If you are planning a trip to Jordan then renting a car and driving yourself is by far the best way to get around.
We visited Jordan in 2018 with our young kids who were 1 and 4 at the time so driving was the only real option for us (read more about visiting Jordan with kids).
Jordan is a truly beautiful country, filled with wonders both natural and man made, but it is relatively small. You could start the day scuba diving in the Red Sea at Aqaba, be exploring Petra by lunch time and spend the night under the stars in a Bedouin camp at Wadi Rum!
Of course I wouldn’t recommend actually doing that as you would be rushing through some fantastic experiences, but the distances between the major sights make Jordan an ideal choice for those looking for a self drive holiday, even if you have never driven abroad before.
Why rent a car?
There are of course other options for getting around Jordan, you could use buses, taxis or join an organised tour, so why do I recommend driving in Jordan?
I love the freedom that comes with having a rental car on holiday. Yes it can be a drag if you are the only driver (I am). You might miss out on having that refreshing beer you desperately crave after a long hot day (I did). But being able to set your own schedule, to stop or take a detour when you want to more than makes up for it.
Other ways of getting around
There are buses, but only with limited intercity services, so travelling between the major sights by bus is not straightforward and is going to require some planning. In my view, it’s just not worth considering in Jordan. What’s more, if you have kids in tow then the last thing you will want to be doing is hanging around bus stations and hopping on and off buses carrying luggage and tired, bored kids!
Taxis will work out expensive if you want to visit more than a couple of the major sights during your trip. Sure, you could base yourself in Aqaba and take a taxi to Petra and back to break up your beach time (approx JD50 each way), but what about Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, Mount Nebo and so many other cultural delights in the north of the country? Having your own car really gives you the option to move about and explore the whole country.
Likewise with organised tours, there is no shortage of options for tours to Petra or Wadi Rum, but if you want to visit more than one of these then it will certainly be cheaper to rent a car and you will have the freedom to set your own schedule and spend as much or little time as you like without being herded back onto a tour bus.
Rental companies
Most of the major international companies are represented at the airport and I generally find myself using Europcar, as we did for our trip to Jordan. It’s not based on any particular preference, but they always seem to come up cheaper for me.
You can also hire a car in Amman and Aqaba themselves, which may be preferable if you only want a car for a few days to visit some of the main sights.
- Top Tips!
- Don’t let the rental company up-sell to you! It’s almost certainly cheaper to buy separate excess waiver insurance before you travel.
- Take your own GPS, if you have one (it may even be cheaper to buy one if you don’t). Programme in all of your accommodation and planned destinations before you leave home, it will save you so much time.
- Take your own car seats for the kids and have sturdy travel bags for these to keep everything in place during the flight. You don’t generally pay to take them on the flight and you know that you have the right size seat, they work and haven’t been damaged and that they are clean. Well ok, they probably aren’t clean but at least it’s your own kids food stuck down there!
- As always when renting a car, remember to check the car thoroughly for any damage before driving off and let the staff know if you find anything.
- Check that the fuel tank is full, or at least correctly marked on the papers. Ask the rental company where the nearest fuel station is so that you can fill up before you return.
- Take the time to get yourself set up and comfortable before you set off. I know you are excited about getting started with your adventures, but you don’t want to be fiddling about trying to work out how to adjust your seat once you are on the road!
Driving distances
Here is a table of some of the distances you will travel when driving in Jordan. As you can see, the longest you are likely to be on the road is 4 hours, which is the time it takes to get from Amman all the way down to Aqaba.
Safety
The thought of driving overseas can be daunting but we never felt even slightly uncomfortable when driving in Jordan… unless you include the discomfort caused by hitting a speed bump at 100+ kph whilst on the desert highway, but that was mainly my fault!
The roads in Jordan are in reasonable condition and the driving is no worse than I have experienced in European cities. Having said that I didn’t drive in Amman and the general advice is not to if you can avoid it due to the one way systems, traffic and slightly aggressive driving styles. We didn’t actually visit the capital, but spent our first night just south in Madaba. I would recommend doing the same unless you have a particular reason to be in Amman.
