About 3 hours down the Desert Highway, a few hours in Petra and the same road back. The trips differ in what they add to the day and in whether a guide or the ticket comes with it.
The short answer
A day trip from Amman gives you about 3 to 4 hours in Petra, enough for the Siq, the Treasury and the main street, with about 6 hours of driving around it. Most trips are a private car with an English-speaking driver; the Petra ticket and a guide are extra or come only with an option.
Adding the Dead Sea makes a day of about 13 hours. Adding Wadi Rum is possible, but it leaves 2 hours in the desert and about 8 hours in 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
No overnight stay
No overnight stay
No overnight stay
No overnight stay
No overnight stay
If your time in Jordan is short, a day trip is the fastest way to Petra from the capital. Every trip below starts with pickup in Amman, most of them at your hotel in the morning. Below the table is our pick for each kind of day.
Sorted by number of reviews. Two of the listings show a duration of 6 hours; the table gives the length of their own itineraries.
| Photo | Tour | Stops | Time in Petra | Guide in Petra | Petra entry | Duration | Reviews ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
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Amman Petra private full-day trip R&H VIP Transportation Services | Petra | About 4 h | 2-hour local guide with the option | Only with the option | 8–11 h | ★ 4.9 (320) | €80 per person | Book now |
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Private day trip to Petra Jordan Private Tours and Travel | Petra: Siq, Treasury, Theatre, Monastery | Not stated | Driver only | Not included | 12 h | ★ 4.7 (132) | €112 per person | Book now |
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Private day tour of Petra and the Dead Sea Jordan Local trip | Petra, Dead Sea resort with lunch buffet | About 3 h | Driver only; local guide optional | Not included | About 13 h by the itinerary | ★ 4.9 (41) | €59 per person | Book now |
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Petra by Night with optional day visit R&H VIP Travel & Tourism | Petra by day, Petra by Night from 20:30 | About 5 h by day, 2 h at night | Driver only | Night ticket if chosen; day entry not listed | About 15 h | ★ 4.9 (39) | €89 per person | Book now |
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Full-day Petra tour with Wadi Rum option Jordan Lux Tours | Petra; Wadi Rum jeep at sunset as option | About 4 h | Only on the all-inclusive option | Only on the all-inclusive option | 11 h | ★ 5.0 (20) | €84 per person | Book now |
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Petra and Dead Sea day trip Jordan Visit Travel & Tourism | Petra, Namaleh road, Dead Sea resort with lunch buffet | About 3 h | Driver only | Not included | About 13 h by the itinerary | ★ 5.0 (8) | €63 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.
Each of these tours stands out on one point. Every tour from Amman follows further down with its full details.
A private car with driver for a 12-hour day from your Amman hotel to Petra and back, with the Siq, the Treasury and the Monastery on the itinerary. There is no guide, no entry ticket and no Wadi Rum.
About 3 hours in Petra, then the drive to a Dead Sea resort for a float, a lunch buffet and the sunset, back in Amman in the evening. Resort access is part of the booking; the Petra ticket is not.
About 4 hours in Petra and, if you choose the Wadi Rum option, a 2-hour jeep tour at sunset before the long drive back. Tickets and a local Petra guide come only with the all-inclusive option.
A private car from your Amman hotel for Petra by Night, the candle-lit walk through the Siq from 20:30, with an optional day visit before it. The night ticket is included if you choose it; the day ticket is not listed.
Open a card for the itinerary, pickup, tent, entry fees and cancellation terms as the listing gives them.
A private car with driver for about 12 hours, from your Amman hotel to Petra and back. No guide and no ticket included.
A private car with an English-speaking driver from your Amman hotel in the morning, south on the Desert Highway to Petra. The itinerary lists the Siq, the Treasury, the Theatre, the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice. You return to your hotel in Amman in the afternoon or evening.
Pickup at your hotel in Amman in the morning.
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 private car from Amman or the airport and about 4 hours in Petra. A 2-hour local guide and the ticket come only with the option.
A private car with an English-speaking driver from Amman or the airport, about 3 hours south on the desert highway. At the Petra Visitor Center the driver helps you buy the ticket, and you have about 4 hours for the Siq, the Treasury and the amphitheatre, on your own or with a local guide you hire. The drive back takes about 3 hours.
Pickup in Amman or at Amman airport.
