One-Week (7-Day) Jordan Road Trip Itinerary
Whether you’re an adventurer, photographer, foodie, outdoor enthusiast, or historian, Jordan is a bucket list destination that has so much to offer. And as it’s extremely safe, with great roads and minimal traffic (outside the major cities), Jordan is also an excellent destination for a road trip, and for solo female travelers like me!
In just one week you can see the best Jordan highlights: Go back in time to the ancient city of Petra, have a thrilling adventure on awe-inspiring desert excursions in Wadi Rum, float in the hyper-saline Dead Sea bordered by Jordan and Israel, and pay a visit to Amman, with its mouthwatering food and amazing hospitality. Jordan is jam-packed with history and beauty, which is why it quickly became one of my all-time favorite destinations, and is one of my top recommended destinations for solo female travel and road trips.
Follow this one-week (7 day) Jordan travel guide for a bucket list adventure, and what may end up being the best road trip of your life!
Dead Sea (1 Night)
The Dead Sea is located at the world’s lowest elevation of 423 meters (approx. 1400 feet) below sea level and it is known as one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth. Private and public beaches line much of the coast, but if you are planning to stay for the whole day then booking a resort is the best option to really enjoy your leisure time there.
Day 1
After arriving in Jordan (the international airport is in Amman, called the Queen Alia International Airport), I suggest renting a car and driving directly to the Dead Sea. The drive is only about an hour, and if you arrive at night, you’ll likely miss the traffic! Check into your hotel for the night, enjoy a tranquil sunset at the Dead Sea as a warm welcome to Jordan, and have a delicious dinner at the Kempinski (which has several of the best restaurants in the area) before bed.
You can spend one or two nights at the Dead Sea depending on how much rest time you want, before continuing on your desert road trip. There isn’t much to do other than dipping your toes in the salty sea, enjoying yoga or meditation, watching the sunsets and sunrises, indulging at the Dead Sea spas, and experiencing the spiritual energy and tranquility of this unique location.
Where to stay
I recommend staying at a nicer resort at the Dead Sea to benefit from the facilities that can make the Dead Sea a much more enjoyable (and less skin-irritating) experience. Here’re a few resorts where you can make the most of the Dead Sea beach experience:
Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa: Features a private beach area along with a nice fitness centre. Apart from the basic amenities, the place comes with seven great dining venues, a car rental desk, a gift shop, a games room, and a playground for children.
Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea: A stunning 5-star resort that features a private set of beaches and a spa offering Dead Sea mud and sea salt treatments. The resort has rooms set among palm trees and olive groves. You can also enjoy meditation and yoga classes, a fitness centre, a tennis court, traditional Thai massages and nine freshwater pools. It has the best restaurants in the area, and is certainly the nicest hotel option at the Dead Sea if it works with your budget!
Mövenpick Resort & Spa: A 5-star hotel and spa with panoramic views of the Dead Sea. It looks like a traditional Arabic village with a massive spa to relax in. You will find a full-service kids’ club along with a wealth of relaxation and wellness treatments in its 6000m2 facility.
Tips for visiting the Dead Sea
Do not miss the sunset. Watching the sun drop below the sea’s unmoving horizon was one of my favorite experiences in Jordan, especially coupled with a peaceful meditation soundtrack. It also is the coolest time of day, considering spending too much time in the midday Jordan heat can be a bit rough.
Splurge on a Dead Sea resort, so that you can access fresh water showers, spa and Dead Sea mud after your dipping in the sea. If you use a public beach and allow the salt to sit on your skin, you’re bound to have a very itchy and uncomfortable experience.
Buy some Dead Sea mud to take the experience home! The Dead Sea mud is full of minerals that are good for your skin and it’s usually offered near the beaches for an affordable price.
Petra AKA “The Lost City” (2 Nights)
I’d dreamt of visiting this ancient city for ages and believe me, it’s even more spectacular than you could imagine.
Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it’s one of the most visited and most loved attractions in Jordan. The incredible Petra Monastery is surrounded by 2000 impressive structures/caves carved out of sandstone where hundreds of families still live. This rose-colored city was once inhabited with 20,000 cave-dwellers, but after a massive earthquake and ocean-based trade routes, the city was left deserted.
After more than 500 years of the city being lost, a Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt rediscovered it, and the discovery attracted archaeologists from all across the globe. Today, the city is only 15 percent uncovered and the rest is still hidden underground.
