Our Journey through Jordan- Feb Half term 2024

Jordan has been high on our bucket list for a long long time. We’d looked at different ways of getting there, including a cruise (before Covid P&O had an interesting itinitery but this has now gone), and escorted group tour which was pricey. In the end, it was a chance post on Facebook that started the wheels turning towards the end of last year, where I saw someone had got some cheap flights, hired a car and went off on their own. Hours of research later, and I decided that we could do that too. The seed had been sowed.

I’d been keeping an eye on Wizz air daily for a month or so, but sometime in the early New Year, I stumbled on flights for Feb half term that came in at £60 pp return. It would be cheaper for us both to fly to Jordan for Feb half term than fill our camper van with fuel for a trip in wet and miserable England. We úmmed and ahhhhed, but in the end decided to go for it! We were going to Jordan!

Following that I spent hours refining a route and itinerary- which I’ll share below – and perusing lodging options on Booking.com, but during that time, I’m not sure I thought we’d actually make the trip. The conflict in the surrounding countries was on our minds, was it a good idea?, would we be safe? and in the final week or so, between Keith and I we must have clicked 100+ times a day on the Foreign Office advice page. At no point did the Foreign Office page say it was unsafe (as long as we stayed 3Km away from the Syria border), so early on Sunday 18th February, we made our way tentatively to London Luton Airport and before we knew it, our Journey through Jordan began!

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Pre Holiday Planning

Parking at London Luton Airport

We booked our parking though Wizzair after we had booked the flights- we booked the Self Park option at Airpark costing £30 for 4 days and 4 nights. The free shuttle bus was every 20 mins running 24 hours per day, and the journey took just under 15 mins to the airport. We could keep our keys and our 2.2m high campervan was accepted, unlike purple parking!

Flights and Car Hire

Flights to Amman, Jordan currently take around 5 hours, the flight path currently goes South to Cairo, across the Red Sea and then over Aqaba and up North through Jordan to Amman. Ryanair used to fly from Stansted to Aqaba in the South of Jordan, and closer to Petra, but since the conflict, and the fact its closer to Gaza which I assume affects the descent path, these flights are currently suspended. The return flight time is closer to 6 hours from Amman.

Jordan Pass and E Sim

If you’re travelling to Jordan from the UK, and staying for 3 consecutive nights, plus visiting the tourist sites, it’s 100% worth getting the Jordan Pass. To enter Jordan, you need a visa, however if you pre purchase a Jordan Pass in advance of travelling into Jordan, then your visa fees are waived and you get free entry into all of the sites without paying as you go. Considering that the visa fees are 40 JD, and Petra entry is also approx 40JD, the cost of 85JD, for jordan pass per person is well worth it, as we essentially got entry to Wadi Rum, Karak Castle and Jerash for free. We opted to add onto the Jordan pass the Christ Baptism site as we knew we wanted to visit that too.

Get your Jordan pass here.

Prior to travel I also purchased a Jordan E Sim through Wizz air. This was £18 and gave me 3GB of data. There are detailed instructions on how to install and set up, which you do before you travel, so when you land, you can continue using your phone for data for Google maps, WhatsApp and Facebook etc.

Onto our Jordon Journal

Sunday 18 Feb:

Our Wizz Air flight arrived at 22:15 on Sunday night, so booked accommodation close to the airport to get our heads down. We booked Farseen Apartments, which were cheap, had good reviews, but most importantly offered a free collection and drop off to the airport 24 hours a day. A couple of days before we arrived we got in contact with the host via WhatsApp – as instructed on our booking confirmation – and informed them of our scheduled arrival time. We were instructed to contact when we’d arrived at the designated meeting point, outside gate 5 of departures, and 20 mins later our driver arrived. The apartments were 10 mins away from the airport, and were clean and quiet.

Monday 19 Feb:

After a good night’s sleep, we were up early and on our way back to the airport at 8am to collect our hire car for the next few days. We’d hired through Europcar as that was a company that had an office inside the airport building rather than having to get shuttles etc back and forth. We went for a Kia mid sized and it cost £60 from 8am Monday morning to 8pm Thursday evening.