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.
About 3 hours in Petra, then a Dead Sea resort with lunch buffet until sunset. About 13 hours by the itinerary.
About 3 hours by car from your Amman hotel to Petra, about 3 hours in Petra, then about 3 hours to the Dead Sea for around 3 hours at a resort with a lunch buffet until sunset, and about an hour back to Amman.
Pickup at your Amman hotel in the morning.
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.
Petra in the morning, the Namaleh back road and a Dead Sea resort with lunch. Pickup anywhere in Amman or at the airport.
About 3 hours from Amman to Petra and about 3 hours there. The drive to the Dead Sea takes the back road via Namaleh, with views of Lot's Cave and Mujib, about 3 hours. At a 5-star resort you have around 3 hours for lunch, the pools, the beach and the mud until sunset, then about an hour back to Amman.
Pickup anywhere in Amman or at the airport; drop-off in Amman, Zahran Street.
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.
About 4 hours in Petra and, as an option, a sunset jeep tour in Wadi Rum. Tickets and a Petra guide only on the all-inclusive option.
An early start from Amman and about 3 hours to Petra, where you have about 4 hours for the Siq, the Treasury and the Royal Tombs. With the Wadi Rum option the car continues about 1.5 hours to Wadi Rum for a 2-hour jeep tour at sunset, followed by about 3.5 hours back to Amman.
The Transport Only option is a private car with driver. The All-Inclusive option adds the entry tickets for Petra and Wadi Rum, a local guide in Petra and the 2-hour jeep tour.
Pickup in Amman, early in the morning.
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.
Private transport for Petra by Night from 20:30, with an optional day visit of about 5 hours. Night ticket if chosen; day ticket not listed.
A private car from your accommodation in Amman, about 3 hours to Petra. The optional day visit gives you about 5 hours in Petra at your own pace or with a guide you hire: the Siq, the Treasury, the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, the Theatre and Qasr al-Bint.
Petra by Night starts at the Visitor Center at 20:30 and lasts about 2 hours, with the Siq lit by candles and music at the Treasury. The drive back to Amman takes about 3 hours.
Pickup at your accommodation in Amman only.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private day trip to Petra from Amman with pickup | Amman hotel | None, day trip | No overnight stay | No, driver only | Not included |
| Amman Petra private full-day trip | Amman hotel or airport | None, day trip | No overnight stay | Only on one option | Only on one option |
| Private day tour of Petra and the Dead Sea from Amman | Amman hotel | None, day trip | No overnight stay | No, driver only | Not included |
| Private or shared Petra and Dead Sea day trip from Amman | Amman hotel or airport | None, day trip | No overnight stay | No, driver only | Not included |
| Full-day Petra tour from Amman with Wadi Rum option | Amman hotel | None, day trip | No overnight stay | Only on one option | Only on one option |
| Petra by Night tour from Amman with optional day visit | Amman hotel | None, day trip | No overnight stay | No, driver only | Petra by Night ticket if chosen; day entry not listed |
From the tour listings, read in November 2026. Options change, so check the one you book before you pay.
The simplest trip is a car with driver for the whole day. On the 12-hour trip by Jordan Private Tours and Travel the itinerary lists the Siq, the Treasury, the Theatre, the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice; the Monastery alone is a climb of about 900 steps, so with a few hours on site most people choose between it and the High Place. The Viator trip by R&H VIP Transportation Services gives about 4 hours in Petra, and the driver helps you buy the ticket at the Visitor Center. Its itinerary labels the stops "Admission Ticket Free", yet the ticket is only included if you book that option. One reviewer of the Amman trip was taken to gift shops on the way and felt pressed to buy; say at the start if you do not want shopping stops.
The public alternative is the JETT bus: according to the Jordan Tourism Board it leaves Abdali in Amman once a day at 06:30 and returns from Petra at 17:00.
Two trips add an afternoon at a Dead Sea resort with a lunch buffet, towels and time to float until sunset. Both show a duration of 6 hours on the listing, but their own itineraries add up to about 13 hours: 3 hours to Petra, 3 hours there, 3 hours to the Dead Sea, 3 at the resort and 1 back to Amman. On the Jordan Visit trip the drive to the shore takes the Namaleh back road with views of Wadi Mujib. Resort access is included on both, the Petra ticket and a guide are not.
