Petra

Currency

Buy the Jordan Pass online before you fly. It bundles the tourist visa fee with entry to Petra and forty other sites, costs 70-80 JD depending on how many days at Petra you want, and pays for itself immediately — but the visa waiver only applies if you stay at least three nights in Jordan. The dinar is pegged to the dollar and is worth more than it looks: 1 JD is about €1.20.

ATMs & cards

Arab Bank, Housing Bank and Cairo Amman machines in Wadi Musa. Most charge a fixed fee of a few dinars, so draw enough for the stay. Cards work in hotels and the bigger restaurants; the Bedouin stalls inside the site, the taxis and the tea are cash.

Jordanian machines charge a few dinars a withdrawal. The stalls inside Petra, the tea and the taxis are cash only.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Jordan is one of the safest countries in the region and Petra is heavily policed. What actually hurts people here is the terrain and the sun: 800 uneven steps to the Monastery, unfenced drops at the viewpoints, and no shade in the middle of the day. Flash floods through the Siq are rare but real and the site closes when rain is forecast — take that seriously.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid if you will eat widely outside hotels
• Rabies for long stays or work with animals

Getting treated

Private hospitals in Amman are excellent and are a medical-tourism destination in their own right; visitors pay, and the bills are modest by European standards. Outside Amman and Aqaba the options thin out quickly, and Petra and Wadi Rum are an hour or more from a hospital.

Heat is the real risk: 34°C in Wadi Rum and 40°C at the Dead Sea, with no shade and dry air that hides how much you are losing. Carry more water than feels sensible. Flash floods in the canyons after rain are sudden and have killed people; the sites close when rain is forecast and that closure is not negotiable.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Mansaf — lamb cooked in fermented dried yoghurt over rice — is the national dish and Wadi Musa is a good place to eat it, ideally somewhere that needs a day’s notice. Inside the site the tea stalls are fine and the food is not; take a packed lunch and buy tea from the Bedouin women who have the best view in Jordan.

Getting around

• Walking — the site is 8km end to end and the good parts are the walk; wear real shoes, not sandals
• The Siq — 1.2km of slot canyon from the gate to the Treasury, and doing it on foot at opening time is the whole experience
• JETT bus — the daily coach from Amman takes about three hours and books out in season
• Hire car — the King’s Highway from Amman is one of the great drives; the Desert Highway is faster and duller
• Horses, carriages and donkeys are offered constantly; the welfare standards are variable and the walk is better

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 1.5× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 44% of the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Walk the Siq at opening time, before the crowds and while it is still cold
• Climb to the Monastery and have tea at the top
• Take the back route in from Little Petra and arrive above the Treasury
• Climb to the High Place of Sacrifice for the view down over the whole city
• See Petra by Night, on the Monday, Wednesday or Thursday it runs
• Give the site two days rather than one — the Jordan Pass prices it that way for a reason

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Arabic

• Helloمرحبا — MarhabaMAR-ha-ba
• Pleaseمن فضلك — Min fadlakmin FAD-lak
• Thank youشكرا — ShukranSHOOK-ran
• Yes / Noنعم / لا — Na’am / LaNA-am / la
• Excuse meعفوا — AfwanAF-wan
• How much is it?بكم — Bikam?bi-KAM
• The bill, pleaseالحساب — Al-hisabal-hi-SAB
• Welcomeأهلا وسهلا — Ahlan wa sahlanAH-lan wa SAH-lan

Inshallah, meaning God willing, follows nearly any statement about the future and is conversational rather than religious.

Religion

Sunni Muslim

About 95% Muslim, with a Christian minority that is old, visible and unremarkable to Jordanians — churches and mosques share streets in Madaba and Amman. Practice is devout but relaxed with visitors: the call to prayer runs five times a day, Friday midday is quiet, and Ramadan changes opening hours everywhere and makes eating in public in daylight impolite rather than illegal. Cover shoulders and knees away from the resorts and take your shoes off at a mosque door.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Return the greeting: as-salaam alaykum, and wa alaykum as-salaam back
• Accept the tea. It is offered constantly and refusing it is the one rude thing a visitor reliably does
• Dress with shoulders and knees covered away from the resorts, men included
• Use your right hand for eating, handing over money and greeting
• Ask before photographing people, and expect to be asked to join a meal if you linger

Don't

• Do not haggle over a fixed price in a shop; markets and taxis are where bargaining belongs
• Do not show the sole of your foot to anyone, or point with your feet
• Do not drink alcohol in public — it is legal and sold, and it is drunk indoors
• Do not discuss the politics of the neighbouring countries with people you have just met
• Do not photograph inside a mosque during prayer, or women anywhere without asking