Private Petra Day Trip Including Little Petra from Amman

Let me first warn you all that Petra is/was a city. When it says bring comfortable walking shoes, they are not kidding! You will be doing a lot of walking first down, then up! Also know, that Petra is not close to Amman, you will have a very long car ride to and back, so be prepared! With that said, our driver was spot on punctual and collected us at our hotel. He told us it was going to be a very long ride and that we would most likely have one stop. All these things were true, but he navigated through traffic and construction with a masters skill and we made the journey well. Upon arrival, we were told where to meet the driver after our tour just down the street and we were introduced to the guide and we were on our way... The guide did a great job explaining Petra and points as we walked. The guide knew all the photo op stops and didn't let us miss one shot and helped my wife get just the right shot!! The guide portion is about 2 to 2.5 hours. This is pretty much stop and go walking at an accelerated pace. For some it may seemed rushed but in reality, Petra is a city and you have a long way to go, a ton of information to acquire and a limited amount of time to get things done. Though the treasury is the known all of Petra's sandstone beauty will keep you baffled, bewildered and simply amazed as you view through the necropolis to the acropolis. The only down sides would be that after all that walking in the hot sun, lunch was not quite on our minds, and it was a tad chaotic. Also, once you have seen Petra, little Petra pales by comparison. So my advice is, rest up, sleep on the ride there, get your walking shoes ready and know you have a nice long drive back where you can rest some more! I highly recommend this tour, but warn it is physically demanding. Side note: There are donkey's, horses and camels that you can ride. Perhaps walk down and ride back is a better option for some, at an extra expense.

DO NOT FORGET TO CONFIRM YOUR TOUR 24 HOURS PRIOR or you will have a meltdown, similar to the one I had, on the morning of our tour March 2, 2018. I am usually on top of things, however I missed the bit about confirming 24 hours prior or you forfeit the tour with no refund. I read that vital information clearly stated on the vouchers in the morning, about 30 minutes prior to our scheduled pick up time. I ran to reception and we called the number on our voucher, as well as the emergency number provided therein with no luck whatsoever. I literally began sobbing, as the entire trip was booked around our Petra visit, when Omar, our driver for the day, walked in smiling. He calmed me down and said he will wait until we have breakfast. He had a great personality, is a very skilled driver which is very important, as traffic in Jordan is mad and spoke English fluently another plus. We did the obligatory bathroom/refreshments pit stop and admired the items for sale see pictures. Once at Petra, Omar got our entry tickets and introduced us to our guide, who arrived shortly after us. We had an amazing time inside Petra and were bewildered how huge it is. Three full days of exploring would not do it justice, but the few hours we had inside were enough for a first visit. We were lucky that it was sunny, as a week prior they had flooding and our guide showed us pictures and a video of people walking in knee high water. For an extra 10 each he took us up above and across from the amphitheater. It was totally worth it as the views and the pictures we took were breathtakingly spectacular. He was very knowledgeable, had a great personality and knew the best angles and spots to take pictures. At Al-Khazneh, we were approached by some of the bedouins, who were hanging around and who offered to take us up the rock, so that Al-Khazneh is behind and below us and showed us pictures of it. They haggled and came down in price every time I said la, shukran no, thanks. I REALLY wanted to do it but our guide advised against it, as the staircase they wanted us to use was unsafe. He suggested a better route, but that started back at the main entrance and we would not have had enough time to see anything else. So this will have to wait until our next trip. We met our driver back at the Sandstone restaurant, located within a short walking distance from the main entrance and after a quick meal, drove to Little Petra. After seeing Petra, it was an underwhelming visit. It is free to visit, but we were accosted by a bedouin at the entrance a rope asking for a donation. We said we had already paid as part of the tour and he tried to shame us for not supporting them financially on the spot as well. After we went in we got followed by various younger bedouins who offered to be our guides. We said we would rather explore by ourselves and we wont be able to pay them if they came along as we did not bring extra cash and they wouldn't let up for a while only to angrily walk away, muttering under their breath. This was mildly annoying but did not take away from all the fun we had on our tour. If you think the price for this tour is steep consider this - the round trip from downtown Amman to Petra, little Petra and back to Amman is around 500 kms or 310 miles or 7 hours drive AND it is cheaper through Viator rather than booking it through the hotel - yes, we checked! : Overall, a fantastic day trip, exploring one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a great value for money! Would highly recommend!

Had an amazing day trip to Petra! My driver, Omar, was very friendly and accommodating. The drive is 3 hours from Amman so we stopped halfway for coffee and a bathroom break. Petra was amazing! Had an incredible tour guide named Abraham at Petra who is an archaeologist so his knowledge was impressive. After 3 hours or so at Petra went to a tasty buffet lunch in the town just outside Petra then headed back to Amman. It was a long but great day about 10 hours total but definitely worth it!

I did the Tour to Petra and little Petra with my driver Amer and with a german speaking guide in Petra. Both were absolutely great and I would definitely recommend this tour. Thumbs up!

This was a great tour. As usual Viator did not disappoint. The guide was prompt at picking us up and we traveled the long distance to Petra stopping once for a bathroom and snack break. The driver was pleasant and pointed out items along the journey. Once at Petra our tour guide met us, retrieved the tickets and we were off. The guide gave us valuable information as we walked along. We were than able to explore on our own as our goal was to make it to the Monastery. The information the tour guide provided was very insightful. We made it to the Monastery, but the walk back made us arrive to the meet up point later than discussed. This was fine with both the driver and us as we preferred the time in Petra over visiting little Petra. The driver also took us to a local falafel spot, per our request, and we had the most delicious falafel sandwiches. Overall this was an excellent tour.

There is so much there to see that some might want to get a hotel at Petra and spend about 2 days there. We hit the highlights and enjoyed it. Our reservation included a horse to ride, but the horses do not go very far on the total walk to the treasury area. We paid extra fro a carriage ride. I would suggest one not pay to ride a horse. For those who can walk that distance, walk it or take the carriage. We could not determine if we were credited for the amount that included the horse, but do not believe we were. We visited in February and the weather was pleasant. The guide who picked us up in Amman charged extra because we were not in a downtown hotel, yet the distance was less to Petra from our location. Did not understand this, but agreed to the charge before booking. What I did not understand was that we were not charged for this at the time of booking and had to pay the guide in cash for the extra charge. The person who picked us up turned us over to local guide once we reached Petra. The restrooms at Petra were filthy. It might be helpful to research the site before you go. This was a bucket list item for many years and so happy we finally got to see Petra.

Incredible tour! Petra is amazing. But, this tour did not include Little Petra, as advertised. But, I was not disappointed, seeing Petra was more than enough for one day.

My driver was very kind, but he was not my guide at Petra. Once in Petra, I was introduce my guide, who was friendly and knowledgeable. After Petra, Little Petra was not much to see. After walking and climbing around for 5 hours, I could have skipped it. Driver was excellent, water, helped to get me lunch, offered fruit. This was a good experience.

great driver, who also sent his cousin to pick us up for cheaper than taxi price for the next day to go to the airport. Must see in person!

Our guide in the car as well as inside Petra were phenomenal. This tour was well planned and executed and we would happily recommend this for others. The only thing we would like to note is that the included horse ride is not the ride that takes you to the top and that taking this ride will still require a tip to the locals. Not a big deal as tips are common in Jordan.