Tips for Jordan

abelard

Did a search for Jordan and surprised I found nothing recent so I'll ask y'all...

Myself and a friend thinking of heading to Jordan later in the year on holiday for maybe a week/10 days. Both male, mid twenties, decent fitness etc. Couple of questions;

-Is it worth going through any of the tour companies and doing an organised tour? More used to independent travel, but this will be the first time in the middle east so maybe less to worry about if we just joined a group. Is Jordan easy to navigate independently? Decent transport network? And serviceable accommodation (I've stayed in some pretty basic places on my travels so don't need 5 star accom)?

-How long would you recommend, is a week enough? I'm roughly thinking Amman, Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum and maybe Aqaba. Is that missing out anything really worth seeing?

-Any other tips or things worth knowing ahead of travel? I'm not too aware of the situation with vaccinations, what would be necessary?

mikki_v

Hi,

Just back from Jordan...did it organised with g-adventures. So can't comment about doing individually...I only had a week and couldn't be bothered trying to make my way around myself so the tour suited me just fine. And ehm as a girl I wouldn't travel by myself in Jordan but you lads should be fine. Did a few tours with gap/g-adventures and would recommend them. there is never more than 15 in a group so it doesn't feel like a being herded around. hotels are basic but clean and in good locations. and their guides are fantastic and bring you to nice local restuarants that you wouldn't necessarily find by yourself.

Yup you got it about right - everybody seems to be doing Amman, day-trip to Jerash and Dead Sea from Amman then Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba.

Dead-Sea - you would be looking at going to a resort...we did a kinda cheap one which was nice enough had a beach for the dead sea and a few pools with sun loungers. You can't really stay in the dead sea for too long its like pins and needles on your skin after a while and while the lfoating is fun it does get a wee bit boring after 15mins...

if you are interested you can do the baptism site from the dead sea...there was a 1.5hr trip from our resort over there. Didn't go myself but the others liked it.

Petra - we got up at 5 to be there for 6 when they open the gates. Its brilliant because you get the treasury all by yourself. So if you travel individually i would defo recommend getting there early to beat the crowds. Also we hiked 25k in Petra and ended up on a ledge above the treasury...you need to hire a guide to get you up there but its well worth it...you look down on all the normal tourists and the hike up there is an adventure in itself.

Wadi Rum - Jeep-safari great craic. We stayed in a desert camp overnight...there are a few quite luxurios ones...ours was basic and good fun. We had a 4hr jeep-safari which ended with the sun set and we got picked up by camels for the sun rise from the camp the next morning.

Aqaba...not pretty at all but worth it for snorkeling or diving. The public beach is eeeeehm interesting. Either go to a resort to get access to the beach or go diving (one girl in our group did three dives in the two days and loved it) the rest of the group went on a 4hr snorkeling trip which was great.

You can get local food really cheap, restaurants in aqaba were almost the same as your value-for-money early birds over here. I found booze quite expensive...same as an up-market dublin pub...

Thats about all I can think off.

I loved Jordan and would recommend it without hesitation just for petra, wadi-rum (just stunning all my pics turned out great) and the snorkeling in aqaba.

Enjoy!


Oh and I think a week is plenty unless you like hanging about by the pool/sea all day....

Also if you have travelled before you standard vaccinations will see you through - http://www.traveldoctor.co.uk/asia.htm#2nda

And i recommend getting dinar before hand you need 20 for your visa at arrival. although there is a exchange bureau right next to immigration. there are plenty of cash machines but sometimes I had to try a few to get my visa-debit from ulster accepted. I spent about 350 dinar on food and extra activities during the week.

drquirky

Jordan is a great country. I was there 4 years ago or so and drove from Amman to Petra as well as up to the Dead Sea and back again over a few days. Independent travel is very easy and safe. Lovely lovely people in Jordan and a lot less general muppetry than you would sometimes see in a place like Egypt. \

Books@cafe is a great spot in Amman. I camped out w/ some Bedouin dudes in Petra- my friend set this up as she was working for the ministry of tourism at the time. Have fun and enjoy a great ME country!

