Advice on private tours for Petra and Luxor

[Heathpete]

Hi, we are wanting to visit Petra in October. Aqaba is one of our ports of call. We arrive at 7am and leave at 7pm. We were thinking of doing a private tour with a few others and wonder if anyone has any tips { a good tour company} ; or whether we should travel with the ships organised tour instead. We were hoping to visit Wadi Rum as well.

We are also visiting Luxor and would appreciate any tips on private tours for there. We are in port from 7am - 11pm. We would like to see all the World Heritage sites but understand that time is against us. Any tips would be helpful. Thank you. Heather and Peter

[John Bull]

You would be hard-pressed to fit in both Petra & Wadi Rum into one day, the cruise line certainly won't be offering the combination. Here's the sort of time-scale you'd need to maintain.

 

Expect to leave the ship about 8am.

The drive to Petra is about 2 hrs, so you'd arrive about 10am.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=30.324531,35.468888&sspn=0.002255,0.004689&geocode=FXBBwgEdlBMWAg%3BFbK5zgEdHjYdAg&oq=Petra&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=18&z=18

 

It'll take you about 40 mins to walk from the entrance to the bottom of the ravine, by the Treasury, and the same or a little longer to walk back up. You could do with a couple of hours at the bottom.

So you'll be leaving Petra about 1.15 to 1.30pm

From Petra to Wadi Rum visitor centre is about 2 hours, so you'll arrive about 3.15 to 3.30pm.

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=29.643865,35.439491&sspn=0.036329,0.075016&geocode=FbK5zgEdHjYdAg%3BFbpKxAEdVKwcAg&t=h&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=14&z=14

 

From here, you'll take a 4x4 out into the desert past the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, heading east then south. The 4x4s carry up to about 9 passengers, one alongside the driver, the others have to climb up into the back of the 4x4 (sorry, ute ;)). Timescale is up to you, but you need a good two hours.

Which gets you bsck to the visitor centre about 5.15 to 5.30.

It'll be dark shortly after that.

 

Then the return to the ship takes about an hour

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=Aqaba,+Jordan&hl=en&sll=29.983945,35.40873&sspn=1.158549,2.400513&geocode=FbpKxAEdVKwcAg%3BFRCfwgEdhCYWAimB-i7_OXAAFTHMai5tVapfWQ&oq=Aqaba&t=h&mra=ls&z=11

 

So you'll be back at the ship around 6.15 to 6.30.

And 6.30 is likely to be your back-on-board time.

So you can see its quite a crowded day.

 

You won't need a guide as such, but you do need an operator used to cruise ship transfers and who is capable of pre-booking a 4x4 at Wadi Rum.

 

When comparing prices against ship's Petra offerings, you need to allow for the heavy admission price.

 

Contrary to other posts about Jordan, we found the country inexpensive, other than the admission fee at Petra & the cost of a horse-drawn cart back up the ravine if you choose to use one.

 

JB :)

[Heathpete]

Thanks John for all your information. Greatly appreciated.:D We have also been looking at the tours on offer for Luxor by our cruise line and think maybe it is the best bet going with them, as there is about seven hours travelling by road there and back. Thanks again. Heather and Peter

[seasoned]

I have found it entirely possible to see Petra and Wadi Rum in the same day. In fact, I have done the trip twice from Aqaba. Don't miss Wadi Rum, where the sunset is beautiful in that spectacular red-sand desert.

 

The guide I have used both times is Radwan Farajat of Red Rock Tours. He is knowledgable and will tailor your tour to suit your needs. If he is not available, he will find an equally good guide for you. You can find other recommendation for Red Rock Tours at TripAdvisor.com

 

If you send Radwan an email inquiry (rfarajat@hotmail.com), please give him my regards. (I gain nothing from him, but he'll know the source of the referral.)

 

-Sukey-

[paul929207]

We did a tour to Petra from Aqaba.. It was a full day tour. I did not arrange it and don't remember the name of our guide. I think there were about 12 of us.

 

Where will you dock for Luxor? We docked in Safaga which was a 2 or 3 hour drive from Luxor. We had been to Luxor on a 7 day Nile River cruise, so choose not to take a tour there. I know there was at least one group that went on their own to Luxor. It was a long but great day according to the reports I heard.

[dileep]

There is so much to see in Luxor. If pressed for time I would stay on the east side and see the Luxor and Karnak temples.

 

[dileep]

we have great tours with Ibrahim at info@explorejordantours.com