Wadi Rum

Adventure Guide

Wadi Rum

Adventure Guide

Why Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a valley in Jordan that is famous for its dramatic desert landscape. The area is popular with adventure seekers who come to experience its many activities, such as rock climbing, hiking, and camping.

Wadi Rum is also a popular spot for stargazing. The lack of light pollution makes it one of the best places in the world to see the night sky.

If you’re looking for an adventure, Wadi Rum is the perfect place to go. Keep reading to learn more about this amazing place!

Tickets

To enter the protected area all visitors will be charged a standard fee of 5 JD (about €6.5). If you opted for the Jordan Pass, you will just have to show it at the entrance since the fee is included.

How to get there

Wadi Rum can be easily reached by driving on the main roads from Aqaba, Amman and Petra. You can also get to the Visitor Center by taxi or by bus tour.

Spending the night in Wadi Rum

If you decide to spend a night (or more) in the desert, you will find multiple options for every budget. You can find stays on booking.com as low as €2 per night, or you can opt for a luxury stay at around €400 per night.

Most camps have electricity, running water and wi-fi. Usually, lunch and dinner are not included in the price so ask upfront about the cost so you can budget your trip properly.

We chose to stay at Sand Star Camp, a traditional Bedouin camp.

What to do

No matter if you choose to spend a night in the desert or not, there are a lot of activities that Wadi Rum has to offer. If you decide to stay in the desert, check with your host what activities they can offer and book with them since most of the time you will get a better deal.

4WD tour

A guided 4WD tour is the best way to see the beautiful red desert. How much you will actually get to see depends on the length of the tour as well as on the tour organiser. The camp we stayed at offered 2h, 4h and 6h long tours. We went on the 4h tour and honestly I think it was the perfect amount of time.

Some of the tour highlights include:

Camel safari

There’s nothing like a camel tour to explore the beauty of the desert. The camels move at a slow pace, giving you plenty of time to take in all the scenery. Your guide will be on their own camel and all of the camels will be tethered together for an organized and comfortable ride. However, if you want to experience the true spirit of the desert, you can take the reins and put your own Bedouin spirit to the test!

Enjoy a bedouin dinner

What better way to end the day than having a delicious dinner on Mars? If you choose to stay at a Bedouin camp, you will be served Zarb for dinner. Zarb is a traditional form of Bedouin barbecue that has been around for centuries. The unique flavour that comes from zarb is created by the charcoal smoke that infuses into the food as it cooks in the underground oven.

Stargazing
  • To get the full desert experience, book at least one night in a bedouin camp and explore the night sky. Secluded from artificial light, Wadi Rum is one of the best locations for stargazing in the northern hemisphere.
  • You can easily see the Milky Way in the desert once you get away from your accommodation, but don’t wander off too far away as it can be dangerous.

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Author

  • Full-time software engineer, part-time traveller. I am the annoying person who slows you down because she saw a stray cat that “needed” attention.