From Israel to Petra etc
 

I"m flying to Israel for a conference and want to visit Petra. Can I simply take a taxi from Elat or Tel Aviv to the border, walk across, and take an another taxi? I"m thinking of leaving one day, staying overnight and returning the next day. And, how much more time would be required to see the other important sites in Jordan (I could spare another day)?

Thanks in advance.

You can take a taxi from Eilat to the Jordan border crossing point and a Jordanian taxi to Petra. The crossing point is located some distance north of Eilat. All EGGED buses en route to or from Eilat have a bus-stop near by. (The crossing point itself is further away from the main road Eilat-Tel Aviv, ca. 10 minutes walk). Or, take any of the tour bus companies which do Petra or Jordan tours. e.g. United Tours, which also have a one day trip to Petra. They do hotel pickup etc. Call them directly for details: in Tel Aviv 03-6933412, in Jerusalem 02-6252187, in Eilat 07-6371720. Bon voyage!

I strongly recommend the 1 day organized tour to Petra, as otherwise one may think the carved wall for which Petra is famous is all there is to it. And this is not so! Petra is actually a whole city and if you don't know where to look (or not told to look there), all you can see are stones and rocks.Have a nice trip.

I can reccommend a fabulous tour company in Jordan. Nyazi of Nyazi tours met us at the border in Eilat with a car and took care of everything. We took a 2 day tour for just 4 of us. We started with the beautiful scenery of Wadi Rum where we had tea with some bedouins. After arriving at Petra we opted to do some hiking. Nyazi's first love is hiking and he took us over the hills for a first magical view of Petra. Then we started our tour of Petra. He is an archeologist and was the head of antiquities at Petra so our tour was really special. The next day we toured Petra and little Petra and explored the desert. Nyazi's phone # is 00962 3 2022801. If you go with him, tell him you were sent by the American lady with the teddy bear! <BR>

Since these are all &quot;old&quot; replies, if anyone has any recent/current information on travel either from Jerusalem OR Eilat to tour Petra, that would be great.

Climate in September??? Really, really hot in Petra?
Thanks.

If you're staying at a hotel in either Jerusalem or Eilat, they can arrange trips to Petra. From Jerusalem its kind of difficult to do just one day; though from Eilat they do have one-day trips.

Contact the hotels and inquire what they have available, the cost and go from there. Also be certain to find out about obtaining Visas - believe it's easier from Eilat, but you must check.

Likewise for longer stays in Jordan, your hotels in Israel will also have programs with hotel accommodations, tours with driver/guide, meals, etc.

Or contact Royal Jordanian Airlines and ask them about tours with access from either Jerusalem or Eilat. They may have special packages. You can also contact tour operators in your home country and ask them what is available. Many have 1, 2 or 3 day packages.

Thanks, Sandi, for the helpful information.

I am going in May and am going to go on a group tour from our hotel (which I haven't picked out yet!)