13 Wonderful Things To Do in Jordan — ALONG DUSTY ROADS

Discover The Ancient City Of Petra

The most famous place in Jordan, one of the new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’, and a deserved number one entry on nearly every travellers’s bucket list in the country.

At the crossroads of several civilisations and a cosmopolitan power broker amongst them, Petra was an influential and well-known place in the ancient world. However, it was effectively forgotten by history and outsiders for a thousand years until its ‘rediscovery’ by a disguised young Swiss adventurer-scholar.

The beautiful rock-cut facades of the Monastery and the Treasury, carved directly into the mountain from the top down, are the most captivating and well-known places in the former capital of the Nabataeans, but there are several other equally beguiling temples, death tombs and cave homes which pockmark the sandstone cliffs. You can also hike to multiple trails for viewpoints and hidden-away treasures.

In short, there’s much more to Petra than simply a few well-known Instagram shots.

A walk through this UNESCO World Heritage Site across a day or three provides more questions than answers, and more mysteries than epiphanies in the sand and dust. But succumbing to the mystery of how the rose-red city in the rocks came to be, and came to be forgotten, is part of the appeal.

If you’ve got the time, we’d also recommend nipping over to the nearby Little Petra, a collection of rock-cut facades that date back to the 1st century AD. Back then, this once lush agricultural area was an important base for the long-distance trade, and acted as a resupply post for the many caravans that visited Petra.

It’s not a substitute for the main event, but does offer the chance to walk between carved Nabataean temples and ancient caves in relative stillness; an experience that can difficult to gain in Petra itself if you’re not an early riser.

Top Tip // To make the most of your time in Petra, consider taking a guided tour.