Jordan is an amazing country filled with great food, culture and history.

Jordan borders Saudi Arabia to the south and the east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and Israel and Palestine to the west. If you have the opportunity to head to Jordan here are a few things that will help plan your trip:

• 💰 Jordanian Dinar is used and is basically the same conversion as GBP £
• 🇯🇴 In Jordan, they speak Arabic
• 🚕 Uber and Gett are transport apps to use
• ✈️ You will need a visa that costs around £60 (or Jordan pass)
• 🎫 The Jordan pass costs around £70. It waives the visa cost and covers your entrance fees into most top attractions. Highly recommend it!
• 🌡 Average temperature in summer is 32 and winter it’s 10.
• 🍽 Average meal was 6-7 JOD. We ate lots of mixed grills, hummus and Middle Eastern food.
• ⛑ We found Jordan to be relatively safe. People were friendly. We have heard taxis can scam you but we had a great driver (contact me if you need his details.

Places to visit:

Petra was by far my favourite place to visit and is an absolute must. We stayed right across the road from the entrance which was convenient as it opens at 6am. Between 6-8am there were no tourists and it was much more enjoyable. Again camel rides are available here but I recommend doing the 2K walk to the monastery. It was well worth it.

Amman is the capital city. You will most likely fly into here. There are some sights outside the city including: Ajloun Castle and Jerash (ancient city). Apart from that, it’s a busy city with markets and shops.

Aqaba is a really nice city filled with restaurants, bars and hotels. It’s on the beach! We only spent a few hours there but it is a nice stop if you’re passing through.

Wadi Rum is in the south of the country and is in the desert. Here we went on a Jeep ride and there was the option to do a camel ride as well. I strongly urge you not to as I saw animals being mistreated but each to their own. We camped here (and got eaten alive) so bug spray is a must!

The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth reaching 430 metres below sea level. It’s 33% salt and is called the Dead Sea because of the high levels of salt no fish can live there. If you have done a float tank it’s similar to this but way better. The water feels slimy but you can wear a normal swimsuit there and shower after. You need to bring your own towel or buy one there. 

As there are quite long distances between these destinations, it would be best to join a tour. We did the Travel Talk tour and made some amazing friends but it was targeted at budget travellers. The tour guide was super knowledgeable and shed light on some different tour companies and what they focus on. If I was to go again, I’d look into the intrepid tour as it’s smaller groups and the itinerary is slightly different.

Neighbouring countries are Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. I highly recommend visiting Egypt and Israel and I know you can do longer tours that cross into these countries. We came from Israel so if you have questions about crossing the border you can see the info here.

The information online was super confusing (and misleading) so I’m going to break down how to cross the border from Israel into Jordan, how much it costs and how long it takes.

There are 3 different check points you can cross from Israel into Jordan. We used The Allenby/King Hussein Bridge as it’s closest to Jerusalem. The others are Sheikh Hussein crossing /Northern Border and Wadi Araba Crossing/South Border.

• To cross the border by land at Allenby Bridge, you need to have a pre-approved visa. You cannot obtain a visa at the border.
• This can be done in 2-3 working days at any Jordanian embassy. You need to submit your passport during this time.
• You cannot drive yourself across the border and need to use the transport provided.
• Get a Jordan Pass which gives you free entry to most attractions/sites and to waive your visa fee.

Israel to Jordan

Getting from Jerusalem city centre to Allenby Bridge:

• The taxi takes you right up to the terminal which is similar to an airport departures.
• Hop out, walk through the departures. If you have suitcases they get given to security.

Allenby/King Hussein Bridge: Exiting Israel

• This is similar to immigration at an airport. First you need to pay your exit fee at the counter, then line up in the exit line. When called, present your exit receipt and exit ticket (both given when you pay your exit fee).
• You are then escorted to a bus. We waited almost 1 hour on the bus as it’s leaves when it’s full. The time waiting will depend on how busy the border is.

Allenby Bridge to the Jordanian Border

• The bus will drive you across ‘no mans land’ to the Jordan border entry. The bus fee is to be paid in cash but can be paid in any currency (JOD, GBP, USD, INS).

Jordan Border Entry

• It’s well worth getting a Jordan Pass which includes your entry visa and entry to 40 main attractions across Jordan. It includes sights like Petra, Wadi Rum and Jerash. You need to have organised this prior to your arrival

Jordan Border to Amman

• We took a taxi from the border into Amman. We negotiated the price before we got in the taxi. We read there is a transfer but did not see it when we were there.

Total time: 2 hours from Jerusalem city to Amman cityTotal trip cost: £144 per person including the Jordan pass.  

While the border crossing seemed confusing, it was very quiet when we were there and we were able to navigate our way through. If you have cash, your pre approved visa and your Jordan Pass, it should be seamless. We were not questioned about our time in Israel.

Amman, Jordan to Jerusalem, Israel

• We took a taxi from Amman to the border. We negotiated the price before we got in the taxi. There is also transfer bus from Amman 11 JOD per person and is run by Jett
• TIP: Get there early. The border opens 8am-1:30pm on Saturday. We arrived at 7:40am and were seen straight away (before bus loads of people arrived). 

Exiting Jordan

• Fill out an exit ticket with your name and passport information. Hand in your passport, exit ticket and exit fee receipt. 
• Your passport gets handed back to you on the bus so no need to worry when boarding the bus but DO NOT allow the bus to leave without your passport in your hand.
• Once on the bus, you will need to pay the 7 Jordanian Dinars for yourself + bags if you have any.

Getting from Allenby Bridge to Jerusalem city centre

• There is a local bus (can see timetable through Egged) however when we crossed it was Saturday and there were no buses running.
• We booked a private transfer through Get Transfer which cost £100 for all 4 of us in an SUV.

Total time: 2 hours, 10 minutes from Amman to Jerusalem
Total trip cost: £89 per person