It can be done, but most of the day is spent in the car. The trip by Jordan Lux Tours lists 11 hours: 3 hours to Petra, 4 hours in Petra, 1.5 hours on to Wadi Rum, 2 hours there with a jeep tour at sunset if you choose that option, and 3.5 hours back to Amman in the dark. Entry tickets for Petra and Wadi Rum and a local guide in Petra come only with the all-inclusive option. If the desert matters to you, a night in a camp gives you the jeep tour, the evening and the morning without the race. See Petra and Wadi Rum in two days.
On Petra by Night the Siq is lit with candles from the Visitor Center to the Treasury, with music in front of the facade; it starts at 20:30 and lasts about 2 hours. The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority listed it for Sunday to Thursday evenings in 2025, so check the current dates on visitpetra.jo before you plan around it. The R&H VIP trip drives you from Amman, with an optional day visit of about 5 hours before the evening and the 3-hour drive back after the show; with the day visit that makes about 15 hours. The night ticket is included if you choose it, the day ticket is not listed. Some reviewers split the day visit and the night onto different days.
On a day trip without a night in Jordan, for example straight from the airport and out again, the Petra ticket is 90 JD instead of 50 JD (as of November 2026, Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority). You pay in cash in dinars at the Visitor Center or show a Jordan Pass. When the Jordan Pass pays off. A guide inside Petra is included only where the table says so. Local guides wait at the Visitor Center, and reviewers who hired one were glad they did. Lunch, drinks and tips are extra on all trips except the Dead Sea resort lunch.
From the booking pages of the day trips on this page, critical ones included. The praise is mostly for the drivers. The critical voices make the point the table makes: without the options, a day trip is transport, and one reviewer calls it simply a taxi service. Another was taken to gift shops and pressed to buy.
“This was exactly what we wanted: a safe, comfortable ride to Petra from Amman. Our driver was super friendly and made stops along the way for bathroom breaks and a couple photo stops.”
“I was travelling with my two adult sons and wanted them to have the best experience possible. I booked the day trip to Petra and we had a wonderful day. Our driver was Khader Dawood and he was amazing. He confirmed the trip the day before, collected us on time and made our day very special. […] He went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and made a 3 hour journey each way pass very quickly. […] We could have taken the JETT BUS option but we all agreed it was worth the extra cost to get the VIP treatment.”
“Driver was nice, car was new, but the driver's route takes you to tourist gift shops where you are pressured to buy "antiques". I just wanted to go to Petra not add on another hour of "shopping" to the trip.”
“Overall excellent experience. Our driver was Adnan. He was fluent in English, and communication was very clear. […] He reached out a day prior to our trip to provide contact information and confirm pick up location. He arrived early. The car was clean, air conditioned, and he provided us with water. […] He provided us with a map and tips and tricks to navigate Petra which were helpful. […] We spent about 3 hours in Petra, and met him at the pick up point when we were done. […]”
“First and foremost Petra is wonderful, breathtaking and must see. Petra would be 5 stars but the experience of what I paid for would only be 3. In terms of what you pay for as a trip, it is simply a taxi service nothing more as other than the journey nothing is included. The driver did not provide and history on the journey. The driver was on time and friendly and brought me cups of coffee throughout the day (no water provided as advertised though/ there was also no Wi-Fi as advertised ). […]”
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 […].
If you only have one day, yes: you see the Siq, the Treasury and the main street in 3 to 4 hours. Plan for about 6 hours of driving around it. For the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice without hurrying, a night in Wadi Musa or a two-day tour gives you more time.
The itineraries give 3 to 4 hours, and about 5 hours on the day visit before Petra by Night. Reviewers of the private trips report similar times.
Not on the basic bookings. On two trips it comes with an option. You pay at the Visitor Center in cash in dinars: 50 JD with a night in Jordan, 90 JD without, as of November 2026.
Yes, on the 11-hour trip with the Wadi Rum option, but about 8 of those hours are driving and the jeep tour lasts 2 hours. A two-day tour with a camp night is the calmer way.
In 2025 it ran on Sunday to Thursday evenings from 20:30 for about 2 hours. Check the current dates on visitpetra.jo before you book a trip around it.
Two-day tours with a camp night, trips from Aqaba and Egypt, and the Wadi Rum camps.
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