Petra: a week in the rose-red city of the Nabataeans

It’s 6:30 a.m. and I’m walking down the siq — the 1.2-kilometre slot canyon that is the natural entrance to Petra — alone except for one Bedouin and his donkey, who walks past me with a polite nod. The siq is narrow enough that at one point the rock walls almost meet overhead. Then it widens, and the Treasury — the famous facade, the al-Khazneh, the Indiana Jones picture you’ve seen a thousand times — appears in the slot. The dawn light is hitting it. There are no tour groups yet. The Treasury, at this hour, is mine.

Why I keep coming back

Petra is not a single building. It is an entire Nabataean city — a third-century-BC trading capital — carved into the sandstone cliffs over an area of about 60 square kilometres. The Treasury is the entry-point facade and the iconic image; behind it lies a whole valley of tombs, temples, theatres, colonnaded streets, and the high-mountain Monastery (Ad-Deir) which is 800 steps up and almost as imposing as the Treasury and visited by a fraction of the visitors.

The Nabataeans were an Arab people whose hydraulic engineering (a series of dams, channels, and cisterns) made habitation in this dry valley possible and whose Hellenistic-influenced rock-cut architecture is some of the most extraordinary funerary architecture in the ancient world.

Where to base yourself

Wadi Musa, the small town next to the Petra site entrance.

The Movenpick Resort is directly opposite the entrance gate, the most convenient option.

Petra Marriott at the top of the town has the cliff view.

Cheaper options: Cleopetra Hotel and Petra Moon are reliable mid-range.

What to actually do

Buy at least a 2-day Petra ticket. A single day is barely enough to walk to the Treasury and back; two days lets you reach the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice. A three-day ticket is what serious visitors choose.

Walk in at first opening. 6:30 a.m. in summer, 7:30 a.m. in winter. You’ll have the Treasury essentially to yourself for the first hour.

Hike to the Monastery (Ad-Deir). 800 steps up from the main valley. The Monastery is larger than the Treasury (48 m wide, 47 m tall) and almost always less crowded. The summit viewpoint behind the Monastery, marked ‘best view in the world’ by a Bedouin coffee-seller’s sign (he’s not wrong), looks out over Wadi Araba.

Climb to the High Place of Sacrifice. A different route up, with a Nabataean altar at the top and panoramic views over the central valley. A 60–90 minute climb.

Take a Petra-by-Night tour at least once. Three evenings a week, the siq is lit by 1500 candles in paper bags and the Treasury is candlelit. Touristy and worth doing once.

Day trip to Little Petra (Siq al-Barid). 9 km north, a smaller Nabataean satellite settlement; far less crowded, with a rare surviving Nabataean fresco room.

Drive south to Wadi Rum. Two hours’ drive south of Petra; the protected sandstone-and-granite desert valley used as the location for Lawrence of Arabia and many science fiction films (it’s a stand-in for Mars). Overnight Bedouin camps from US$50–500 per night; the simpler camps are better.

Where to eat

The food in Wadi Musa is mostly serviceable rather than exceptional; the real Jordanian food is in Amman.

The Beit Al-Barakah Restaurant for traditional Jordanian mansaf (the national dish: lamb with yogurt over rice). Petra Kitchen offers a hands-on Jordanian cooking class in the evenings — much-recommended. My Mom’s Recipe Restaurant for genuine home-style Jordanian; small, friendly. The Cave Bar is the world’s oldest bar (the building has been a watering-hole since around 2000 BC); a bit kitsch but a genuine surviving Nabataean rock-cut space.

In the park itself, the small Bedouin tea stalls along the trails sell sweet mint tea for one or two dinars; a useful break.

When to come

March–May and September–November. Pleasant temperatures (15–25°C), low rainfall, comfortable hiking.

June through August is hot (38°C+); the rocks radiate heat, especially around the Monastery. Avoid.

December through February is cold (occasionally freezing at night) and the rare rain causes flash floods in the siq — the park sometimes closes for safety.

Practical notes

• Visa: Jordan offers visa-on-arrival for most Western passports (US$56 for the standard single entry). The Jordan Pass combines a visa, two-day Petra entry, and entry to several other sites; buy it online before flying.
• Money: Jordanian dinar; ATMs in Wadi Musa.
• Transport: From Amman, around 3.5 hours by JETT bus or 3 hours by car. Most visitors hire a car and driver for a 7-day Jordan loop (Amman, Jerash, Madaba, the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba).
• Bedouin guides: Local Bedouin guides offer their services for trails inside the park (sometimes officially, sometimes informally). The licensed ones are excellent value for getting to the lesser-visited parts of the site.
• The donkey/camel rides: A real animal-welfare issue. The animals are not always treated well. Walking is the recommended approach.
• Hydration: Carry more water than you think you need. The sandstone is dehydrating, and the climbs are surprisingly demanding.

A final thought

Petra is the rare ancient site that, even after twenty years of mass tourism, rewards extended visits. The first day is the Treasury, the Royal Tombs, and the Roman colonnade. The second day is the Monastery, the High Place, and the back trails. The third day is everything you didn’t have time for — the Renaissance Tomb, the small Petra church with its rare Nabataean mosaics, the side wadis.

The combination of Petra and Wadi Rum is, in my view, the most rewarding short trip in the Middle East. Three or four days at Petra, two nights at a small Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum, and a couple of days in Amman bookending the trip; ten days total. Pay the Jordan Pass. Walk every trail. Wake at dawn at least three times. The Nabataeans built this city to last; the rock has done that job for them. You should be willing to give them a proper week.