Things to do in Wadi Rum
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Wadi Rum
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring is prime season, with days around 20 to 30C, cool nights and comfortable hiking and camping.
Autumn matches spring for comfort and is the other best window, with October the most forgiving month.
Summer reaches around 40C. Tours bend to dawn and dusk, camps empty, and midday climbing is dangerous.
Winter days are mild and quiet but nights can fall below freezing in unheated tents, so pack for real cold.
August brings the Perseid meteor shower peak around 12 to 13 August, best near a new moon.
What's on
- Perseid meteor shower around 12-13 August
The best free show of the year under Rum dark skies, best near a new moon.
- Ultra X Jordan October, not every year, check current dates
A multi stage ultramarathon through Wadi Rum that fills camps around race week.
- Aqaba Traditional Arts Festival February
A conventional festival in nearby Aqaba, an easy add on rather than a Rum event itself.
Best things to do in Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum Protected Area
The classic full day jeep circuit links springs, canyons, dunes and rock bridges, ending with tea at a sunset viewpoint.
Khazali Canyon
A narrow shaded canyon lined with Thamudic and Kufic inscriptions and petroglyphs, cool even at midday.
Lawrence Spring
A spring above the village with a fig tree, old inscriptions and the best orientation view over the valley.
Red Sand Dune
A huge soft dune banked against a massif, climbed barefoot for the postcard panorama of Rum.
Um Fruth Rock Bridge
A 15 metre natural arch you can scramble up and walk across for the classic valley photograph.
Abu Khashaba Canyon
A quiet sandy canyon walked alone end to end while your driver waits at the far side.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
The five peaked massif facing the Visitor Centre, with the entry gate, museum and first great view of the trip.
Nabataean Temple
A small 2nd century Nabataean ruin behind the village, the one classic sight you can walk to without a jeep.
Where to stay in Wadi Rum
Deep-desert camps inside the Protected Area
silence, dark skies and the real desert
Twenty to forty five minutes by jeep from the village, with no road or light pollution, around Sunset Area, Khazali and Umm Ishrin.
Disi and Disah edge
bubble domes, plumbing and resort comfort
Large newer camps by paved road just outside the reserve boundary, best at the mountain facing end of the cluster.
Rum Village edge
budget beds and trek starts
Village rooms and hostels at village prices, walkable to the temple and shops, with jeep days into the reserve.
Think twice about
- Ad Disah roadside camp strip
Some roadside camps here face the paved road, power lines and other camps while being sold as deep desert. Check the exact pin against the reserve boundary before paying.
- Wadi Rum Village rooms sold as desert camps
A village room is a village room, not a night in the desert. If the photos show deep desert and the pin shows the village, it is a bait and switch.
Best restaurants in Wadi Rum
Memories Aicha Luxury Camp
The widest luxury camp dinner spread in Rum, built around zarb with salads, soups and desserts, for guests only.
Sun City Camp
A big communal buffet dinner with the formal zarb pit opening as the evening set piece, for guests only.
Bedouin Lifestyle Camp
Textbook zarb cooked underground for hours and eaten communally with rice, salads and tea by the fire.
Wadi Rum Bedouin Camp
Family table camp dinners with praised zarb, in the traditional Rum pattern of rice, salads and bread.
Wadi Rum Protected Area
A picnic lunch your jeep guide cooks over a fire in the shade, galayet with hummus, cheese and flatbread.
Hasan Zawaideh Camp
A large camp buffet dinner with a formal zarb opening and oud music after, praised even by lukewarm reviewers.
Rum Gate Restaurant
The Visitor Centre restaurant for a cheap buffet or snack lunch while you sort entry and meet your pickup.
Wadi Rum Rest House
The village meeting point cafe serving simple Jordanian food where every tour starts and ends.
Outdoor things to do in Wadi Rum
Burdah Rock Bridge
A guided two to three hour scramble to one of the largest natural rock bridges in the world.
