
Getting around
Long-distance coaches connect the capital, the Dead Sea road, Petra and the Red Sea port, running on a fixed daily schedule rather than continuously, so timings shape any itinerary. A hire car or a shared driver gives far more freedom on the desert highway, and distances are short by regional standards. Petra itself is walked, with steep stone stairways to the higher monuments. The nearest airports lie 80 km and 91 km away.
Budget
Country price level compared with France : −61 %
Price index for restaurants and hotels, France = 1000, from European purchasing power parities. It is a country average: it says nothing about one hotel in particular.
Destinations in Jordan
Dead SeaThe Dead Sea is the lowest dry land on the planet, a landlocked salt lake whose surface keeps falling. The Jordanian side is a narrow strip of hotels…
PetraPetra spreads across a whole valley rather than standing as a single monument: several kilometres of carved facades, tombs, a colonnaded street and a Roman-era theatre, scattered over…
Wadi RumWadi Rum is a protected desert in southern Jordan where sandstone and granite massifs rise straight out of a floor of red sand. There is no town inside…Frequently asked questions
How many days does Petra need?
Two at least, three if you can. One day covers the entrance gorge, the famous facade and the main valley, and leaves you exhausted. A second buys the high places, the monastery stair and the back routes, which are where the crowds thin. Multi-day tickets cost far less per day than a single entry, so the second day is cheap.
Is Jordan suitable for a first trip to the region?
It is often the easiest introduction. Distances are short, the main road network is straightforward, English is widely used in tourism, and the country is small enough to cover its highlights in a week. Costs sit well below French levels, with the site entries rather than daily living being the part that needs budgeting.
Updated on 21 September 2026