At present, around 50-150 families of the B’doul tribe still live here in the caves. Many have relocated to nearby villages at the pressure of the government, and to have access to healthcare and education, but a remaining few Bedouins (AKA ‘desert dwellers’) have stuck to their ancestral roots & made a home in the Petra caves, with one common word echoing through the mountains: Freedom.
Day 2
After a leisurely breakfast at your Dead Sea resort, start your road trip with a scenic drive to Petra. You’ll pass the coast of the Dead Sea, so feel free to pull over for photos at scenic viewpoints. If you choose to take a dip in the Sea, remember to have plenty of fresh water with you to rinse off as you do not want to be letting the salt sit on your skin for the drive.
The drive from the Dead Sea to Petra takes about 3 hours.
After reaching Petra, stop for a delicious lunch at Jordan Heart Restaurant before checking into your hotel. Your Jordan Pass will give you access to Petra for the number of days you indicated, and I recommend heading into Petra your first afternoon to explore the front part of Petra, including the slot canyon entrance, the iconic Treasury, and the caves and routes that lead to viewpoints up the cliffside where you can enjoy a Bedouin tea while overlooking this UNESCO site.
Day 3
On your second day in Petra, I recommend arriving at Petra Archaeological Park before it opens to be the first to enter. Start early and take a walk to the entrance to get the best views & photos of the iconic Treasury before the crowds of tourists arrive.
I spent the whole day exploring Petra Archaeological Park. You may want to explore the caves and higher portions of the cliffs in the morning, and then you may leave the park to take a lunch break to avoid the midday heat. Or hide out in a bedouin cave for some tea, shisha, and interesting conversations with the locals on their lives and cultures in Petra.
After a lunch break, I returned to begin the pilgrimage to the Monastery. The Monastery is Petra’s true hidden gem and can’t be missed on your visit to Petra! It’s the largest monument in ‘The Lost City,’ and you have to walk to the ends of the city and then up 800 steps through the mountains to reach this site. But, it’s worth it. Most tourists do not do this, so it’s way less crowded than the Treasury, and you may be the only visitor there, especially towards sundown.
Where to stay
Mövenpick Resort, Petra: This 5-star resort is located directly at the entrance to the ancient city of Petra (just 50 meters away from the Petra Gate). The hotel’s rooftop garden terrace offers views of the Petra hills. The breakfast is exceptional, rooms are nice and spacious, and being so close to the entrance is a convenience worth spending a little extra for, in my opinion!
Guide: Saqar (WhatsApp: +962-7-7565-9429) was my unofficial Bedoin guide whom I met inside one of the Petra caves. He turned out to be great with the camera as well! You can find many local Bedouins inside Petra that will offer to be your guide, expecting a nice tip at the end to compensate for their time. I highly recommend getting a guide to tour Petra, as you won’t be able to find most of the routes and cave sites on your own, you will learn a lot more about the history and local culture and bedouin lifestyle, and it supports the local people who live there.
I’ve heard from some women who have had issues with the bedouin men as a solo female traveler. It’s important to be cautious being alone with the Bedouin men you’ll find in Petra, especially if it seems they are intoxicated, high, or getting overly flirtatious or touchy. I had a positive experience, but I always recommend being aware, trusting your gut, and having firm boundaries. Never be afraid to end a tour immediately if you sense something is off, or to clearly state when something makes you uncomfortable.
Tips for visiting Petra
During your journey from the Dead Sea to Petra, give yourself extra time to make stops to enjoy the view along the way.
Make sure you have a full tank of gas, as you’re in the middle of nowhere for most of this drive and gas stations are extremely sparse.
Experience Petra by night, when the Treasury is lit with over 1500 candles. It’s a bit touristic, but a cool experience if you happen to be there while it’s on. I typically runs on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights after sunset (8:30pm) for 2-2.5 hours, but double-check online to be sure if you want to prioritize this. Bring a flashlight (or make sure your phone is charged to use the torch) to guide your way back after dark!
Stay very hydrated and be prepared to walk a lot, in the sun.
Start early. The earlier you start your visit to the park, the more of the midday heat you can avoid. Plus with fewer people around, you will be able to get better photos and an overall better experience.
