During my recent stay in Amman, I decided to see Petra for the first time and choose to do it as a day trip, since the ancient site is only a 3 hour drive from Jordan’s capital city. However, even my journalists’ research skills were unable to find online any updated instructions, phone numbers or locations for transportation for a Petra day trip. Without the benefit of staying at a hotel that could arrange the trip for me, it took me two days of asking around, calling the directory service, calling the bus company, and figuring out how to get to the bus company’s station before I was able to succeed in my trip. So here below I’m providing the instructions for travelers who have to arrange the trip themselves.
For a photo feed of the day trip described here, see Petra Day Trip Photos
While private taxis and drivers as well as service (shared taxi) lines are available during business hours to take travelers from Amman to the Petra ruins 3 hours south, the JETT bus schedule as of recently, allows the trip to be done in one day. The Jordanian Tourist and Transportation bus company rules the bus landscape in most of the country, offering professional, courteous service and clean, air conditioned, non-smoking buses to most common destinations from Amman.
Travelers wishing to go to or from Petra are advised to make reservations the night before. The JETT bus company number as of October 2008 is (locally) 566-4146. They asked me to come make reservations in person at the office, which I was unable to do, but fortunately I was able to get a seat (one of the only available) when I showed up in the morning. A round-trip ticket is 15 Jordanian Dinars.
Buses to Petra leave daily from Amman near the Abdali bus station at 6:30am. They return from Petra at 4pm in the winter, 5pm other times of the year. The trip takes about three and a half hours there, including a 30 minute break at a rest stop that offers food, drinks and souvenirs. The way back is slightly less, with a shorter rest stop.
If you’re not having arrangements made through a hotel, you’ll need to find a way to get to the Abdali bus station, where the JETT bus office is nearby. I called a private taxi the night before to arrange a pickup from the house at 5:45am. (You can try to find any taxi in town during the day who will agree to do a pickup for you on the morning you want to leave, or call a taxi office and make the arrangements, but my warning is to do this during daytime hours and not attempt it the night before or the morning of. I had a hard time finding a phone number for a taxi office that was open in the evening hours when I started to look).
Arrive at the JETT offices, just around the Abdali bus station, by 6 or 6:15am — if you haven’t made a reservation, the earlier the better — and buy your tickets.
The JETT bus offices near the Abdali station in Amman, Jordan
Read more details of the Amman-Petra day trip by clicking below:
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