Tour company for private tour for Aqaba to Petra & Wadi Rum

[mertziek]

We will be porting in Aqaba in Feb 2020 and I have started looking at private tours there.  We definitely want to do both Petra, with horseback ride in or out, as well as Wadi Rum.  We will arrive at 6 am and depart at 8 pm.  We want a private tour that is very thorough and shows us all sites in detail with a great guide .  Any suggestions of tour companies anyone here has used and what experience did you have?  We will be 4 good-sized adults, seasoned travelers who are not afraid of a busy and long day and want a comfortable vehicle to travel in.  Thank you in advance for your recommendations and insights.

[VA2002]

I am researching for a company to go to just Petra & not to Wadi Rum.   Have found a company called Jordan Horizons tours on TA.   They offer a variety of trips.   I haven't used them but have contacted for more information.    We may book with them.   Am also interested in other recommendations.    Also has anyone else used them?   Can you tell us how your trip was?  Thank you!

[John Bull]

Sorry, can't help with tour operators - we did Petra on-the-fly with a taxi.

BTW on-the-fly is something I wouldn't recommend for Aqaba. We agreed a price way below ship's tour cost, but the admission at Petra (included in ships' tours) was seriously expensive. Our total cost was about $1 less than for those on ship's tour - theirs included a massive buffet lunch, ours included a muddy cup of roadside coffee. 

But if you're four or more & book in advance you should find a private tour better & cheaper than ship's tour. Do check whether the price includes admission at Petra - if it doesn't, check out the current charge and factor it in.

 

I doubt your ship offers both Petra and Wadi Rum in a single excursion. It's a bit tight time-wise but with an early start you should be able to make a decent fist of visiting both. Petra is open to visitors from 6am so the earlier you can set off the better.

But bear in mind that in Feb sunset is around 5.30pm, you (and your driver) won't want to be out on the high desert after dark.

 

And you might not have time for a horse ride at the bottom - which IMHO is the only horse ride worthwhile.

You can take a horse ride from the entrance to the top of the siq (ravine) but it's only a short distance - ten minutes (?) on foot. 2-wheel 2-seat carriages ply up & down the siq, I'm not sure about horses. You can haggle a seriously cheap carriage to go down the siq because most folk are very happy to walk down - its a very different story for the ride back up, they'll charge whatever they can get, and that depends on how busy they are.

 

The drive to Petra takes a couple of hours each-way.

You really need to give yourselves a bare minimum 2 hours there.

Wadi Rum is a diversion of about 30 mins e/w off the road to Petra.

 

Your transport won't be able to take you across the desert at Wadi Rum - you'll need to switch to an adpted 4x4.

A 4x4 drive across the desert to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom etc  needs a bare minimum of an hour - two or more would be better if that fits your time-scale. The 4x4s normally carry about 6 to 8 - if your timescale doesn't suit their regular tour (ie can't be shared with others at the visitor centre) there should be no problem fixing a tailor-made on-the-spot but of course you'll be paying for empty seats. 

 

Since Wadi Rum is closer to your ship (about an hour away) it makes sense to build that in at the end.

 

Hardly a comprehensive reply, but hopefully useful background 

 

JB 

Edited November 23, 2018 by John Bull

[mertziek]

Thank you John Bull for the very helpful info, especially about entrance fees to Petra.  Still looking at tour operators.  So many different ones and tough to know who is good.

[aussie cruzer]

Friends of ours went with Jordon Horizons recently and were very satisfied. 

 

I will be using them in March 2019...will report back how it went.

We are doing Petra/Wadi Rum tour...$195 p/p with private group of 8.

Entry to both sights included.

[kassiopi]

On 1/1/2019 at 10:54 PM, aussie cruzer said:

Friends of ours went with Jordon Horizons recently and were very satisfied. 

 

I will be using them in March 2019...will report back how it went.

We are doing Petra/Wadi Rum tour...$195 p/p with private group of 8.

Entry to both sights included.

We have been looking at Jordan Horizons for our visit to Aqaba in Jan 2020. I hope you had a wonderful visit and would appreciate it if you could give some feedback on your experience. Also timings. At the moment our cruise is showing 08:30 to 20:30 stay but from past experience I know this isn't always exact.

[aussie cruzer]

3 hours ago, kassiopi said:

We have been looking at Jordan Horizons for our visit to Aqaba in Jan 2020. I hope you had a wonderful visit and would appreciate it if you could give some feedback on your experience. Also timings. At the moment our cruise is showing 08:30 to 20:30 stay but from past experience I know this isn't always exact.

