Everything you need to know about the Wadi Rum – Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan

A desert is magical…especially the Wadi Rum. Happily to sharing all the highlights of the magical Wadi Rum desert with you in this Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan. I went to Jordan in mid-September 2024 only to make my move into the Wadi Rum desert shortly after. I stayed at Desert Magic Camp for a month. Initially I provided a mindfulness trip there and afterwards I was able to stay there. How nice is it to be able to experience that? Just living in that magical Wadi Rum desert for a month!

The Complete Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan

Every day I taught a yoga class and thus got to stay at one of the nicest camps in the Wadi Rum. On most days, I did a walk around the rock against which the camp is situated. On that lap, I passed the Bust of Lawrence and some inscriptions. Super nice because these are places where there is also a tent with Bedouins who are happy to serve you dab a small cup of tea. Ideal resting points during my walk, then. The round trip took me about two hours, a lovely walk through the magical Wadi Rum desert.

Wadi Rum – UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

In 2011, it was decided to include the Wadi Rum in the Unesco World Heritage List. There is a protected area (WRPA) within which the protected part of Wadi Rum lies, this part covers 74,000 hectares. In that protected area are many highlights such as inscriptions, natural bridges as well as places commemorating Lawrence of Arabia. The spots are visited on the many tours that are organised.

To enter the Wadi Rum Protected Area, you need a permit. This can be obtained at the visitor’s centre. You almost always pass this when you enter Wadi Rum. There are camps that lead you past it and think it is nonsense that you have to pay the fee. The fee, of course, is there to support the country in keeping such a place good and tidy. The fee is about 7 JOD.

How many days in Wadi Rum?

If you go to Wadi Rum and really experience the desert stay for 2 nights.

1 night is really too short. I did it during my first visit but then you only have an afternoon tour (4-hour tour or sunset tour) after your arrival, the evening and night and the next morning/afternoon you go again.

If you really want to experience the grandeur of the desert, stay an extra night. You can then quietly acclimatise after arrival, do some sandboarding perhaps or take a small walk near the camp. The next morning possibly do the sunrise tour and do a 6 – 8 hour tour that takes you past the highlights. This starts around noon. These tours all continue until after sunset so you can experience it at a nice spot in the desert.

Waddi Rum desert temperature

In the high season, October to March, the desert is a good place to be. The temperature can still easily hit 30+ during the day but it cools down wonderfully in the evening. If you are early in the season, the evenings are lovely and you don’t need a jumper or jacket yet. But more towards the end of November, December, January and February it can get quite chilly. It is then important to bring a jacket, scarf or the like.

Best time to travel to the Wadi Rum

The temperature in the Wadi Rum desert in the summer months is really too hot for us. So our autumn, winter and spring periods are perfect for travelling to the magical Wadi Rum. By the end of September it starts to cool down and so from October the season begins. By the end of March, it warms up nicely.

October to March is a good period to plan your trip to Jordan and the Wadi Rum

The Complete Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan

Garbage in the Wadi Rum

It is then unfortunate to see that camps that are no longer open or have not been given a permit to remain open should not be cleaned up. These remain year after year and fall into total disrepair. Plastic is also still a big problem here. Many people continue to offer the one-use plastic water bottle. Amazingly, I then find it that tourists also continue to accept it en masse even though there is sometimes a refill station with clean water in the same area.

The places used for lunches during the long treks through the desert are also mostly not cleaned up. You see plastic bags of rubbish everywhere. I considered taking everything with me each time but then I saddle my camp with disposing of other people’s rubbish. But more than that, it is already difficult for them to dispose of all the waste correctly and make sure it does not end up in the desert. Tricky dilemma, then.

Villages near the Wadi Rum

There are a number of villages around the Wadi Rum where you can do your last shopping before you dive into the desert for your stay in a Bedouin camp. It depends on which camp you have booked at which village you will be directed to. Wadi Rum Village is located inside the protected area. Along the protected area are the villages of Disah, At-Tuweisa, Mansir, Shakriya.

In the Wadi Rum, no camp is allowed to have its own shop for souvenirs or some snacks/drinks. The places where souvenirs may be sold are at the various highlights of the Wadi Rum that you pass during a day tour in the desert.

Food will be provided in all camps but if you want some extra nibbles in the evening, you will have to bring your own. Nothing will be sold anywhere.

All you need to know about the Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan

Bedouins in the Wadi Rum

Most Bedouins no longer live in traditional tents in the desert. They are mostly in villages on the edge of the Wadi Rum desert. Some Bedouin still live there but it seems to be dying out. Most of the camps are run by the Bedouins though, also the selling points and riding the camels at those points are of course all done by the Bedouins.

Trainstation in the Wadi Rum

There is a train station in Wadi Rum, normally the old train is there that was supposedly used in the 1916 uprising? Now they also offer a fun trip that you ride on that old train for a bit and perform a show that takes you back to that uprising. I thought it was super fun to see and experience, read more about it.

Lawrence of Arabia & The Wadi Rum

Lawrence is almost worshipped here in the Wadi Rum, by the Bedouins and so should not be missed in the Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan. He has meant a lot to them and to this day, I understand, they still benefit. For example, I was told that the Bedouins do not have to pay anything for a whole range of services, such as water and electricity. But even if they want to study, they are allowed to use these for free.

In the desert, on your Wadi Rum day tour, you will pass by a number of places that remember Lawrence.

• Buste of Lawrence
• Lawrence Canyon

At this beautiful canyon, where you can hike for a while, two busts can be admired in the rock in front of it. The one of Lawrence and the one of the king. The king from the time Lawrence was also in Jordan. The canyon in itself is also called Siq Um Al Tawaqi. I walked through it daily during my month in Jordan.