Depending upon the time of the year, you can break your visit to Petra between morning and evening segments and spend midday relaxing at your hotel, having a leisurely lunch, exploring Petra town, or hitting up a spa.
Bring small cash for tips for guides, or to grab extra waters or snacks along the way while inside the park.
Restaurants in Petra
Al Wafi Restaurant
Saijat Al Janoob
Bahia Rooftop & Restaurant
Jordan Heart Restaurant
Wadi Rum (3 Nights)
Wadi Rum is known as “The Valley of The Moon” for its red and white sand deserts, other-worldly landscapes, and untouched scenery for miles and miles that may look eerily familiar to you… In fact, it’s most famous for its features in movies including Star Wars, Transformers, and Dune. For the most unique desert camping adventure in the world, there’s no better place than Wadi Rum.
Day 4
Have a leisurely breakfast or early lunch in Petra town before heading back on the road to drive to Wadi Rum.
The drive is very beautiful, curving through canyons, dusty pink mountain ranges, and a few small villages. Mostly, you'll be in the middle of nowhere, so be sure your tank of gas is full before leaving Petra.
I arrive at Wadi Rum by midday for a delicious lunch prepared by my guide Ayed and his family. I highly recommend booking your Wadi Rum tour with Ayed (be sure to have him run your tour, as I’m not sure how much English his other family members speak).
Note that the only way to explore Wadi Rum is with a local guide, as you are not permitted to drive yourself around the protected area — not that you would want to, as there are no roads or internet connection, and you would get lost immediately.
After lunch in Wadi Rum village, your guide can take you on a half-day tour including catching sunset in the desert, before bringing you to your camp inside the Wadi Rum protected area for the night. Accommodations range from very basic, to luxurious tents or bubble domes — if it’s in your budget, I highly recommend splurging for a night or two in a bubble dome to experience sleeping under the stars!
I stayed for two nights at Memories Aicha Luxury Camp and definitely recommend it for a bucket-list Wadi Rum experience, it was definitely one of the most unique hotels I’ve stayed at! Be aware that you won’t find cell service or WiFi even at the luxury camps in Wadi Rum, so be prepared to fully disconnect and enjoy being truly transported while in the desert.
Day 5
After breakfast, begin your full day Wadi Rum tour to visit amazing sites including Khazali Canyon covered in ancient petroglyphs (rock carvings), Lawrence’s Spring, the breathtaking White Desert, and natural rock bridges, to name a few. At midday, stop for a picnic in the desert, as your guide prepares you delicious bedouin tea and a hot Jordanian meal with iconic Wadi Rum views.
After a stunning desert sunset, return to your camp for dinner and to enjoy what may be the best star-gazing anywhere in the world.
Day 6
Enjoy a slow start the next day, with a relaxing breakfast at your hotel before checking out and getting picked up by your guide. If you book with Ayed, he can take you on a peaceful, fascinating hike in Wadi Rum village where only locals go. Here you can visit a natural spring that’s surrounded by ancient rock carvings, but with no tourists around.
Go shopping for souvenirs at the women’s co-op in the village, and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by Ayed’s family, before heading back into the desert for a final night you won’t want to miss.
Enjoy your last Wadi Rum sunset, before finding your camping site in the desert, miles and miles away from any other lights, sounds, people, or even animals (aside from the occasional wandering camels who may pay you a visit). Camping under the stars in Wadi Rum is one of the best things to do in Jordan, and one of my favorite memories from my entire trip.
Enjoy the peaceful solitude and scenery as your guide prepares traditional Jordanian tea, and a delicious home-cooked meal (Ayed brought homemade maqluba, which was one of my favorite meals in my entire time in Jordan!) under a blanket of billions of stars. You won’t need tents for camping, as the weather is temperate, always dry, and there are no wild animals to worry about. Your guide will prepare a cozy sleeping area of blankets and mats by a rock in the vast open desert — truly a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience in Jordan.
Where to stay
Memories Aicha Luxury Camp: Featuring mountain views, the camp has beautiful accommodation, a garden, a terrace and barbecue facilities. The camp offers a diverse selection of food and has a restaurant serving Mediterranean and local cuisine buffet style. You can choose between tents or bubble domes, and while the bubble domes are priced higher, they really are worth it for a memorable experience. If you have serious stargazing activity on your bucket list then you must book their panoramic dome!
