Aqaba is the closest city to both: about 2 hours by road to Petra and less to Wadi Rum. From the airport, the cruise port or a beach hotel you can see Petra in a day, or spend a night in a desert camp.
The short answer
From Aqaba you reach Petra in about 2 hours by road, so a day trip is the usual way: a private driver picks you up anywhere in the city, you get about 3 hours in Petra and you are back after 7 to 8 hours. For Wadi Rum, the desert camps meet you at the Wadi Rum Rest House and keep you for a jeep tour and a night in a Bedouin tent; the drive there you arrange yourself.
The Petra ticket is not included, and no guide comes with the car.
Pick a day, or the first and last day you can travel. We check the booking calendar of every Petra and Wadi Rum tour on this page and show which ones still have places. For a two-day tour, the date is the day you start.
No overnight stay
Overnight: Bedouin tent in the protected area
Overnight: Bedouin tent in the protected area
Aqaba has Jordan's Red Sea port, the King Hussein International Airport and the beach hotels of the coast. The two-day tours from Aqaba that we found on the booking platforms had no reviews yet, so this page compares a private day trip to Petra and two camp nights in Wadi Rum that you can combine.
Sorted by number of reviews. Tap a column header to re-sort.
| Photo | Tour | Format | Starts in | Stops | Petra entry | Duration | Reviews ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
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Wadi Rum 9-hour jeep tour with camp night NOMADE Wadi Rum Fire Camp | Camp only, 1 night, up to 8 per jeep | Wadi Rum Rest House, no pickup | Full-day jeep route with Burdah Rock Bridge, sunset, all meals | No Petra; Wadi Rum fee extra | 2 days | ★ 4.8 (208) | €65 per person | Book now |
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Wadi Rum guided jeep tour with camp night NOMADE Wadi Rum Fire Camp | Camp only, 1 night, up to 8 | Wadi Rum Rest House, no pickup | Shorter jeep route, sunset, all meals | No Petra; Wadi Rum fee extra | 2 days | ★ 4.9 (104) | €61 per person | Book now |
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Full-day trip to Petra from Aqaba taxi jwad jordan | 1 day, private car, driver | Anywhere in Aqaba | Petra, about 3 h on site | Not included | 7–8 h | ★ 4.9 (36) | €160 per person | Book now |
Prices and ratings load live from GetYourGuide and Viator; the Petra entry ticket and the Wadi Rum fee are paid on top on many tours, so check the inclusions of the option you pick.
Open a card for the itinerary, pickup, tent, entry fees and cancellation terms as the listing gives them.
A private car with driver from anywhere in Aqaba, about 2 hours each way and about 3 hours in Petra. No guide; the Petra ticket is paid on the day.
A private car with driver from anywhere in Aqaba, about 2 hours to Petra with a short stop. You have about 3 hours in Petra, walking about 800 m to the Siq and on to the Treasury, the Street of Facades and the Theatre, before the drive back to Aqaba. Start times are arranged with the operator.
Pickup anywhere in Aqaba, or the Sindbad & Berenice office on Al-Hammamat Al-Tunisiyah Street; the tour ends at the meeting point.
Taken from the tour listing on the booking platform. Entry fees, guide and tent type often depend on the option, so read the option you book.
A full day by jeep through Wadi Rum, sunset, all meals and a night in a Bedouin tent. Meet at the Wadi Rum Rest House.
You meet at the Wadi Rum Rest House in Wadi Rum village and ride 15 minutes by jeep to the camp. The full-day route in an open safari vehicle takes in Lawrence's House, the Little Bridge, the red dune of Al Ramal, Lawrence's Spring, the Burdah rock bridge, a picnic lunch, the Khazali and Abu Khashaba canyons, Mushroom Rock and sandboarding, and ends at a sunset viewpoint.
The night is spent in a private Bedouin tent inside the protected area, with dinner and breakfast. The tour runs in small groups of up to 8 per vehicle.
Wadi Rum Rest House, Wadi Rum village. If you arrive after 19:00 to 20:00, the tour starts the next day.
Taken from the tour listing on the booking platform. Entry fees, guide and tent type often depend on the option, so read the option you book.
The shorter jeep route of the same camp, with a night in a Bedouin tent and all meals. Meet at the Wadi Rum Rest House.
The shorter route of the same camp. From the Wadi Rum Rest House you go to Lawrence's Spring with lunch, the red dune of Al Ramal, the Khazali canyon, the Little Bridge, Lawrence's House, sandboarding, the Abu Khashaba canyon and the Um Frouth rock arch, and finish at a sunset viewpoint.