Jabal Umm ad Dami
Jordan's highest peak at 1854 metres, a moderate hike with views into Saudi Arabia from the summit flag.
Wadi Rum Trail
A long distance desert trail threading the protected area, with Jebel Rum scrambles and bivouac nights in sections.
Wadi Rum Village Camel Trek
A one hour sunrise camel ride led on foot from camp or village, silent and slow as the light hits the massifs.
Al Hasany Dunes
Sandboarding the big red dune, usually included free with a full day jeep tour and harder on the walk back up.
Wadi Rum Balloons
A dawn balloon flight of about an hour over the massifs, the only way to see the whole scale of Rum at once.
Jebel Rum
Guided half day climbing on soft sandstone crags near the village, with all equipment and grades matched to you.
Ayla Golf Club
Jordan's best 18 hole championship course in Aqaba, the honest golf day trip an hour from Rum.
Best hotels in Wadi Rum
Memories Aicha Luxury Camp
The benchmark luxury camp inside the reserve, with panoramic tents, strong food and a viewpoint climb behind camp.
Sun City Camp
The original Martian dome camp, with geodesic domes, a big restaurant and resort comfort on the Disi edge.
Wadi Rum Bubble Luxotel
Fully transparent bubble suites where you fall asleep inside the night sky, with hot tubs on many decks.
Bedouin Lifestyle Camp
A family run traditional camp with zarb dinners, fireside music and published prices, deep inside the reserve.
Wadi Rum Bedouin Camp
A family camp whose deluxe tents face open desert with no tents in front, plus praised zarb and guiding.
Wadi Rum Nomads Camp
A small quiet traditional camp near Khazali with dark skies and longer, slower jeep tours.
Is Wadi Rum expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | JOD 40 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | JOD 85 a person |
| Splurge | JOD 240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Wadi Rum Protected Area: a few days ahead
- RumSky Adventure: a few days ahead
- Bedouin Directions: weeks ahead
- Burdah Rock Bridge: a few days ahead
- Jabal Umm ad Dami: a few days ahead
- Wadi Rum Trail: weeks ahead
- Wadi Rum Balloons: weeks ahead
- Jebel Rum: a few days ahead
- Book the camp first and the tour through the camp, with tent type, inclusions, total price and meeting point in writing.
- Pay deposits only through a traceable channel and never send full card details by phone, email or WhatsApp.
- Check your tent before the pickup jeep leaves, because downgrades are only fixable while your ride is still there.
- Book the balloon for your first morning, never your last, so a wind cancellation leaves a retry day.
Is Wadi Rum safe?
- Carry more water than the camp hands you and treat summer midday climbing as a health risk, not an adventure.
- Winter nights can fall below freezing in unheated tents, so bring real layers and a hat for sleeping.
- Scramble only with a guide on worn exposed rock at Um Fruth and Burdah, and skip Burdah in wet or windy weather.
- Shake out shoes left outside the tent, hold on in open jeeps, and carry insurance covering remote area evacuation.
Wadi Rum travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cheap Wadi Rum nights offered by drivers outside Jordan's south can be a different desert outside the protected area.
- Many Disah bubble camps sit outside the reserve boundary. That is fine when stated honestly and a red flag when hidden.
- Weight reviews by depth and age and read the worst first, looking for different camp, extra charge and short tour patterns.
- Sandboarding and sunset are included in any good full day tour, so do not pay headline money for them alone.
Getting around Wadi Rum: public transport and more
- Pay entry or show a Jordan Pass at the Visitor Centre, then meet your camp at the Rest House in Rum Village 6 km on.
- You do not drive inside the protected area. Every sight is reached by your camp or guide 4x4.
- Rum is about 1 hour from Aqaba, 2 hours from Petra and 4 hours from Amman.
- Bring cash in JOD for camps and tours, download confirmations before Aqaba, and expect signal to fade inside the reserve.
Who Wadi Rum suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Wadi Rum your trip
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