• Lawrence House

This is a place where a single wall still stands with beautiful large stones built up. It is said to have been where Lawrence is said to have lived. The place is now used more for stacking stones at a nice viewpoint above the Bedouin tent.

Of course, you then have a cup of tea with the Bedouins.

• Lawrence Spring

There are several places in the Wadi Rum that bear the name Lawrence. Some really got the name from history but some also grew that way from tourism. Apart from that, they are all beautiful spots in the Wadi Rum desert. They are taken on the various tours through the Wadi Rum. Each guide has his regular spots to stop at and who knows, you might end up here.

The spring near Jabal Khazali does not seem to be the one mentioned by Lawrence of Arabia but the ‘real’ spring is near the Nabateen temple and is called Ain Ash-Shallaleh. This one is on my list to visit next time I am in the Wadi Rum.

Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan

Canyons to visit in the Wadi Rum

• Burrah Canyon

Opposite Burdah Brigde, you will find this canyon. A short but beautiful walk of about 30 to 45 minutes took us to the end of this canyon and after this we walked back. You walk between high cliffs and occasionally get to climb over the big rocks. I love it. Meanwhile, you walk alternately in shade and sun and because it is a canyon, there is often a fresh breeze. A nice change during your day tour in the back of the jeep in the Wadi Rum.

• Khazali Canyon

Of course, this canyon is also worth walking through. It is a long narrow canyon and showcases a number of Nabatean inscriptions. This canyon is also on my to-do list for another visit.

Valleys in the Wadi Rum to visit

• Valley of Colors

During the hike, a stage of the Jordan Trail, I passed through the Valley of Colors. What a beautiful part of the hike this was. The most beautiful view of the day I can tell you. Although the rest was beautiful too, this view and the amazement I had at seeing it really stayed with me. The depth in the landscape, and therefore the different colours. The greenery is not easy to see but just the different colours of the sand and rocks were beautiful!

Natural bridges in the Wadi Rum

• Um Frouth Rock Arch

This natural bridge is good to visit, the climb up can still be a bit scary. There are footsteps made in the first section and then you have to pass a wall to get to the steep rise where you walk in a narrow section. Once you have braved those two bits, you are on top and may walk to the arch. Just cross a narrow section and then you are on top of the arch, on the bridge and of course the photo can be taken.

Also down here is a nice Bedouin tent where you can sit in the shade for a while and enjoy a cup of tea. If you are still looking for some souvenirs, again, of course, they can be found in all colours and sizes…or smells and tastes, whatever you like!

• Burdah Rock Brigde

Burdah Rock Bridge you are only going to see from a distance. It is a high-altitude bridge from one huge wall to another. What is fun to do at the viewpoint though is to hike into Burrah canyon. The canyon you have your back to when you look at Burdah Rock Brigde.

• Jebel Kharaz

Beautiful natural bridge again too. From here my stage on the Jordan Trail started and so I was here for a while. In retrospect, I regret not taking a bit more time to admire these but that day I was very keen to start the hike on the Jordan Trail.

Sites from the Nabataean era

Very long ago, the people the Nabataeans lived in Jordan, Petra and other ancient sites are also full of inscriptions and other reminders of them. Now, though, there are quite a few inscriptions on display in the Wadi Rum but you have to wonder if they are really as old as the guide tells you. My understanding is that some of these inscriptions were not there 10-20 years ago. They have been (re)made in a nice spot and a Bedouin tent has been set up next to them where you can buy some souvenirs. So these are purely touristy.

Apart from that, it does show what they looked like. They did not make any other drawings of them as far as I know. So it does give an idea of how the Nabateans did it in earlier times. I have not yet visited the Nabateen Temple but next time I am in the Wadi Rum, Feb ‘25, I will do my best to visit it.

Nabatean inscriptions

Rock climbing in the Wadi Rum?

Climb highest mountain Jabal Um Ad Dami! It is a whopping 1854 metres high, so it provides quite a challenge.

Or climb the huge mountain and admire Burdah Bridge more closely. Unfortunately, I have not done such a trip (yet) but it is obviously still on my list for my next visit, March ‘25.

Jordan Desert Journey’s Brenda offers the climb to Burdah Bridge on her site.

Hiking/trekking in the Wadi Rum

I hiked a day of the Jordan Trail. A long-distance hike that also goes through the desert. Would you like to hike several days in the desert? Or maybe book a trek so that you traverse the desert on a horse or on the back of a camel? Brenda of Jordan Desert Journey’s also offers such trips on her site! Someday I’m going to do that too!

Of course, the Wadi Rum Travel Guide Jordan is not complete if I don’t tip you an overnight stay at a beautiful Bedouin tent.

Ballooning in the Wadi Rum

You can also see a number of hot air balloons in the sky almost every morning with the sunrise. I have not yet done this here in the desert. What I understood about it, though, is that they don’t sail far but stay attached to a cable and so go up purely for a great view.

This was the view from my yoga room at Magic Desert Camp

Staying in the Wadi Rum

I can really recommend Desert Magic Camp. A gem in the desert. Beautiful tents, nice communal areas and they offer all the trips you would want to book to explore the desert.

Book your overnight stays at Desert Magic Camp

Flying to Akaba – Jordan

From Aqaba, you can easily travel to the Wadi Rum by taxi. Book your plane ticket to Aqaba and start planning ahead.

Before or after your visit to the Wadi Rum:

Go hiking in Dana Biosphere Reserve / and in beautiful Wadi Ghuweir

And how about visiting the ancient city of Petra?

Also visit the Capital, the city Amman