You sleep in a private Bedouin tent inside the protected area, with dinner and breakfast, in groups of up to 8.
Wadi Rum Rest House, Wadi Rum village.
Taken from the tour listing on the booking platform. Entry fees, guide and tent type often depend on the option, so read the option you book.
The points that decide most bookings, taken from each listing. Where a listing ties the guide or the ticket to an option, the table says so.
| Tour | Starts in | Nights | Overnight | Guide in Petra | Petra ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-day trip to Petra from Aqaba | Anywhere in Aqaba | None, day trip | No overnight stay | No, driver only | Not included |
| 9-hour Wadi Rum jeep tour with guide, meals and a night in camp | Wadi Rum Rest House | 1 | Bedouin tent in the protected area | No Petra on this trip | No Petra on this trip |
| Guided Wadi Rum jeep tour with overnight stay and meals | Wadi Rum Rest House | 1 | Bedouin tent in the protected area | No Petra on this trip | No Petra on this trip |
From the tour listings, read in November 2026. Options change, so check the one you book before you pay.
The day trip on this page is a private driver service run by taxi jwad jordan: an air-conditioned car with Wi-Fi, pickup anywhere in Aqaba and the drive of about 2 hours each way with a short stop. In Petra you walk about 800 m to the Siq and on to the Treasury, the Street of Facades and the Theatre on your own. The listing names no guide; local guides can be hired at the Visitor Center. The start time is agreed with the driver, and one reviewer was told on the day that the booking covered 7 hours rather than 8. The same reviewer paid extra on the spot to be dropped at a second entrance; agree on any change of route and its cost before you get in.
The listing asks for strong physical fitness and is not recommended for travellers with back or heart problems or for pregnant travellers. The car is not wheelchair accessible.
The driver collects you anywhere in Aqaba, which covers the hotels in town and along the coast. For a cruise call, check the time you must be back on board against a day of 7 to 8 hours and confirm the pickup point at the port with the driver in advance. Flying in, you can be collected at King Hussein International Airport; the listing gives the operating hours as 08:00 to 23:30. The Petra ticket costs 50 JD if you spend at least one night in Jordan and 90 JD for day visitors without an overnight stay, as of November 2026, according to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority; you pay in cash in dinars at the Visitor Center or show a Jordan Pass. Whether a night on board a cruise ship counts as a night in Jordan we could not confirm; ask your cruise line.
Both camp tours come from the same camp, NOMADE Wadi Rum Fire Camp. You meet at the Wadi Rum Rest House in Wadi Rum village, from where the jeep takes about 15 minutes to the camp; there is no hotel pickup, so you come by taxi, transfer or bus. The listing says guests who arrive after 7 or 8 pm start their tour the next day. One tour drives a full day of 9 to 10 hours with the Burdah Rock Bridge and a sunset viewpoint, the other a shorter route; both include dinner, breakfast and lunch, a private Bedouin tent inside the protected area and up to 8 travellers per jeep. A private bathroom costs extra on both. The Wadi Rum entry fee is paid separately, or covered by the Jordan Pass. More on Wadi Rum camps.
To see both places, combine the two: the day trip to Petra on one day and a camp night in Wadi Rum on the next, or the other way round. The camp listings warn about touts on the road who offer "free entry" and take visitors to the Disah desert instead of the protected area.
The sources disagree here, and we leave the disagreement as it is. The German Federal Foreign Office lists the visa on arrival at both Queen Alia and Aqaba airports at 40 JD (as of November 2026). The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority states on aqaba.jo that visitors arriving through the port, the airport or the land crossings, except the Wadi Araba crossing, receive a free visa; travel guides tie this to conditions such as registering with the authority or leaving through Aqaba. Check with your airline, cruise line or the authority before you travel. How the Jordan Pass fits in: Jordan Pass and entry fees.
The Wadi Araba border crossing between Eilat in Israel and Aqaba lies just north of the city. Tours from Eilat to Petra and Wadi Rum exist, but this site does not list them. The free Aqaba visa does not apply at this crossing according to aqaba.jo, and the German Federal Foreign Office notes that the crossings to Israel can close at short notice (as of 2 November 2026).
From the booking pages of the day trip and the camp nights on this page. The critical points: on the day trip from Aqaba one reviewer was told the booking covered 7 hours instead of 8 and paid extra for a different drop-off at Petra. In the camp one guest found the shared bathrooms in poor condition and was asked to pay for coffee, and winter nights are cold, with no heating in the tents.
