Jordan: 8 Travel Tips for an Awesome Trip
I just knew that we would love Jordan, even before we set out on our trip. And yes! We did love the country, the people, the landscapes, the food – everything that the country had to offer. If you are a history buff, adventure seeker, history lover or a foodie, the country has to be on your bucketlist. Here is the link to our nine day itinerary to inspire you to book tickets to the wonderful and mystical land.
Read on for eight tips to help you plan you trip:
Visa
Jordan offers visa on arrival for a lot of nationalities, Indian being one of them. While the rules allow Indians a two week visa on arrival, the authorities are inclined to give only a one week visa. We were given a one week visa even though our return ticket was after nine days and we’re advised that this would not be an issue when we exited the country. We would have to pay a penalty of approximately 1 JD per person per day of overstay. Indeed, our exit was smooth and we were not asked to pay the penalty either.
Another condition for visa on arrival is that one needs to carry USD 1000 per person in cash. We weren’t asked to show the money but have heard stories where no other currency, including the EUR was accepted.
Money
The local currency in Jordan is the Jordanian Dinar(JD). JD is pegged to the USD and the exchange rate in most places, except the airport is roughly the same. Suggest converting a only the amount require for the visa and maybe a little more at the airport. The rest can be converted in any of the cities or towns.
Road trip – self drive or with travel agents
Jordan is a small country with a fairly well developed road network. Unlike in India, where railways can take you anywhere and everywhere, railways in Jordan are primarily used for transportation of goods. You can either rent a car or connect with one of the many travel agencies to help you plan your travel. For the two of us, we found that self drive was cheaper than the quotes that we received from various travel agents. It also imparted us with a lot more flexibility to plan our trip and let the shutter bug in me stop every now and then to take random pictures.
If you do intend to rent a car, book online at least a few days in advance, especially if you want a small economy car. We saw a lot of fellow travellers being disappointed as the small cars were booked and they had to shell extra money to rent a bigger one.
GPS
While we would recommend a self drive in Jordan, we would not recommend it without the GPS. The highways are not well marked and there is plenty of construction going on everywhere, resulting in diversions, which aren’t well marked either. We lost our way every alternate day regardless of the fact that we were using Google Maps on our phone. We were later told that Bing has mapped Jordan better than Google has.
Asking the locals is an option, though not many locals understand English. The Google translate tool came in handy during our trip.
Local Sim Card
Buying a local sim card is easy and affordable at the airport. All you need is your passport and boarding pass. There are various plans that are available for the prepaid option. We chose the data only plan and converted a phone to the GPS by downloading the map. Over the nine day period, we saved 80% of the amount that we would have spent had we rented a GPS from the car rental agency.
Vegetarian food
Locals in the interiors of Jordan do not understand the concept of vegetarianism. They believe that vegetarians eat vegetables, even out of a meat dish! We were offered complimentary platters of kebabs, despite having explained that we are vegetarians. While camping at Wadi Rum, the bedouins asked us to join them for a meal, which we politely declined as it was lamb with flat bread. Declining a bedouin meal is a mark of disrespect to the host, which was never our intention. There wasn’t much that we could do as our hosts did not accept the fact that one can survive without eating meat! However, locals in the bigger cities do understand that there are people in this world who do not eat meat.
Cheat sheet – the Middle Eastern mezze platter has plenty of vegetarian dips. Most restaurants offer a vegetarian curry with rice. We had a really nice mushroom pizza at Aqaba. However, there was nothing for us to bite into at McDonald’s or at Burger King.
Tap water is not potable. Be nice to your stomach and drink packaged drinking water. Buying a few bottles in bulk from the grocery is the best way to save some money.
Appropriate dressing
Jordan is an Islamic nation. Carry modest clothing that covers your shoulders and knees. While we felt comfortable wearing shorts in the confines of a five star hotel, we would not recommend dressing that way in the local market. On similar lines, a bikini is perfectly acceptable at the private beach of a resort, not on the public beach. As we always say, respect local culture and make an attempt to be a part of it.
The weather in the desert may get cold at night – it wouldn’t hurt to carry an extra layer if you are here in any season except the summer.
You will walk a lot in Jordan, especially if you have planned a trip to Petra. In the 12 hours that we spent at Petra, we walked over 20 kms! Needless to stay, comfortable shoes are a must have. Let the heels and the fancy shoes stay in the suit case and wear a pair of flat walking shoes for exploring this country. And oh, remember to carry a pair or beach slippers for the Dead Sea – the salt crustations can cut your skin!
Bargain, negotiate and haggle
Jordan isn’t a budget destination. Our nine days in Jordan cost us almost as much as nine days in any European destination.We bargained for ‘everything’ and ended up getting discounts of at least 10 – 20%. ‘Everything’ includes day trips in Wadi Rum, souvenirs. bottles of water, lip balm and even ice cream! If the goods do not have a printed price or are not being sold at printed price, there is room to bargain!