FouxDaFaFa

Hey OP, I went last September with one other girl. We're in our early 20s and went independently. We found it very easy and cost-effective to navigate around the place. Had a really great time, would go back in a heartbeat.
This was our schedule:
Day 1: Dublin (via London)–>Amman flight, (overnight in Amman)
Day 2: Madaba, Mount Nebo, Wadi Mujib, Dead Sea (overnight in Amman)
Day 3: Petra (overnight in Wadi Musa)
Day 4: Wadi Rum, Petra (overnight in Wadi Musa)
Day 5: Little Petra (overnight in Amman)
Day 6: Ajloun, Jerash, Al-Husseini Mosque, Downtown Amman (overnight in Amman)
Day 7: Amman–>Dublin flight

I wrote about it in detail in my blog, which is my signature. (I feel like a pimp but there's a lot of information there). I can recommend drivers in Amman and Wadi Musa if you like too.

abelard

Thanks for the replies all. Won't quote individual posts because of length but a few follow up questions;

@mikki_v - what was the group you were on the tour like? As in what kind of age profile mainly? Definitely not going to Jordan to drink and party or whatever, but if I was to do an organised tour I'd prefer being with people closer to our own age.

@drquirky and FouxDaFaFa - can you elaborate a litle more about public transport since you did it independently. What kind of cost is it? And is it pretty quick and efficient? Also is finding accommodation in the various places expensive?

@FouxDaFaFa - thanks for the blog link, really helpful stuff. I assume you would recommend the various places you stayed? They all seemed like decent accommodation from reading it?

Also in general, what were your thoughts on Amman itself? Worth spending much time there? I've head it's just become a modern city with not much to actually see there?

FouxDaFaFa

Didn't use much public transport really. Got a JETT bus from Amman to Petra and back, which was fine. (Air-con, etc). That would be a slight step up from the normal public bus. For day trips from Amman we got a mini-bus from our accomodation (the Abbasi Palace), which was never more than about 12JD for the day. When we were moving between Wadi Musa and Wadi Rum we negotiated with a taxi driver because that particular route is not that well-served by buses, it's easier to get to Aqaba by public bus.

I just stayed in hostels and it was inexpensive. Got a private room with my friend with an ensuite for about 11e each.

Amman, to me, was an enjoyable base rather than a destination in itself.

abelard

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Didn't use much public transport really. Got a JETT bus from Amman to Petra and back, which was fine. (Air-con, etc). That would be a slight step up from the normal public bus. For day trips from Amman we got a mini-bus from our accomodation (the Abbasi Palace), which was never more than about 12JD for the day. When we were moving between Wadi Musa and Wadi Rum we negotiated with a taxi driver because that particular route is not that well-served by buses, it's easier to get to Aqaba by public bus.

I just stayed in hostels and it was inexpensive. Got a private room with my friend with an ensuite for about 11e each.

Amman, to me, was an enjoyable base rather than a destination in itself.

Cool, thanks again. Did you ever consider doing the night sleeping in the desert?

FouxDaFaFa

abelard wrote: »

Cool, thanks again. Did you ever consider doing the night sleeping in the desert?

Yeah, I thought it sounded amazing but my friend was not up for it at all so we settled for a day tour by 4x4.

mikki_v

Hi,

There was 15 in our group...between 23 and 35. There was Danish couple in their 40ies but they were good craic.

Usually the group does dinners together although there is no bad feelings if somebody isn't up for it, the guide just offers. Afterwards the group usually splits and its back to the hotel or on for a couple of drinks.

I have travelled with GAP three times now and it was always like this - majority between mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Actually there was a couple in there 50ies last year and they were so much fun. I think GAP attracts a certain type of people and even though they might not be your age or what you usually socialise with they are always open minded and fun.

Its also a great mix of people travelling solo, in couple or small groups (3 to 4) so you'll never feel the odd one out.

I can totally see the advantage of travelling without a group/independently but I never had any regrets about travelling with GAP in an organised group so far.

solerina

mikki_v wrote: »

Hi,

There was 15 in our group...between 23 and 35. There was Danish couple in their 40ies but they were good craic.

Usually the group does dinners together although there is no bad feelings if somebody isn't up for it, the guide just offers. Afterwards the group usually splits and its back to the hotel or on for a couple of drinks.

I have travelled with GAP three times now and it was always like this - majority between mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Actually there was a couple in there 50ies last year and they were so much fun. I think GAP attracts a certain type of people and even though they might not be your age or what you usually socialise with they are always open minded and fun.

Its also a great mix of people travelling solo, in couple or small groups (3 to 4) so you'll never feel the odd one out.

I can totally see the advantage of travelling without a group/independently but I never had any regrets about travelling with GAP in an organised group so far.

I totally agree, I did 2 weeks in peru with Gap (now G adventures) and its exactly as you say...like minded people of mixed ages who are usually up for a laugh (our group of 11 ranged fro 23-38 and all got on great and we are all still in contact 3 years later)