“Very good experience. Visiting Petra is a must. About the experience with Viator, I am disappointed because of transportation. As soon as seated in the car the driver told me that the booking was for 7 hours, the 8 hours indicated was because he had to prepare the car and clean before (this is not my problem). He explained that the tour would go from hotel to visitor center and that in 3 hours there I only will be able to see 4 things there (3 hours is according him few time), so he offered me to leave me in the second entrance of Petra to allow me seeing 13 monuments, and the cost for taking me there is […] (because he had to drive 20 kms go and 20 back). The real is that he drove 4 kms go and 4 back, in 5 minutes and I had to pay an extra […]. He lied to me and I have to pay that extra . […] I felt really disappointed. My suggestion is visiting Petra but do it by yourself......”
“The stay was amazing, food really tasty and the jeep tour through the dessert included everything I wanted to see. Maybe the thing I loved the most was drinking tea with others around the fire and listening about Bedouins’ life. Everyone was so helpful and kind. The only thing I wish was different was that in the rooms there was no heating. Also the water was cold. I wouldn’t mind if I came here during summer but in winter it was not so pleasant. Overall I really recommend this camp :))”
“Activities felt rushed with the guide staying back near the car most of the time after saying a few words about each site. […] The shared bathrooms were in pathetic condition with doors that couldn't be closed - CLOSED - so locking is out of the question. Toilet doors didn't have locks and one of the shower drains was blocked. […] The tent accommodation was good as was the dinner. Drinks were supposed to be inclusive as part of the package but they demanded […] as payment for coffee after lunch. I wouldn't recommend this package and would definitely encourage booking one with a private bathroom.”
“We did a full day tour with 1 night stay. We arrived by ASRI bus (8:30am). Ibrahim collected us and waited until tour started 9:30am-6pm. All meals provided were tasty and plentiful. The tour was enjoyable and informative. At all stops there was free tea offered. Check out is at 8:30am - we had booked the JETT bus to Amman at 5pm so we stayed in the common areas until then - recommend you book the earlier bus if you can. If you are coming in winter time pack extra clothes - it gets very cold overnight but staff do provide extra blankets upon request. […]”
“We had an absolutely wonderful experience at Wadi Rum Fire Camp. From the very first moment, everything felt well thought out and authentic. The guides were incredibly kind and knowledgeable, the food was delicious, and sleeping in a traditional Bedouin camp in the middle of the desert was truly special. […] The only small thing to note is that it wasn’t mentioned in the description that towels are not provided for the shower, so bringing your own would be helpful. […]”
Reviews written by guests after their tour, as shown on the booking platform, each under the tour it was written for. Shortened reviews are marked […].
Advice differs from country to country. As of 2 November 2026 the German Federal Foreign Office advises against non-essential travel to the whole of Jordan (since 29 October 2026) and strongly against the border areas with Syria and Iraq and the north-east. The UK Foreign Office (updated 30 October 2026) advises against all travel only to parts of the country. Both say the situation can change quickly. Read your own government's current advice before you book and keep to tours with free cancellation; all trips on this page can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the start.
The two-day tours from Aqaba we found on GetYourGuide had no reviews yet, so they are not on this site. You can build the same trip from the day trip to Petra and a camp night in Wadi Rum, or join a two-day tour from Amman.
The sources disagree. The German Federal Foreign Office lists 40 JD for the visa on arrival at Aqaba airport (as of November 2026), while the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority states on aqaba.jo that arrivals through the port, the airport and the land crossings other than Wadi Araba get a free visa, under conditions that travel guides describe differently. Check with the authority or your airline or cruise line before you travel.
Yes, if your call is long enough. The private day trip takes 7 to 8 hours with about 3 hours in Petra. Compare that with the time you must be back on board, and agree the pickup point at the port with the driver before the day.
No. The day trip is a car with driver. In Petra you walk on your own or hire a local guide at the Visitor Center.
On your own. The camps meet you at the Wadi Rum Rest House in Wadi Rum village, and there is no hotel pickup. Arrive before 7 or 8 pm, or the tour starts the next day, according to the listing.
Tent types, jeep routes and what to pack for a night in the desert.
The ferry from the Sinai to Aqaba and the day tours from Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab.
Entry fees, the visa and the two-night rule.
The two-day tours with a camp night that start in the capital.
Two-day tours from Amman, day trips and the ferry tours from Egypt in one place.
See the comparison