Road tripping Jordan is the best way to explore the country and its habits. You’ll get to places where tour companies won’t go and you’ll experience and learn the Jordan way of living and driving. Whether the latter is a good thing, I’ll leave that up to you! I traveled through Jordan for 9 days at the end of March. Here’s my Jordan road trip itinerary!

The Jordan road trip itinerary

Stops: Ma’In Hot Springs – Madaba – Dead Sea – Kerak – Little Petra – Petra – Wadi Rum – Akaba – Amman
Duration: 9 nights
Total kilometers: 800 km
Hotels: I stayed at more luxurious hotels, since I was traveling with a friend so I could split the costs. I spent one night at a 3* hotel and regretted this instantly. (It was very old and not so clean, staff wasn’t very friendly either) I also slept one night in the Wadi Rum desert!
Rental car: a Hyundai Tucson booked via Budget. I payed about 500€ for it, insurance and GPS included.

Ma’In Hot Springs – Madaba – Dead Sea

Duration: 2 nights
Where did I stay? Ma’In Hot Springs Hotel

Ma’In Hot Springs was the first stop of my road trip. It was situated near the Dead Sea which made it perfect to explore this area. Unfortunately my luggage didn’t arrive so I wasn’t capable to do any “Wadi” hikes (Wadi Mujib is closed in March, so I had planned to do other hikes like Wadi Bin Hamad) and had to drive to Madaba instead in search of clothes, migraine medicine and toiletries.  But Madaba was actually quite fun as well. At the beginning I thought it was just a boring place, but if you step out of the car and go for a little exploring you’ll find some shops and even a Greek orthodox church!

The road along the Dead Sea is a good road according to Jordan standards and if you keep your eyes open you’ll find some nice places to stop and take a look at the salt coated rocks. I didn’t find any nice beaches in the area and it was a little too cold to get in. But I’m sure if you visit in the warmer months, you’ll find some nice beaches to swim near the hotel area around the Mövenpick resort.
I found it more pleasant to drive along the desert mountain roads surrounding the Ma’In Hot Springs area. There are some nice viewpoints to enjoy the sight of the Dead Sea and Israel like the Dead Sea Panorama Complex.

Al-Karak – Little Petra

About 82 km (1 hour drive) from the Ma’In Hot Springs Hotel lays the Al-Karak Castle. The drive takes you along the Dead Sea and some nice areas through the rocky desert landscape. Parking in vivid Al-Karak isn’t easy, but the owners of the little bars and restaurants next to the castle keep parking spaces reserved with chairs for visitors. They allow you to park in front of their restaurant, if you promise to eat or drink something at their place after your visit. The castle is definitely worth visiting and what makes it more interesting is the local guide named Abu. He’s an older man walking around the castle waiting to show people around. He knows a lot about the castle’s history and has the ability to really explain everything clearly in an interesting way. At the end he just asks for a small reward, which he totally deserves!

From Al-Karak the drive gets a little more exciting and intense. You’ll pass a lot of towns, meaning you’ll have to deal with the dangerous and chaotic traffic situations that are typical for Jordan. But once outside the towns, you’ll drive through amazing landscapes that look as if you’re on a different planet.

Before heading straight to Wadi Musa, hometown to Petra, I stopped at Little Petra first. This is exactly as its name states: Petra in a smaller version. It gives you a first idea of what Petra must look like with its houses carved into the desert cliffs. At the end of the canyon you have to climb up to a magnificent view on the rock formations. The best time to visit is probably the late afternoon, like I did. I arrived there around 16.30 so I enjoyed the light of the setting sun on the rocks (sunset was at 18.00 in late March).

The drive from Little Petra to Wadi Musa looks as if you ended up in a scene of Star Wars. The scenery on the way is absolutely breathtaking!

Petra

Duration: 3 nights
Where did I stay? 2 nights at Mövenpick Resort Petra, 1 night at Petra Palace (not recommended)

The next day I woke up very early for my first day of exploring Petra. This was the place I was looking forward to the most on my whole Jordan road trip. I was amazed by the walk through the Siq, which already takes about 30 minutes. The canyon is an impressive piece of nature and the perfect introduction of your day. I will never forget the first sight of the Treasury peeping through the rocks of the canyon…

I won’t go into too much detail about Petra. Because I’ll dedicate a separate post to visiting Petra (which will be published later, so stay tuned!). I’ve spend two days at Petra, enjoying its city’s structures and doing some impressive climbs. But I’m sure there is still more to discover at this World Wonder! Really want to return one day!

Wadi Rum

Duration: 1 night
Where did I stay? Wadi Rum Desert Camp

The next stop of my Jordan road trip was the Wadi Rum desert. It takes about 1 hour and a half to get to the Wadi Rum Village (114 km) from Wadi Musa. You have to leave your car there and then the Bedouin drivers take you to the camp. I arrived in the late afternoon, had a campfire dinner at the camp and the next day I went on a full day jeep tour. Which I thought was excellent, so I had a decent shower in the evening to wash off all the dust and sand from the desert. More details soon in a later post!

Aqaba

Duration: 1 night
Where did I stay? Mövenpick Resort & Residences Aqaba

Aqaba is a one hour drive from the Wadi Rum Village. You can snorkle at the Red Sea (which I didn’t because I got short in time and I was a little too tired), take a walk in Aqaba, but I didn’t really like this place. There was a street packed with restaurants where I had a lovely dinner at Papaya but I was glad to be here for only 1 night. I’ve spend a short morning at the pool before leaving to Amman.

Amman

Duration: 2 nights
Where did I stay? The House Boutique Suites

The last stop of my Jordan road trip was Amman. To get there from Aqaba you will need to drive the most boring highway in the world called the Desert Highway. You’ll have to suffer for about 3 and a half hours before arriving at Jordan’s capital city Amman. But don’t worry, on your way you’ll encounter some decent gas stations with supermarkets offering snacks and drinks and a decent clean toilet! The Jordan way of driving will also keep you awake, since losing your attention here means also risking your life.
My hotel was situated near Rainbow Street, famous for its many bars and restaurants. When you follow this street and take some stairs all the way down, you’ll arrive in the old city center. Amman has some nice things to offer, if you know where to go, so I’ll get into that in a later post! One full day at Amman is enough to explore the main sights.

Watch my complete Jordan Road Trip adventure on the YouTube channel and make sure to LIKE and SHARE the video. SUBSCRIBE for the latest updates!

If you like the pictures of my Jordan road trip I suggest to follow my Instagram account where you can find a lot more!

A special thanks to my Jordan road trip travel buddy Nicolas R. for taking photos and the patience. I know I can be a lot to handle! 😉