We did decide to upgrade the insurance to full at a cost of £120- this protected our £500 excess from literally any damage whether it was our fault or not. I’m glad we did this as most Jordanian cars had scrapes and there are A LOT of sleeping policemen speed bumps, many of which on roads with speed limits of 90KMPh and unannounced. It’s a miracle we didn’t damage our car!

When hiring the car in Jordan, make sure that you are shown where the vehicle roadworthy card is, when the car is handed over. There are a lot of police check points in Jordan and this is one of the documents that you have to present to the police, along with passport and driving licence when you are stopped. Also worth noting that the vehicle handover was the most thorough we’ve ever encountered. The man literally went round the car TWICE with a magnifying glass checking for and recording down every single blemish on that car. He also insisted we film him doing it too – we always do this anyway, but it was the first time we’d been told to follow him with a video!

Finally though, keys in hand, rucksacks in the boot, we were ready to crack on with our eagerly awaited Journey through Jordan.

From Amman Airport we followed the desert highway south 2.5 hours to Petra. The Desert Highway is a large 6 carriageway road which is exceptionally straight and as the name suggests, passed through large areas of deserted desert. Every now and again we’d pass through a town, similar in lay out to American towns, and there would be a police check point on the way in and on the way out. We saw mosques, roadside eateries – which made us smile as they have men stood outside waving silver plates to encourage you in! – hundreds of goat herders, and even a camel in the back of a toyota.

The journey passed quickly as there was lots to look at, and we felt miles from home. But eventually we arrived into the town of Wadi Musa, and the historical site of Petra.

We checked into our hotel for the night, the beautiful Petra Guest House Hotel. This is the closest hotel to the entrance of Petra, it’s literally right by the gate. It’s also home to the oldest bar in the world – the 2000 year old Cave Bar. We decided as we didn’t have a huge amount of time to pay more and stay here for convenience and to save some time, and we are really glad that we did. It was a fantastic base with very friendly staff and safe and free parking for the wheels too.

On arrival, we checked in and wasted no time in heading out to explore Peta- we were besides ourselves with excitement by now. The walk down from the ticket gates was dramatic enough, passing sandstone caves and as we got further down the canyons became narrower and higher.

Before long we turned a corner and through the canyon ahead we got our first glimpse of perhaps the most famous of all the sites within Petra- The Treasury. It was breathtaking, not to mention very emotional! We were lucky that there weren’t many tourists there (although we feel very sad for the locals) so we got some great pictures and were able to enjoy time there without getting frustrated at the ‘ínstagram posing’ one often encounters at such significant and beautiful locations.

From the Treasury, we enjoyed walking through the site all the way to the Monastery (which involves a hefty hike up the side of a mountain- we opted for mule ride up as we’ve both got injuries currently)

We enjoyed a Petra beer outside the basin, a bar/restaurant sited within the historical park. There was so much to look at and enjoy- it honestly is a superb place to visit and just blew us away.

We managed to clock up 10 miles on foot and 1.5 miles on mule in 5 hours exploration- and we were on cloud 9 after our visit. Thankfully our hotel, and more importantly the Cave Bar, (which serves alcohol!) was right outside the exit to Petra so our first port of call was the bar, for a couple of pints of cold Petra Lager. Inside the cave bar we managed to nab a cave booth and the low lighting was really atmospheric. We loved it!

We had a quick shower and change and settled in for dinner at the hotel. We opted for the Jordanian Buffet as we felt it would be a controlled way to try some of the local dishes. Plus we were exhausted, and hungry- we’d actually barely eaten all day so felt we needed the buffet so we could get our fill. I also ordered off the a la carte – the Mansaf, which is the Jordanian National Dish. It’s lamb shank cooked in yoghurt and spices and eaten with rice. It was very tasty and it was good of the hotel not to charge me any additional charge for go awol from the buffet. The buffet was 20 JD per person – it is absolutely possible to eat cheaper than this at a local restaurant however we needed the convenience and wanted a beer with it too!