One thing to watch out for is people, dogs, camels, pretty much anything and everything crossing the road where you might not expect. Our favourite was a camel crossing the Desert highway just by the Wadi Rum turn off!
Police checks
There are a lot of police checks on the roads. I think we were flagged 3 or 4 times during our week of driving in Jordan, but each time we were simply waved on with a friendly ‘Welcome to Jordan’. Personally I found the fact that they were pulling cars in for random checks comforting, or at least I did once I realised it was routine and not because I was unknowingly committing a driving offence!
Speed bumps
Oh and those speed bumps. They appear on the highway, generally on the approach to built up areas, but often without any signage. The first couple of days in Jordan I was caught out a few times and hitting them whilst driving at 100kpm really makes you glad you are in a rental car! It also does a great job at waking your passengers if they have nodded off… My advice is to ease off a bit as soon as you see anything remotely resembling a built up area and keep an eye out for signage or other cars’ brake lights.
Navigation
You will spend most of your time on the road driving the long north – south highways that connect Aqaba with Amman and the Dead Sea (Kings, Desert and Dead Sea highways) and finding your way on these isn’t going to be much of a problem. It may be different when you reach your destination and you are faced with one way streets or poorly signed roads.
We always travel with our TomTom GPS – ever since we went round in circles trying to navigate our way out of Tel Aviv using the map provided by the hire company (not a great idea!!). I spend a bit of time before the trip programming in all of our accommodations and any major sights we plan on visiting. This saves so much time once you get going, you can just pick your next destination and you are off!
As always if using GPS, you have to realise it may not be 100% up to date with local conditions and could try and point you the wrong way down a one way street, but if that happens just follow the signage and wait for it to find a new route.
If you aren’t going to use GPS, Google maps is always a solid option, or go old school with a proper map! Just make sure you have something.
Off road
I wouldn’t recommend driving into Wadi Rum or anywhere off road unless you have the appropriate vehicle, equipment and experience for it. Let’s be honest, if you were an experienced off road driver you probably wouldn’t be reading this!
For a trip into the desert, we booked an afternoon tour and a night in a Bedouin camp, starting from Wadi Rum village. The drive to the village is easy and when you reach the end there is a large car park to leave your rental and meet up with your driver. From there you hop into the back of a pick up and your driver will take you into the desert.
Parking
We had no problems parking anywhere whilst in Jordan, if the hotel didn’t have its own parking then we always managed to park directly outside on the street. When visiting Petra, there is free parking directly opposite the main entrance.
As a general rule you won’t go far wrong if you park next to other parked cars. As long as you aren’t blocking a road then there seems to be few restrictions on parking, Jordan is certainly not full of traffic wardens hunting for tourists to ticket!!
Speed limits
Whilst the locals may not always stick to them, it’s always a good idea to know and abide by the speed limit. I (mainly) stuck to the limits throughout our trip, but still managed to trigger a speed camera on the airport approach road, probably in my final 500m of driving in Jordan. Obviously I was unaware of this until I received a note from the rental company a few weeks later informing me of the JD25 fine plus admin fee.
Speed limits in Jordan are generally 60kph in built up areas, 80kph on country roads and 120 kph on the highways. Be aware that the highways do travel through built up areas, so the limit can drop from 120kph to 60kph and if you miss the sign you are likely to be reminded by those speed bumps!
Filling up
Check how much fuel is in the tank when you first pick up your car and that it is correctly marked on the papers. Make sure you return the car with the same amount of fuel, otherwise you are leaving yourself open to additional charges from your rental company.
In the main towns and cities there are plenty of petrol stations, but we did notice that these were not as frequent on the Desert highway. I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on the tank and filling up when you hit half a tank if you have a few hours driving ahead.
Most petrol stations are serviced, so you just need to tell the attendant whether you want them to fill it or just put in say, JD20.
Go for it!
My final tip to driving in Jordan, especially if you haven’t driven overseas before is to just go for it! You will have the chance to explore so much more of the country if you have your own vehicle and that is something you do not want to miss out on.
If you are still not convinced, visit our post on our family trip to Jordan for more inspiration!