The city of Petra, capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, it is Located 240 km south of the capital Amman and 120 km north of the red sea town of Aqaba, Petra the world wonder, is undoubtedly Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction, and it is visited by tourists from all over the world.

It is not known precisely when Petra was built, but the city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the 1st century BC, which grew rich through trade in frankincense, myrrh, and spices. 

Petra was later annexed to the Roman Empire and continued to thrive until a large earthquake in 363 AD destroyed much of the city in the 4th century AD. 

 

The earthquake combined with changes in trade routes, eventually led to the downfall of the city which was ultimately abandoned.

 

By the middle of the 7th century Petra appears to have been largely deserted and it was then lost to all except local Bedouin from the area.

 

In 1812 a Swiss explorer named Johannes Burckhardt set out to ‘rediscover’ Petra; he dressed up as an Arab and convinced his Bedouin guide to take him to the lost city, After this, Petra became increasingly known in the West as a fascinating and beautiful ancient city, and it began attracting visitors and  continues to do so today.

 

Petra is also known as the rose-red city, a name it gets from the wonderful colour of the rock from which many of the city’s structures were carved. 

 

The Nabataeans buried their dead in intricate tombs that were cut out of the mountain sides and the city also had temples, a theatre, and following the Roman annexation and later the Byzantine influence, a colonnaded street and churches.  

 

In addition to the magnificent remains of the Nabataean city, human settlement and land use for over 10,000 years can be traced in Petra, where great natural, cultural, archaeological and geological features merge.

Petra & the Trails

There are 4 common trails in Petra which you can complete all in one day visit, plus visiting all the monuments and viewpoints. The Visitor Centre opens daily from 6am to 6pm during Summer and 6am to 4pm in the Winter (November through April). Start your day as early as possible to avoid crowd, especially at the iconic Treasury, it usually gets extremely packed after 9am. Get your instagram shots before the place becomes busy.

Let me share with you how I did it!

• The Main Trail:

  Distance : 4 km (one way, from Visitor Centre to Basin Restaurant)
  Difficulty Level : Easy

  After purchasing the ticket at the Visitor Centre, remember to get a trail map, with it you can easily navigate through Petra. The Main Trail starts as soon as the Visitor Centre, this trail is very easy, it’s flat all the way until you reach Ad-Deir Trail. 

  

  You’ll soon be approached by the local people, we call them Bedouin, asking if you would like to take a horse ride into the Siq. A horse ride should be included in the ticket as told when you purchase it. However, they will still ask for JOD 10-20 (USD 14-28), depending on your negotiation skills. It is a fun way to start the day, if you don’t bother to pay, it’s just a short distance away before you get to entrance of the Siq. 

  

  

• The Al-Madras Trail:

  Distance : less than 1 km (one way, from Treasury to viewpoint)
  Difficulty Level : Moderate (a Bedouin guide is required)

As soon as you get to the Treasury, more Bedouins will come talk to you, selling you the guide to a nice Treasury viewpoint from above. For this short trail, you must have a local Bedouin to bring you, you are not allowed to go up by yourself. The path is not clear and some part can be dangerous. Exercise your negotiation skill again here, they will ask for at least JOD 10 (USD 14), but I managed to seal the deal at JOD 5 (USD 7), good thing to arrive early when you are their only business. Good luck!

After the “Viewpoint from Above I”, you will go back to the Treasury, take all your time to admire this iconic monument. If you start early at 6-7am, by the time you get back here, you should see groups of tourist start flooding in, and you are ready to move on to the next stop. You will then continue on the Main Trail, passing by the Theatre, Royal Tombs, Great Temple and Temenos Gate, spend some time to look at the wonderful monuments. For Royal Tombs, you may leave it to the end, when you do the Al-Khubtha Trail.

• The Ad-Deir Trail:

  Distance : 2 km (one way, from Basin Restaurant to Monastery)
  Difficulty Level : Moderate

  At the end of the Main Trail, you will see Basin Restaurant, follow the path to start ascending the mountain, that’s Ad-Deir Trail, or you can call it the Monastery Trail. Be prepared as this trail is more challenging because of the steps all the way to the Monastery. You will find stalls selling beverages and souvenirs half way through, take some breaks.  

  If you are struggling with the steps going up, there are Bedouins riding donkeys offering rides on that trail, you can pay for the ride. I don’t encourage this to be honest, I have seen the poor donkeys got beaten.

  After hundreds of steps and you will finally arrive at the Monastery, you must not miss visiting this monument because it is as impressive as the Treasury. All your great efforts will repay you here, right opposite of the Monastery, there is a cafe, I believe at this time you are desperately in need of a refreshing drink. Go quench yourself!

  You will take the same way back to the Main Trail. When you get back to Basin Restaurant, it should be lunch time, you can grab some bites there. You should expect paying much higher price than outside of Petra, I’d suggest you to pack some snacks or sandwiches with you.

  

  

• The Al-Khubtha Trail:

  Distance : 1.75 km (one way, from Royal Tomb to viewpoint)
  Difficulty Level : Moderate

  The Al-Khubtha Trail branches off from the Mail Trail, coming down from Ad-Deir Trail, you will see the Royal Tombs on your left. It’s now that you turn left and go explore the tombs, after exploring, follow the Al-Khubtha Trail all the way up and until the end, it will lead you to the “Viewpoint from Above II”. This trail is slightly challenging with the steps, but hang in there, you are about to complete all 4 trails, and this Treasury viewpoint is definitely worth all the effort, it’s your big reward! 

  When you get to the “Viewpoint from Above II”, you will find a store selling cold drinks, coffee and tea, there’s a minimum purchase of one drink to go to the picture spot. With one drink and you can spend time and relax for as long as you want. That’s no doubt the best way to finish your long day!

  For return, take the same way back to the Main Trail and go back to the Visitor Centre. 

  I would say, it should easily takes 8-9 hours completing all 4 trails and exploring all the spectacular monuments with the 2 beautiful viewpoints from above.

  It’s a long day but extremely rewarding! 

  

The “Little Petra” (Siq Al Barid)

An easy ten-minutes drive north of Petra is Siq Al-Barid, which is also referred to as “Little Petra” due to similarities with the main site. It is thought to have been an important suburb of Petra and is entered through a narrow opening, similar to Siq but of a much smaller scale. The site includes tombs, temples, water channels and cisterns carved out of the rock as well as the remains of frescoes on plaster.

I’d highly recommend you to check it out, “Little Petra” will amaze you!

There are less tourists visiting “Little Petra”, making your exploration very pleasant and relaxing. 

I arrived Wadi Musa in the afternoon by driving, we were first looking for a nice restaurant to eat, then we went check-in at our accommodation. After settling down, we drove to “Little Petra” and it took us about 2 hours to visit the place. We got back to our room before sunset, took a hot shower, had dinner and rested early for the next day at Petra. 

“ History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.”

– Kurt Vonnegut