Tuesday 20 Feb:

We had a good sleep and a bit of a lay in -8am rather than 6am! Breakfast was included and was absolutely delicious. Following breakfast we had a quick look around the Petra museum which is practically next door to the hotel, before hitting the road again around 10am.

Our next location was the desert. We had arranged to meet the host of our next accommodation at a designated point, as where we were staying we could not drive to – it was jeep only!

Rashid was waiting for us as planned and we made our way into the desert of UNESCO Wadi Rum. Our camp, Julia Luxury Camp, was a collection of 10 bubble tents with unrivalled views of the desert. Unlike some that we passed, this camp was a good 15-20 mins drive from the main road and town, so we really felt like we were in the middle of the desert. Our tent was beaitufl – I call it a tent but it had a huge comfy bed, heating/air con, a large walk in power show, proper toilet etc etc, all within the tent. We had electricity and even a safe. It was the height of luxury and at just £75 for the night including breakfast we felt it was tremendous value.

Before we had arrived we let Rashid know that we wanted to book a 4 hour jeep ride into the desert (£100 for the two of us), and also an evening star gazing trip (£40 for the two of us). We also opted for the local lunch on the jeep ride (£10pp) and an evening meal (£15pp). These extras of course added up but they were absolutely marvellous and worth every penny. The local lunch especially was delicious – chicken and rice and absolutely LOADS of it!

Our jeep ride into the desert began and we were blown away – we saw pre historic camel drawings in the stone, filming locations for Laurence of Arabia, Dune, Star Wars and The Martian.

It’s not hard to understand why Hollywood uses this location as Mars – the red of the sand here is deep and the rock formations really do make you feel like you’re on Mars. We had a few tea stops which was a nice chance to catch our breath, but you really cannot come to Wadi Rum and not take one of these 4 hour jeep rides. It’s just EPIC!

We had a very quick dinner back at camp before making our way back out to the desert, this time under the cover of the night sky. How these local Bedouin drivers navigate the faint desert tracks during the day is remarkable, but at night – it’s even more impressive! We enjoyed a campfire and some star gazing – sadly the moon was too bright for the milky way, but we had a decent canopy of stars above us and it was a great way to finish our Wadi Rum adventure.

WE had a great night sleep in our bubble tent- we definitely could have had another night there – but sadly we had places to travel to, so after a delicious breakfast, we got a jeep ride back to the car and waved goodbye to Rashid.

Wednesday 21 Feb:

Today we started our return north- we were heading to The Dead Sea, via Karak Castle. Our journey north took us on the Kings Highway, which was a dramatic and scenic road with lots of hairpin bends, even more sleeping policemen and just spectacular views.

Karak castle dates from the 1140s but is built on a previous Roman Fortress. It stands high above the town and we enjoyed an hour looking around it with a guide who met us at the entrance.

We’re still not sure what the situation was with the guide – whether he was part of the ticket price (Jordan Pass) or someone chancing his luck. He was however very knowledgable and there are no signs in there whatsoever so with no guide I should think it would be not worth visiting. (We gave the guy who showed us around a tip). For Free and secure Parking at Karak castle, click here https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qaq26iHfPYGZ2Dkg8

From Kayak, we descended down into the Dead Sea area, the lowest point on earth. We had splashed out on the Movenpick resort, at £120 for the night as it included breakfast unlike the nearby Holiday Inn resort. There are cheaper options, but again after our ‘dry’ night in the desert we knew we’d want to enjoy a beer and a glass of wine. Be aware, they scan your bags here and found my half empty bottle of wine. External food and drink is not allowed inside the hotel.

The resort however is absolutely GORGEOUS. It is landscaped beautifully and has amazing views over the Dead Sea. It also has its own beach with lifeguard. Floating in the Dead Sea is an experience like no other. The high salt content in the water makes it impossible to do anything in the water other than float! It’s very relaxing and the water is a perfect temperature. It would be a good idea to bring water shoes as the salt crystallises on the sea bed and it was hard to walk on to get in and out. But it was a fab experience and I’m really glad we could do it.

