Aqaba Shore Excursion: Private Petra Sightseeing Tour with Lunch

Our driver was on time for the 2 hour journey to Petra. While he did everything required of him, he didn’t do any more than he had to and was quite surly. Our local guide Mohammed on the other hand was just amazing. He was so passionate about Petra and his knowledge was amazing. Unfortunately the heat, 42C, became too much for me and I was unable to enjoy the full experience of Petra. Our guide was so disappointed that we were unable to do the full tour, but lined up with my husband in the sun for 1-1/2 hours to get us into a golf buggy to get out. I can’t speak highly enough of him. We chose not to do the lunch and as we were on a shore excursion and headed back to the ship, arriving around 3pm. Had we been in a coach tour, I’d have had to wait around for several hours. Money we’ll spent.

What an amazing day! Had great communications in advance and when we arrived at the port had the smoothest arrival and meeting with the driver. Esam let me know he is outside and when I arrived he had a sign with my name on it, we jumped in the car with my moms wheelchair which was a plus and then took off. It was about a 2 hour ride but it went by fast. We were listening to music and enjoying the scenery. We stopped twice. Once for 2 min at the side of the road so he could get some camel’s milk (yes camels make milk and people drink it). He offered us some but we passed. Second was for a restroom break and to take pictures and shop for souvenirs for about 20 min. We ate lunch once we arrived in Petra since we arrived around noon at a restaurant and enjoyed the buffet. We then met our tour guide who was waiting for us and we paid extra to take the golf cart since my mom can’t walk far and it was so convenient. It would have been almost impossible or very uncomfortable to take her wheelchair. They prefer that you pay in Dinar. It was 25 Dinar ($35) and I exchanged money at the exchange about 200 steps away. The tour guide was good. And on the way back we stopped briefly to get some baklava per my moms request and were back on the ship in plenty of time. I highly recommend this company, driver Esam and the guide. Esam took really good care of my mom and made sure she was comfortable with the level of air conditioning which worked very well and ensuring she was comfortable in terms of drinks, restroom breaks, etc. I could not ask for more. He drove very safely and we felt comfortable with him even during our first sandstorm experience and he helped us navigate since he is a local. You won’t regret booking this excursion.

The driver/ guide Muhat was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of information on the drive from Aqaba to Petra. The lunch was lovely with lots of choices. Our Petra guide Muhammed could not have been any better. His knowledge of Petra history, of the Nabateans, of their Gods, the intricacies of the city were more than we could have ever hoped for.

Aqaba was a cruise stop for a day and we were met by our driver, Ahmed. He drove us directly to Petra and answered our questions about Jordan. (we decided to skip the lunch.) We were met by our guide Sami, who did an excellent job educating us about the fabulous area. He really cared about this world heritage site AND WAS WONDERFUL TO LEARN FROM. Red Rocks Tours kept in touch right up to getting in their privater vehicle. The cost for a private tour with 2 people was 20% less than taking a bus from the cruise line and cut out several hours of driving time.

Petra is an amazing creation of human civilization. We had the private tour, my husband and I was driven to Petra by a driver that had a hard time speaking English, he tried. Our VIATOR tour guide was a slick Bedouin, he only showed us the Treasury, very distracted by the crowd as well his Bedouin friends. I had to pay him extra to guide me to see more of the place. He was supposed to spend 2hours of guided tour but he only spent about 30 minutes. All in all it was the experience of seeing the wonders of Petra that I will remember and nuisance of having to deal with the smell of the donkey and camels’ feces, swarms of flies, the conniving Bedouins, and very expensive tour that was far below my expectations.

Our guide was friendly and helpful. It was a great day. I would recommend this tour. The lunch was superb.

First sighting of The Treasury. The heat and the uphill walk back was sickening. There should be provision to take a buggy back without standing in more heat for another hour at least.

Excellent guide & driver. A wonderful experience. Small number of participants. The guide was very knowledgeable.

Perfect way to see Petra. Omar our drive was on time and got us to Petra. The tour guide we had was knowledgeable, friendly and a great photographer.

Breathtaking views and incredible histories from start of the Siq to the Treasury and on to the Roman ruins. Easy walking roads throughout. Our guides are very knowledgeable and articulate to relate historic points.