Enchanting Jordan: 5-Day Self-Launched Expedition (Amman to the Dead Sea)

Land at Queen Alia International Airport (AMM). Buy your Jordan Pass online before arrival — the Jordan Explorer pass (£60 approx / 70 JOD) waives the visa-on-arrival fee and covers Petra, Wadi Rum and Jerash. Take the Airport Express bus (Sariya) into Amman's Tabarbour or the 7th Circle for about 3.5 JOD (~£4), then a Careem/taxi to downtown for 2–3 JOD. Settle into a hostel in the old town (Jabal Amman or downtown near Hashemite Plaza). Spend the late afternoon walking the Citadel and the Roman Theatre (included on the Jordan Pass), then grab a falafel-and-hummus dinner at Hashem Restaurant in downtown for about 3 JOD.

🚌Airport Express bus ~£4 + local taxi ~£3

🛏Downtown Amman hostel dorm or private room (e.g. Jordan Tower Hotel area) — £15

• →Citadel and Roman Theatre on the Jordan Pass
• →Hashem Restaurant falafel dinner
• →Rainbow Street evening stroll

Take the early JETT bus from Amman's Abdali station to Wadi Musa (Petra) — roughly 3.5–4 hrs, ~10 JOD (~£11). Alternative: the 7am JETT daily service or shared minibus from Wihdat station (cheaper but less comfortable). Check into a budget guesthouse in Wadi Musa and walk 10 minutes to the Petra Visitor Centre. Use your Jordan Pass for entry (Petra one-day is included). Do the Main Trail yourself: through the Siq, the Treasury, the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, up to the Monastery (about 800 steps — allow 2 hrs round trip). If you'd like a guide, local guides can be hired at the gate for about 50–70 JOD for a half day, or book a small-group Petra tour via GetYourGuide/Klook (~£25). Optional: Petra by Night (Mon/Wed/Thu, 17 JOD) — book at the visitor centre.

🚌JETT bus Amman–Wadi Musa ~£11

🛏Wadi Musa budget guesthouse/hostel, private or shared (e.g. Petra Guest House area) — £18

• →Petra Main Trail self-guided
• →Siq to Treasury
• →Monastery climb
• →Optional Petra by Night 17 JOD

Take a local minibus or taxi (about 5 JOD / £5, 15 mins) to Little Petra (Siq al-Barid) — free with the Jordan Pass, rarely crowded, and a beautiful taste of what's to come. Return to Wadi Musa and catch the shared minibus or taxi to Wadi Rum Village (about 1.5 hrs, 8–10 JOD / £9) — or arrange a transfer through your camp. Most budget camps include a pickup from the visitor centre in a 4x4. Book a Wadi Rum desert camp directly (e.g. Hasan Zawaideh Camp or a smaller Bedouin-run camp) with a 2-hour jeep tour, dinner and breakfast included — expect £35–45 per person for a deluxe tent/shared tent. Sunset jeep tour among the rock bridges, zarb dinner cooked underground, then stargazing (some camps offer a telescope session for 5–10 JOD). Optional camel ride ~15 JOD.

🚌Local taxi/minibus to Little Petra ~£5 + Wadi Rum transfer ~£9

🛏Bedouin desert camp, deluxe/shared tent with dinner, breakfast & jeep tour — £40

• →Little Petra (Siq al-Barid)
• →2-hour Wadi Rum jeep tour
• →Zarb dinner & stargazing

After breakfast in camp, take the morning minibus or shared taxi to Aqaba or directly north — the practical route is a taxi to Wadi Rum visitor centre, then the JETT/Trust bus north, or a shared taxi to Madaba (about 3 hrs, 12–15 JOD / £14). Base yourself in Madaba's budget guesthouses rather than a 5* Dead Sea resort. Visit St George's Church to see the 6th-century Madaba Map mosaic (2 JOD), then a local taxi to Mount Nebo (about 5 JOD return, 10 mins) for the view across the Jordan Valley. Finish the day at Amman Beach / a public Dead Sea beach (entry around 20–25 JOD incl. towel and showers) — float, do the mud-bath ritual, and watch the sunset. Cheaper option: the free public beach near Suweimeh with a shower block.

🚌Shared taxi/bus Wadi Rum–Madaba ~£14 + local taxi to Mount Nebo ~£5

🛏Madaba budget guesthouse — £16

• →Madaba Map at St George's Church
• →Mount Nebo
• →Dead Sea float & mud bath (public beach entry ~£22)

A slow morning — an optional return dip in the Dead Sea or a wander through Madaba's mosaic workshops (bargain for a small mosaic tile souvenir). Then take a local bus or shared taxi from Madaba to Amman (about 45 mins, 2–3 JOD / £3), and the Airport Express bus or Careem to Queen Alia International (about 4 JOD / £4). If your flight is late, add a half-day to Jerash (included on the Jordan Pass) — a bus from Amman's Tabarbour station takes 1 hr, ~2 JOD.

🚌Madaba–Amman bus ~£3 + Airport Express ~£4

🛏None (departure day)

• →Madaba mosaic shops
• →Optional Jerash Roman ruins (Jordan Pass)