The appeal of the Movenpick is also its adults only infinity pool, with amazing views over the sea and across to Israel. It also has a terrific pool bar where we enjoyed some beers and a wrap. It was a nice place to stop and chill for the afternoon as the trip had been hectic, so we really felt like we had some chill time here.

Our evening meal was at the Lebanese restaurant on the resort- we enjoyed a mixed grill which was delicious and it was washed down with a couple of glasses of Jordanian Pinot Noir. For a country that don’t drink alcohol, they sure make some delicious alcoholic beverages!

Thursday 22 Feb:

Today was our last full day- our flight home was at 10:40pm, but we had a full day of adventures planned. We enjoyed our breakfast and were on the road by 8.15am. Our first stop was just 25 mins drive away – it was the baptism site of Jesus.

The only way to visit this is with a guide that is included within your ticket price (we upgraded our Jordan Pass to include this site when we purchased it) and it also includes a shuttle bus. This is because the site is situated within a military zone. In fact, when you reach the Jordan River, you are mere feet from Israel’s border- it’s literally across the narrow river. The whole of the area that the baptism site is situated at is Jordan Military and as such we were escorted by armed soldiers along with our guide and 30 Indian tourists on a pilgrimage.

You don’t pre book the visit, so presumably if you arrive you have to wait until enough are there for the bus? I’m not sure- it was blind luck that we arrived at the same time as a tour group so just got included with them. Because of this though it was time consuming and we ended up spending nearly 2.5 hours there which was a worry for my schedule. As it happens I didn’t need to worry as we didn’t need as long at Jerash, our next stop. It was very interesting to see the site where Jesus was baptised and of course the River Jordan and it’s another UNESCO we can tick off too.

From here we made our way 1.5 hours north through the Jordan valley, which was beautiful with lush green hills rolling alongside the road. This area is a complete contrast to the desert of the south and is clearly a very fertile area for crops – people sold produce by the side of the road and every where you looked you could see things growing.

We arrived at Jerash, a once large Roman City. Don’t be like us and try and park in the private staff parking area, which is gated, on the side of the highway, which your Google Maps may direct you to if you just put in Jerash parking! Instead, follow the brown signs for Archeological site, and there is a free car park there, with its own police station to keep watch. “Jerash Visitor Free Car Parking, 7VCQ+PR4, Jerash, Jordan”

The Roman Ruins of Jerash are marvellous and really quite large. We spent two hours enjoying the area- and particularly liked the South Theatre and the Roman street complete with shop ruins and fountain. The only thing we didn’t really like was being hassled every time we stopped to read a sign. Locals approached us and wanted to be our guide and it got wearing. Unlike Kerak where there are no signs, here in Jerash there are lots of info boards and we didn’t feel like we missed out by not having a guide.

Hadrian’s arch is a very impressive entrance to the site- and a reminder how impressive it is to think he made the journey as north as Hadrian’s wall in the north of England right down to here in the Middle East.

From Jerash, we made our way south, past Amman, which we appeared to hit at rush hour and was an experience! to Madaba. This is a small city close to Amman airport which is famous for its collection of mosaics. We parked at the visitor centre and walked a short walk to the oldest mosaic map in the world- a map of the holy land dating from 6AD. We also managed to visit the archaeological park which had an incredible complete Roman road and some great mosaics.

We enjoyed dinner across the road from the mosaic map, at Ayoha, which served lovely traditional food and also beer (none for me as I was driving and there is zero tolerance for alcohol whilst driving here).

I had the Fukharet, a local dish which is meat stew with a bread topping. Underneath the bread topping is melted cheese. When it is served, the waiter dramatically lifts the topping- it was absolutely delicious. Keith had the lamb kofta kebabs and we both shared hummus and halloumi with tomatoes. It was a really lovely meal and of course much cheaper than all the other meals we’d eaten in hotels.

Sadly, following our dinner it was time to make our way back to the airport.

We had had an absolutely brilliant time, Jordan had completely stolen our hearts.

We would wholeheartedly recommend a self drive trip to Jordan. The people are wonderfully hospitable and it breaks our heart that their tourism is currently being affected due to conflicts in neighbouring countries.