We went to Petra on March 20 with Jordan Horizons,easy access off the ship and guide was waiting beside the ship.

We did Petra & Wadi Rum,it was a great tour with a lot of walking,next time I might take the horse & cart,it's a 45 min fast walk each way to treasury.Only had 45 min inside before long walk back,had a nice lunch at Wadi Musa (Petra Town).

Around 1.5 hrs back to Wadi Rum,it was unbelievably  good,spent 90 min driving around,was worth extra rush....got back to port as scheduled. 

 

The guide was very good and we had free WiFi on the coaster bus ,18 seater for 8 of us.

I'll post some photos.

[aussie cruzer]

[aussie cruzer]

[aussie cruzer]

[aussie cruzer]

Wadi Rum.

 

 

[aussie cruzer]

[kassiopi]

Thank you so much. Great photographs. Did they get you back in "comfortable" time for the ships departure and what time did your ship arrive/depart.

[sansterre]

I am somewhat limited as to walking long distances, especially on uneven ground.  Do you think it is possible that I could see both Petra and Wadi Rum if we went with a guided tour such as Jordan Horizons?   Is it possible for vehicles (small van or large car) to get close to the sights to see?

Edited April 28, 2019 by sansterre

[onthebalcony]

Also looking for a private tour with less walking as hubby uses a cane and doesn't want to hold anyone up.  We were also told about Jordan Horizons.  Any info on this tour would be very helpful.  We will be visiting this area May 6, 2020 and are overnight in Aqaba.

 

Thanks!  

[onthebalcony]

Oops, error!

We arrive in Aqaba on May 7, 2020 and are overnight.  Can't seem to find a price for Petra that makes any sense!  Does Jordan Horizons include the prices listed to the different sites??  Right now I am booked on a ship's tour solo since my hubby can't walk all the distances.

 

Thanks!

[LiveWell]

On 1/2/2019 at 7:54 AM, aussie cruzer said:

Friends of ours went with Jordon Horizons recently and were very satisfied. 

 

I will be using them in March 2019...will report back how it went.

We are doing Petra/Wadi Rum tour...$195 p/p with private group of 8.

Entry to both sights included.

 

Hi there,

I am having trouble accessing Jordon Horizons web site and email...anyone know if they are still operating?

Also the trip advisor page shows the day trip to Petra AUS$386, a little dearer than what you paid back in March.  Any thoughts please?

 

[aussie cruzer]

2 hours ago, LiveWell said:

 

Hi there,

I am having trouble accessing Jordon Horizons web site and email...anyone know if they are still operating?

Also the trip advisor page shows the day trip to Petra AUS$386, a little dearer than what you paid back in March.  Any thoughts please?

 

This one of there emails  jo.horizons@gmail.com

There group price was over $100 p/p cheaper than ship price.

We were very impressed with them..did Petra & Wadi Rum.

[aussie cruzer]

On 5/3/2019 at 12:36 AM, onthebalcony said:

Also looking for a private tour with less walking as hubby uses a cane and doesn't want to hold anyone up.  We were also told about Jordan Horizons.  Any info on this tour would be very helpful.  We will be visiting this area May 6, 2020 and are overnight in Aqaba.

 

Thanks!  

You can take the horse & cart all the way to Petra from entrance....well worth the extra cash,you ride on 4 x 4 thru Wadi Rum,you don’t have to get out of vehicle  if you prefer.

 

 

[aussie cruzer]

[aussie cruzer]

[aussie cruzer]

[LiveWell]

21 hours ago, aussie cruzer said:

You can take the horse & cart all the way to Petra from entrance....well worth the extra cash,you ride on 4 x 4 thru Wadi Rum,you don’t have to get out of vehicle  if you prefer.

 

 

 

Thanks.

[LiveWell]

23 hours ago, aussie cruzer said:

This one of there emails  jo.horizons@gmail.com

There group price was over $100 p/p cheaper than ship price.

We were very impressed with them..did Petra & Wadi Rum.

 

OOps.   Thanks

[Kozimoto1209]

Hello,

I have contacted Via Jordan after having done some research on them. They estimate the Petra/Wadi Rum tour will take approx. 11 hours, you may be cutting it close.

I haven’t used them but will probably book them for our upcoming cruise in April 2020.

Ron