Petra 1 dagstur från Aqaba

We hired Tourist Jordan to drive us from the airport to Petra and back, and for a 1 day tour in Petra. They provided a safe, polite, and punctual driver for our 3 day visit to Jordan. Petra is amazing and well worth the visit. It reminded me of Moab, Utah, and coincidentally the area north of Petra was called Moab in ancient times (which one was named first? haha). The entrance to Petra includes a museum and shopping bazar. Once you enter the complex, you can hire a horse for the first part of the walk for a $5 tip. You then enter a shaded canyon with a smooth path for a 20 minute walk until you get to the main "Treasury" site. After that, the path becomes standard exposed desert, and the remainder of the sites are out in the hot sun. The entire complex takes about 3 hours to see, unless you decide to hike or take a donkey ride up to the "Monastery" which adds another 2 hours to the trip. You will be approached by numerous young men about hiring a donkey, but they are polite and will leave you alone after saying "No, thank you" 2-3 times. Major tip: Get a driver for the day and then hire your own guide when you buy your tickets at the gate. The tour company does not actually have guides - their driver just walks in with you and goes over to a pool of guides sitting there and hires one on the spot for you. They take a cut, and you get some random guy for 2 hours. He will walk with you through the main complex, and then leave you at the end when you decide if you want to hike the 900 steps to the Monastery. There is a shuttle bus at the exit that takes you back to the ticket office (after the obligatory stop at a state funded "cultural center"/shopping area. The museum at the front entrance has good A/C and is worth a cool down visit upon your return.

Kareem took us to one of the best tour guides experiences ever. What a guy! Explained everything, give us support on the bus, share his own wi fi because the tour bus doesn't have wi fi.... What a guy! Love it!

Don't book the day trip to Petra with Tourist Jordan: the transfer doesn't run, you spend a lot and spend less than 3 hours in Petra. I booked with a confirmed pick-up from my hotel in Aqaba, the same morning 29 minutes before the 9am appointment I received a semi-incomprehensible WhatsApp audio from the driver who said that instead of coming to pick us up he would wait for us in a place 15m away km away. We had to rush to find a taxi (10JOD) to run into the city to look for the driver, who took us to the border where we found the bus. Around 10.30 we finally moved, the guide Karim insisted on stopping at the gates of Wadi Rum to have us photograph the beauty of the place, choosing a point full of rubbish and making us waste half an hour. Around 12.30 he makes us stop at a friend's shop and doesn't leave until someone buys, making us waste another half hour. We were in Petra for less than 3 hours, during which he practically gave us no historical explanations, before leaving us alone he only repeated incessantly that the Nabataeans were rich and smart, on the way back he stopped again at his friend's shop once in Aqaba he abandoned us at the border, forcing us to take another 25JOD taxi. In total we spent 35JOD which the agency did not reimburse me even though I sent them the messages telling me to make do and look for a taxi "because Aqaba taxi drivers don't issue receipts". The guide Karim told me that hotel pick-ups outside the center are usually canceled to save money, even on my bus a girl did not receive a hotel pick-up in Israel and had to take a taxi to the border and a another taxi to chase our bus an hour from Aqaba, to be able to participate in the excursion. Taking a private driver or regular buses costs much less and allows you to spend more time in Petra by hiring a guide directly in Petra if you want, since the Tourist Jordan guide doesn't explain anything.

I was travelling solo so I booked this Aqaba-Petra tour at the last minute. I was the only one they picked up from Aqaba but they were well on time and was constantly communicating with me. The tour itself to Petra took about 3 hrs I believe. It was a very warm day but it was worth it! There weren’t as much tourists as well and when you get lucky you can get some instances where you can get photos of you alone with nobody at the background. I would like to thank Kareem, our tour guide, who’s been nothing but pleasant during our tour! He was constantly checking one me as I was travelling solo and made sure that I was okay. Will recommend Tourist Jordan for sure.

Travelling with Tourist Jordan / Tourist Israel is useless, TAKE A TAXI TO SAVE YOUR MONEY AND SPEND MORE TIME IN PETRA. I made a reservation with pick-up at my hotel 15 kms from Aqaba. Pick-up was confirmed in all emails, but the morning of the travel the driver sent me a barely comprehensible voicemail saying he was told to pick me up at Hilton in Aqaba downtown. I thought he was wrong, but this was the "nice" way the agency chose to tell me I should rush to find a taxi (10 JOD) or stay home. The guide forced the bus to stop 2 times at a shop for 1 hour total, so we were in Petra less than 3 hours, even if we spent all day travelling and the distance is only 2 hours. The guided tour consisted in 3 basic information and many many many jokes, honestly not what we paid for. Back in Aqaba we were left at the Israel border, so we needed to take another taxi (25 JOD) and the company refused to reimburse us. Assistance via whatsapp was useless (they didn't know about the cancelled pick-up and wrote me to wait for a driver who wouldn't come) and email customer service was even worse (we would love to reimburse you, but Jordan taxis don't issue receipts, so it is their fault if we don't give you back your money). if you like to pay for bad service Tourist Jordan is your company.

Excellent guide, good meal, good coach, well organised experience. Lucky on the day as not many other tourists there

Everything was just perfect, nice and competent guide, average food quality at lunch. The only problem is the long travel times and transfers due to the long distance between Perth and Aqaba. I definitely recommend this trip.

I have booked this trip which was supposed to start at 9 am. After no one arrives, we call the agency, they pick up the phone and tell us - without any reason - that the tour starts at 10 am. The driver arrives at 10 and he is smoking in the car. Without any explanation, he takes us to the border - opposite direction from the way to Petra. We get told to wait for the main bus, we wait for 45 minutes. The bus doesn’t arrive. We call again; we were told that the bus is coming. We ask when the bus will arrive; the lady on the phone does not know the answers. She promised to call us back. She doesn’t call us. The bus arrives and tells us we need to wait longer for the rest of the group to arrive. We have now waited for 2 hours and 5 minutes for the tour to start - all valuable time we could have used at Petra. I am very disappointed and caution everyone against using the provider.

No driver at pick-up appointment Attedu an hour Day wasted and a lot of time wasted then to find another way to get to Petra

Nizar is a great guide! Prepared, knowledgeable and with excellent English explained well both the story of Petra and Jordan. Even if in a single day, he managed to transmit us so much interesting and curious information. Petra is a marvel and is undoubtedly worth the visit. The tour organized very well, with meeting directly at the port when getting off the ship. Thank you so much! Very recommended