Petra Tourist Information

Petra sights are at their best in early morning and late afternoon when the sun warms its multicolored stones. Prepare yourself to enjoy the most majestic and imposing ancient site still-standing nowadays.

General Tips

  • Horse-drawn carriage at Al-Siq- Allow 1 to 3 days to tour Petra, bring water and some candies with you.
  • Guided Tours are available, and staff at the Petra Visitor's Center at entrance of the site are at your service to answer your questions and provide assistance. Maps and excellent guidebooks are on hand
  • We suggest that you walk the one-kilometer-long Siq, or hire a horse-drawn carriage to enter the site. You can hire a donkey, horse, or camel inside the site (the donkey is very useful for climbing!). In all cases, its better to hire a horse when leaving the site through the Siq.
  • Remember to pace yourself, as the site is large and can involve some fairly steep climbs. The way to Al-Deir takes about an hour with approximately 800 steps, and it takes about 35 minutes to the High Place of Sacrifice with approximately 1050 steps.

Suggested Tour

Day 1: Al-Siq, The Treasury, Street of Facades, The Theater, The Royal Tombs, The City Center, Qasr Al-Bint Temple, Al-Habees Museum, Petra Archeological Museum, Al-Deir, and back.

Day 2: Al-Siq, The Treasury, High Place of Sacrifice, The Lion Monument, The Garden Temple Complex, The Triclinium, The Renaissance Tomb, The Broken Pediment Tomb, The Roman Soldier Tomb, and back.

What to Wear

Sportswear, baggy pants, and walking shoes are advisable. Keep in mind the relative conservatism of Middle Eastern societies. Summer evenings can be quite cool, so one should be prepared to wear a shawl or sweater. Winters are cold, windy and rainy.

Open Hours

Daily: 6 AM to 6 PM

Museums

Petra Archeological Museum is located inside the site (see Petra Map & Monuments), which houses a wide variety of finds from Petra (Hours 8:00-16:00)

Another small but interesting museum is to be found in an unusual Nabataean structure set into the hillside of Al-Habees (Hours 8:00-16:00).

Restaurants

Local Restaurants and American Style Restaurants like Pizza Hut are to be found nearby the entrance and in Wadi Mosa town. Petra also, boasts a number of hotels to suit every taste and budget where you can enjoy delicious food (e.g. Al-Iwan in Movenpick Resort and Taybet Zaman).

See our Petra Tours