As always… send me an e-mail if you need any further details. Glad to help!
Let the travellers’ tribe grow!
I am leaving on a working trip next week so would like hotel suggestions for Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead sea. Of course we don’t need five star as we will only be in the hotel to sleep.
Any other suggestions would be most helpful.
Thank you in advance
Ainsley
Hi Ainsley! We stayed at Genny’s B&B in Amman. Genny and her husband are superb hosts and we would recommend the place. At Petra, we stayed at La Maison Hotel at the Petra gate. We would suggest staying at a place near the Petra gate as one would not want to drive back after walking for hours inside Petra.
At the Dead Sea, we stayed in the Crowne Plaza. It becomes imperative to stay in a 5 star that has its private beach if you want to wear a bikini and get in the water. At the public beaches, you need to be fully clothed while getting in. The property is superb and worth every penny that you spend.
For the above reason, at Aqaba we stayed at the Intercontinental. While this was a nice property, service standards were average and there were lots of flies on the beach.
Lastly, at Wadi Rum, we stayed at a desert camp. Do include a night in the desert and take plenty of warm clothes along!
hi i am bansi’s friend. planning a jordan and israel trip. can you tell me which rental agency u got the car from? would really help and what was the costing…
Hi! We rented a medium sized car from Avis. We picked up the car from the International Airport in Amman and gave it back in the city after 8 days. It cost us about USD 400, including all taxes for the same. Fuel was additional. Recommend reserving the car in advance by emailing them … Else you might be forced to take a larger and expensive car as the smaller ones might be booked.
Hi thanks also was it easy to navigate and find the places and sightseeing points on your own with GPS or is it better to rent car with driver
Self drive was great…and we could find all the points that we wanted. We got a local sim and used Google maps on it, which was fairly good. In case you are a little worried, you can rent a car with a GPS. A driver is needed only in Wadi Rum, where you should an guided tour.
This blog is very informative and I haven’t actually read about Jordan before! Your photos are really cool especially the photo of the falafels, they look delicious! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks Brittany! The falafels were yummy…Jordan sure has plenty to offer …even to a vegetarian!
This is great advice. I went to Jordan a few years ago and found it fascinating especially Petra. I didn’t get to Wadi Rum though. It’s interesting that the bedouins didn’t understand the concept of vegetarianism.
It was really difficult making the Bedouins understand that we don’t eat meat. In fact, they found it a little disrespectful that we turned down their offer to join them for lunch..could not help it…we just cant get ourselves to eat mutton 🙁
Thanks for the great tips… i am sure they will ease out the trip for a lot of people…being a vegetarian quite afraid for the food…and since you’ve mentioned about the one week visa issue will have to check before planning
Thanks for such a detailed point by point How to Do for Jordan. Wasn’t aware that it was Visa on arrival for Indians so that’s a pleasant surprise and so was the idea of self-drive. Although I’m not vegetarian, my family members are so the heads up on that is appreciated and your situation having to refuse a meal must have been really tricky I’m sure. Lovely post and Petra is a place I’ve been fascinated by for quite some time so hopefully some day…
There are some great tips here, especially about the visa on arrival and not worrying about a short overstay. At a dinar a day it wouldn’t matter if you had to pay it anyway. Great titanic pose, you guys had a better view though!
Jordan is on our Bucket list too. We hope to visit later this year. The situation you had with the Visa is kinda scary though. Glad it worked out, but thats not fair that they gave you a visa for less time than you’re actual visit when they saw your tickets. We’ve had some issues like this and gotten stranded in airports and missed flights when it was all the immigration offices fault. I wonder if they do this all the time.
These are really handy tips you’ve shared. I’ve never been to Jordan, but want to, especially Petra! That is on my bucket list. I appreciate the practical information you’ve shared for travelers!
I’m really hoping to make it to Jordan one day and these are some helpful tips. Some of them are pretty similar to some other countries I’ve been to, so preparing for those ones will be pretty easy. I’m actually pleasantly surprised that self-driving is a doable option, otherwise, I probably would’ve looked at tours. I love road trips so I may opt for renting a car instead! Also kind of surprised that Jordan isn’t a budget destination; my fiancee will have to handle the haggling. I’m a terrible haggler!
This is a lovely post. A few of my friends are going to Jordan in April. I would have gone with them, but I have already booked another trip for France during this time. I’m going to pass it on to them 🙂
Hi Sonia,
Can you tell me what flights did you take from India. I am trying to get something from Delhi, consider going to Jordan in December this year. Your blogs are so helpful. Thanks a ton for all the information you have put together.
Glad I could be of help! 😀
We went to Amman by Kuwait Airlines but I just did not like the airline and would never recommend it. However, we have flown by Royal Jordanian and that’s a good airline.
I have always flown from mumbai, hence don’t have a recommendation for Delhi. Check momondo … I use that engine the most.
Btw… send me an email if u want me to connect u to a few ppl there locally … services that we used.