Terra Nova Collective
Petra
An ancient Nabatean capital carved from sandstone, hidden for centuries and still humbling to see in person. Hike throughout the complex to imagine life in this ancient civilization. You can spend days exploring the various palaces.
Jordan
Sands, Stone & Silent Kingdoms
- Duration
- 7 days
- Trip style
- Cultural
- Effort
- Stress-free
- Region
- Middle East
Cross a country shaped by faith, empire, and desert winds, tracing the King’s Highway through cities, canyons, and sand
A one-week road trip through Jordan’s heartlands, from the Roman ruins of Jerash and the rose-red cliffs of Petra to the vast silence of Wadi Rum and the still waters of the Dead Sea
Jordan compresses 4,000 years of civilisation into landscapes that change every few hours. The journey begins in Amman, where Bronze Age ruins share a skyline with modern cafés, then heads north to Jerash, one of the world’s best-preserved Roman cities.
Travelling south, stop in Madaba, famed for its Byzantine mosaics, and descend 400 metres below sea level to float in the Dead Sea.
Continue along the ancient King’s Highway to Petra, the Nabatean masterpiece carved into rose-red rock, and end among the dunes of Wadi Rum, where Bedouin guides lead travellers across landscapes so still they feel lunar.
Seven-day Jordan road trip connecting Amman, Jerash, Madaba, the Dead Sea, Petra, and Wadi Rum via the King’s Highway
Highlights
Wadi Rum
A desert of wind-sculpted rock and endless silence, where Bedouin hospitality meets Martian-like scenery and nighttime brings incredible stargazing, traditional meals (Zarb), and sleeping under the stars in desert camps.
Dead Sea
Float in the densest water on Earth, 400m below sea level, surrounded by biblical landscapes, before covering yourself in therapeutic mud.
The route
Day 1: Amman
Day 2: Jerash / Amman
Day 3: Madaba / Mount Nebo / Dead Sea
Day 4: King’s Highway / Karak / Wadi Musa (Petra)
Day 5: Petra
Day 6: Wadi Rum
Day 7: Wadi Rum / Shobak / Amman
Start the journey
The first part of the day-by-day route, free to read.
Day 1: Amman, City of Seven Hills
Arrive in Amman, the lively capital built on the ruins of ancient Philadelphia. Visit the Citadel, with Roman columns and an 8th-century Umayyad palace, then descend to the Roman Theatre, still used for performances today. Dinner at Hashem, a beloved falafel café that hasn’t changed in decades.
Get the full Jordan itinerary
- The rest of the day-by-day route, 6 more detailed entries
- Where to stay, by budget
- Where to eat and drink
- Practical reminders and cautions
- Ways to shorten or extend the trip
- 18 photos from the trip
- A direct line to the traveller who led it
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Open the full itineraryFrom travellers on this trip
“I loved spending time in Jordan. As a Moroccan, the similarities were comforting whilst the cultural differences were a welcome surprise. Sharing tea with Bedouins in Wadi Rum was the highlight, where I got to learn about life in desert directly from the source.”
“Petra was incredible, but the crowds diminish the impact, whilst Jerash actually blew me away, walking through a Roman city frozen in time, with almost no crowds.”
“Driving down King’s Highway, with desert on both flanks, was a great endorphin boost. Coupled with entering the desert ourselves by gliding across dunes in our 4x4, the journey into Wadi Rum was exhilarating”
