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-   -   petra and Wadi Rum (https://www.fodors.com/community/africa-and-the-middle-east/petra-and-wadi-rum-934333/)

reneeeileen May 7th, 2012 09:15 AM

petra and Wadi Rum
 
is a half day in Wadi Rum and a full day in Petra enough or should I skip Mitzpah Ramon in Israel and add another night to Jordan? When you take a half day Wadi Rum jeep tour do you get to hike?

RJames May 7th, 2012 12:55 PM

For me a full day in Petra was enough, no doubt some here will disagree. It all depends on how much you want to see/do in Petra. I was there when the park opened in the morning at left at closing, I had visited the Treasury, museum, tombs, and even climbed to the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice. If you'd like to visit all those sights at a relaxed pace you will need two full days in Petra. The weather in Petra was so hot when I was there I was glad I wasn't spending another day in the region.

I was really underwhelmed by Wadi Rum and would have skipped it. Make sure you visit the protected area of the park and not just the surronding area. Many tour companies tour the surronding area to avoid paying the park entrance fee.

MD May 7th, 2012 06:26 PM

We spent a full day in Petra, from about 8AM until about 3PM. Since we had just finished climbing Mt. Sinai the climb to the Monastery was in the category "it feels so good when it stops". However, we enjoyed every slow-moving minute of our visit. by the time we got down, we decided the High Place of Sacrifice was not that necessary.

We arrived in Amman and drove directly to Wadi Rum. at 8:15PM or so every other evening they have "Petra by Night" (12JD each) where the route to the Treasury through the Siq is illuminated by candles; at the treasury there's a half hour or so concert of local music by candle-light. I thought it was worth seeing.

If you are a day visitor to Jordan like many visitors on Israeli tours, entrance to Petra is 90JD rather than 50JD - I assume the 1 night you plan to stay is sufficient that you qualify for the power ticket price.

When we were done with Petra, we crashed in our hotel room early, so we spent 2 nights in Wadi Musa but did nothing in the town itself. If you are lively, young and energetic, you can do something after Petra. As an added workout, the siq exit from Petra is varying degrees of uphill all the way.

On the way back to Amman we stopped at the dead sea to try the legenday floating.

losaltos May 8th, 2012 07:52 AM

We spent one (long) day at the Petra site. Somehow we got confused and had tickets for the evening walk the SAME day as our 5-6 hour walk around during daylight hours. Not something I would recommend! We did the walk up to the Monastery which I thought was lovely -- but the walk is not easy. We refused to take the broken down/ill-used donkeys and was glad of that. Still not for the faint of heart or those with breathing issues. Contrary to the other post, we absolutely LOVED Wadi Rum! We spent most of one day there with a guide who drove us down from the Movenpick in Petra. Saw baby camels, rock art, climbed dunes, walked over rocks, saw TE Lawrence ruins, etc. We thought it was magical and would highly recommend it!

artsbabe May 9th, 2012 08:19 AM

Agree with one full day at Petra. We also loved Wadi Rum and could have spent much more than two hours.

alan43 May 10th, 2012 07:57 PM

We spent 2 days in Petra. stayed at the Movenpick, came back there for lunch. We went to wadi Musa for supper as we felt the Movenpick overpriced and not that good at the supper buffet. It gets hot in the afternoon and being in our 60's it was nice to come back to the hotel to take a break. Enjoyed Petra very much. Wadi Musa has some interesting restaurants that have some berber dishes.

AlohaBoston May 13th, 2012 06:12 AM

Full week in April...and did two nights (1 full day) at Petra Movenpick ..agree that a day is enough (arrived early at 7:30a ...hiked to the Monastery before the crowds descend on the place ..took an alternate route back through some siqs ..relaxed and napped mid-afternoon before a light dinner in Wadi Musa and Petra at Night ..took it all in. Wadi Rum was absolutely amazing..spend two full nights (2 1/2 days) with a full day of trekking. Expansive and transportive ...if you are OK with a 'summer camp' experience. We finished our itinerary with a full relaxing day at a Dead Sea resort (after all the hiking) ...good cadence to the trip. Rented a car for the entire trip out of Amman...very easy driving once outside the city.


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