Jordan · airport pick-up
Airport car rental in Petra
Pick up a rental car at Petra's airport terminals. Expedia Cars covers every major counter on arrivals — collect your key minutes after baggage claim, drop off at the same gate, no shuttle hassle.
- ✓On-airport counters at every Petra terminal
- ✓No off-site shuttles for the major brands
- ✓Flexible fare options shown per flight
- ✓One-way drop-off available · Powered by Expedia Cars
What first-timers get wrong in Petra
Buy the Jordan Pass online before you fly. At 70 to 80 dinars depending on how many Petra days you want, it bundles forty-odd sites and waives the visa fee provided you stay at least two nights. Arriving without it, and without an overnight in Jordan, pushes the Petra ticket to 90 dinars. The short horse ride from the gate is included in your ticket; the handler's tip demand is not.
What things cost in Petra
Entry is 50 dinars for one day, 55 for two and 60 for three if you sleep in Jordan; day-trippers who do not sleep here pay 90. The Jordan Pass at 70 to 80 covers all of that plus the visa fee. Petra by Night is a separate ticket around 17. A mansaf dinner in Wadi Musa runs 8 to 15, and the JETT coach from Amman sits in the low teens.
Petra with kids, realistically
Under-twelves enter free, which helps, but the walking does not: two kilometres of Siq before the Treasury appears, and roughly eight kilometres round if you add the Monastery steps. Past the visitor centre the surface turns to gravel and then bare rock, so a carrier beats wheels. Shade essentially runs out once you leave the gorge. Donkey handlers press rides on tired children very insistently.
What to eat in Petra
Wadi Musa, the town above the gate, is where you eat, and the list is short. Mansaf, lamb cooked in fermented dried yoghurt called jameed and served over rice, is the one dish to order at least once. Bedouin camps toward Wadi Rum do zarb, meat buried and baked in a sand pit. Inside the park, stalls sell sage tea at captive-audience prices. Petra Kitchen runs evening classes.
Petra after dark
The Cave Bar at the Petra Guesthouse sits inside a Nabataean rock tomb and claims to be the oldest bar anywhere, which is the whole nightlife argument for Wadi Musa. Otherwise it is hotel bars and an early night, because the town runs on a dawn-start rhythm. Petra by Night, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, walks the candlelit Siq to the Treasury and needs a separate ticket.
When to go to Petra
| Best months for airport-cars | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| May | 28°C / 82°F | 1 days |
| April | 24°C / 75°F | 2 days |
| October | 26°C / 79°F | 2 days |
The month to avoid is January — around 13°C (55°F) with roughly 8 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: May is the sweet spot, January the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, High-SPF sunscreen, sunglasses, and a refillable water bottle, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.