1 destination · 10 things to do

Jordan

Petra is the rose-red city of the Nabataeans, carved straight into the sandstone cliffs of southern Jordan more than two thousand years ago and hidden from most of the outside world until the nineteenth century. You walk in through the Siq, a narrow, winding gorge with walls that close overhead, and it opens without warning onto the Treasury, the most famous facade in the Middle East. Beyond it lie royal tombs, a theatre, colonnaded streets and, up a long rock-cut stairway, the vast Monastery. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, and the little town of Wadi Musa at its gate is the natural base. A short drive north is Little Petra, a free, quiet echo of the main site, and two hours south is Wadi Rum, the desert of red sand and towering granite and sandstone mountains that T. E. Lawrence crossed and filmmakers use as Mars. This guide shows you how to plan your days inside Petra, when to walk the Siq before the crowds, whether Petra by Night is worth it, how to spend a night in a Wadi Rum camp, how to visit from Amman or Aqaba, and which hotel suits your trip, from a resort at the gate to a dome under the desert stars.