Bedouin camping under the stars: Rather than booking a hotel one night, a can’t-miss experience is to book a camping excursion with a bedouin tour guide. They’ll prepare a comfortable sleeping area for you under the stars, prepare dinner, and give you a truly authentic experience you’ll cherish forever. If you book with Ayed, request his sister’s amazing Maqluba (meaning upside down — a traditional dish of stewed chicken or other meat with spiced rice, fried eggplant cauliflower, potatoes, and tomatoes flipped upside down to be served on a giant plate) which he brought for our camping night and ended up being one of the best meals I had in Jordan.
GUIDE
I booked my Wadi Rum tour with Ayed from Wadi Rum Jeep Tours. You can reach out to him directly via WhatsApp with my name, at +962-7-7934-7883. His sister makes the most amazing food, you won’t want to miss it!
Amman
Amman is the capital city of Jordan. It’s also the oldest and most consistently inhabited city that has originally been founded in 7250 BC. Amman is westernized, brims with amazing food and has the most amazing hospitable people.
During my visit, I found the perfect spot to work at Rumi Café (@rumicafejo) and they make mouthwatering cakes. I had my dinner at the Jordan Heritage Restaurant. The food was delicious, the garden area is beautifully decorated, and the menu tells you the historic roots of all the different dishes.
Day 7
The next morning, wake up early with the sun and enjoy your morning tea while soaking up the last views of breathtaking Wadi Rum. Have breakfast back in Wadi Rum village prepared by your guide, and then get back on the road by midday for a long drive to Amman (4 hours).
Enjoy at least one night in Amman to try some amazing restaurants and hip cafes, and experience the vibrant hustle and bustle of the city.
Where to stay:
Suwan Housing: I stayed in these apartments while in Amman and had a great experience, the apartments are spacious, and have a washing machine, kitchen, and a separate dining/living space. This a pretty affordable option as well (factor in the cleaning fee on checkout, which is a little confusing), and great if you need to get work or laundry done!
The Ritz-Carlton: For a splurge on some true luxury and Jordanian hospitality, the Ritz is a pretty spectacular experience.
Important Tips to Visit Jordan
Just some basics you’ll want to know before your trip!
Jordan ‘Pass’ and ‘Visa’
A visa is required for entry to Jordan from most countries, which is typically available upon arrival. The visa fee is 40 Jordanian Dinar (JD). If you buy the Jordan Pass (a tourist pass that includes the cost of a visa fee, as well as entry to over 40 major attractions including Petra, Wadi Rum, Wadi Dana, Jerash, the Amman Citadel, the Ajloun Castle, Kerak Castle, and many other sights), the visa fee is included. Apply for the Jordan pass at www.jordanpass.jo.
Best Time To Visit Jordan
You can visit Jordan at any time of the year. Summers are generally hot and dry and winters are very cold. Spring (between March to May) is one of the best seasons to visit Jordan as the weather is quite pleasant and the whole country is covered with wildflowers, even the desert! For outdoor activities, you can also visit during autumn, which occurs between September to November. Note that the summers will be quite hot midday, which can be fine so long as you take some time to rest away from the sun, and plan most of your outdoor touring activities in the mornings and afternoons/evenings.
Language
Arabic is the main language in Jordan. English is also widely spoken at major tourist attractions and public places.
Currency
The Jordanian Dinar is the official currency of Jordan, and is pegged to the United States Dollar at 0.709 JOD = 1 USD. I recommend getting local cash at ATMs and avoiding pricey exchange offices (especially those at airports). You’ll need cash for tips and guide fees in Petra and Wadi Rum, as well as some restaurants which don’t take credit card.
Booking Hotels
If you want to visit during peak periods you should book your stay as soon as possible, as these destinations do get quite busy and the better hotels will book out. Check for flexible cancellations, and I recommend www.booking.com as their policies are comparatively easy having a variety of options.
If you are US-based, you can try the new booking site Safara, which gives you 10% cashback and carbon offsets all bookings for free. To get $20 off your first booking, use my link.
Let’s Go:
Jordan was one of my favorite countries I’ve every visited, and a country I’m sure I’ll return to over and over again. It’s the perfect destination for solo female travelers, and ideal for a road trip adventure whether solo or with friends. Add Jordan to your bucket list for its delicious cuisine, friendly locals, easy & scenic roads, breathtaking nature, impressive history, and overall safety and ease of travel.
