What NOT to do in Jordan
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The view from my hotel room at Amman Pasha Hotel: Amman, Jordan
Growing up in the late 80s and 90s in Gary, Indiana, right outside of Chicago, the only Jordan I remember hearing about was Michael. Now, as I Marty McFly myself into 2016, I’m able to add The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the list of places that I’ve visited. During my time in the country, I ate some amazing food, met some wonderful people, and saw some truly breathtaking sights—but alas, things did not always go as smoothly as they could have, which is why the list below details what NOT to do when planning to visit Jordan.
Fresh falafel for breakfast
Jordan offers much more than just Petra… in fact, this sign might be as old as some of the antiquities!
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Don’t just show up and purchase your Jordan visa upon arrival
Let’s face it, if you’re visiting Jordan for the first time then you are more than likely planning on going to see the “Lost City” of Petra. So, if you’re planning on staying for 3 days or more, do NOT just show up and get your visa upon arrival. The arrival visa costs 40JD (Jordanian Dollars), the Petra entry fee is 50JD, and every other attraction you venture to along the way to Petra is between 1-2 JD or more. After a few days, all those JD start adding up!
What can you do instead?
Before your trip, if you plan far enough in advance, you can purchase a “JordanPass” Package. The cheapest package costs just 70JD and includes a 1 day visit to Petra, free entry to over 40 other attractions, and the cost of the entry visa into Jordan. I’m no mathematician, but if I ever go back…I know which option I’m taking.
Bird’s eye view of the Main Theater in Petra
One of the most famous images in Petra: The Treasury
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Don’t hop in a cab and say, “Take us to a nice club!”
Ok so I thought I could avoid this situation by having a predetermined destination in mind. Well, when we showed up to JJ’s Bar at 11:00pm and there were a total of less than ten people inside, me and my buddy decided it was time for plan B. The only problem…we didn’t have a plan B!
So we left the bar, flagged down a cab, and told the driver to stick with us all night because we wanted to check out the Amman nightlife. Then we said those dreadful words: “Take us to a nice club!” He proceeded to take us to a number of seedy establishments, until we finally found what we thought was the perfect place. Awesome music, plenty of people, and a great vibe. They ushered in me and my buddy James to a table with plush, red velvet couches and proceeded to treat us like Rock Stars!
Unfortunately, after the long night of back and forth, I was all partied out by this point. After being there for less than 20 minutes, we grabbed our beers—me, James, and the cab driver (at some point in time he somehow became a part of our crew) and James went to pay the bill. The bill…for 3 beers, turned out to be nearly $100 USD. It was one of those “Ah-ha moments” because at that point we realized, our cab driver’s interpretation of “take us to a nice club” meant going to places where alcohol wasn’t the only thing you could pay for. James, not wanting to get totally ripped off, managed to negotiate two more beers for that outrageous price but, clearly, at that point it was definitely time to go home.
Things slowly started going downhill after that first beer
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Don’t rent a car without GPS
Let me quickly clarify, Jordan is a great country for driving. The highways run through the entire country and make getting from north to south very easy. Keyword: highways. After turning off to visit the Kerak Castle ruins we made driving mistake number one. Instead of doubling back to the main highway, we decided to find a shortcut. So we whipped out a map use and put our navigational skills to test en route from Kerak to Petra.
Well, those backroads were definitely not as easy to navigate as the highways! After initially being just over an hour away from Petra by highway, we found ourselves still driving late into the evening hours. How did we eventually get back to a main road? A group of kids playing street soccer pointed us in the right direction in exchange for some cookies.
At least getting lost provided a cool sunset view along the King’s Highway
Ruins from the top of Kerak Castle
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Don’t go back to the airport too early
I know, I know…you need to arrive two hours before your scheduled flight departure; however, be sure to stick to that two hour limit. There’s not much in the form of entertainment at Queen Alia International Airport. Additionally, the “free” Wi-Fi is only good for two hours. My recommendation…if you have extra time to kill, it would be better to spend it on one last meal in Amman—otherwise, if you simply must get back to the airport several hours in advance, just make sure you’re armed with a good book!
Enjoy Jordan…You’ve been warned!
29 Comments
the night club .I have a warning at hotel and restaurant Amman Pasha Hotel to warn people not to go.I have seen customers come to my business who have not only the shirt on their back but also their pants.paid hundreds of dollars and came to me asking to borrow to pay off the balance of the night club bill. the guests acousted by two big bullies.I pretend to call the police and they run out of hotel saving my customer from more rip off
Great tips! We always hear about things to do, so it’s good to hear the reverse.
What a gorgeous country!
I always love reading “What not to do” posts 🙂 Petra is a destination we really dream of visiting some day. Absolutely gorgeous.
I love your little spin on the typical travel post. I have to admit I’ve never thought much about Jordan as a place to visit but your photos are gorgeous and it looks like it would be a beautiful trip!
I really liked your article. I always wished to visit Jordan and especially Petra. Thanks for the tips.The photos are nice too.
Now that’s what I call a useful article! By the way, I’m totally in love with your writing style- always make me laugh 🙂
Looking forward to a visit to Jordan one day.
I’m Jordanian. I hope you had nice time here in Jordan.
Please do come back, but this time contact me to take you with me around my country, there are a lot of amazing place you will enjoy.
Thanks Aseel, will do as I definitely plan on returning!
Is petra the place they filmed indiana jones and the last crusade? If so pretty cool, if not it still looked pretty cool, I also liked the pub/bar story, your cab driver sounds like a champ
Yup, it’s that place! And, yes, it was quite an adventure with that driver haha
Very interesting and helpful article! Every place has its own does and don’ts, so it good to know what to expect when visiting a new country. Jordan is a beautiful country with many ancient sites to visit. I may visit it some day, so thank you for all the good tips!
I love it! Do your thing my brother, I just ordered my passport, I’m coming to see you.
Good to hear…We’re have to catch up while I’m home this summer!
I’ve never been there , looks like an amazing place to visit! Your photos are so inspiring! Love your not to do list when planning to visit Jordan, I’ll keep it in mind for the future! Pinned your post!
I’m glad you enjoyed and thanks for pinning!
Very good tips. Jordan is a beautiful country! I love the photos.
Thank you for the post! The photographs were awesome. What a great destination.
great tips of what NOT to do, I will take these into consideration if I ever get the chance to visit there!
Interesting article. I suppose there is always things that it is best NOT to do, no matter where you travel to. It’s great that you wrote this as a warning to those who are unfamiliar with the area.
Thanks, and you’re definitely right about that…things to avoid are everywhere.
wow, thanks for the tips. I am not sure if I can go to Jordan soon, but I will keep these tips on mind. Looks like Jordan is such a beautiful country. I would love to see Petra.
Petra was amazing…but be prepared to do a lot of walking when you go though because you can easily spend a half a day there.
Oooh, I want to go! I’ve actually never been interested in going to Jordan before, I just didn’t know enough about it I guess. Now that I know what not to do, I’m gunna go research what to do! Lol thanks for this article! 🙂 Great writing and I love the pictures!
Thanks Shannon, I’m glad you are inspired to search ‘what to do now’ 🙂
Jordan is beautiful place plenty of amazing scenes i would like to visit it it is worth visiting
I like Jordan, its a very beautiful Country… nice photos
I’m more and more interested in Jordan… I know I’ll end up there someday 🙂
I’ll follow your tips (at least the first and the last) For the rest, I usually don’t do it anywhere else :p ahah
There are a lot posts what to do, but never what not to do. Very helpful post, Jordan has amazing buildings. 🙂