Trekking holiday in Jordan
A seven day trekking holiday through Jordan’s stunning desert landscapes and ancient sites, with a small group of like minded travellers for company.
Amman Dead Sea Petra Wadi Rum Madaba
Price
£1495£1413To£1695excluding flights
More info
Single supplement from £200 - £220.
Offers
Up to £160 off selected dates.
Late availability on these dates: 05 Oct, 26 Oct
Late availability on these dates: 05 Oct, 26 Oct
Description of Trekking holiday in Jordan
This trekking holiday explores the stunning natural beauty, fascinating history and warm culture of Jordan in just one week. Kicking off in Amman, the trip then moves on to Mukawir, by the Dead Sea, where you can take a refreshing, floaty dip and get panoramic views over the landscape. Then, you’ll visit the iconic tombs and dwellings of ancient Petra, where you’ll also spend a day trekking with a local guide. A magical Bedouin desert camp in Wadi Rum comes next, and then the Byzantine mosaics and Ottoman houses of Madaba.
You’ll make your journey along with a small group of up to 16 like minded travellers and expert local guides, with four out of the seven days spent hiking. We encourage you to interact with local people as much as possible. This includes eating in local restaurants and spending a night with the Bedouin in a desert camp.
Map
Price information
£1495£1413To£1695excluding flights
Single supplement from £200 - £220.
Check dates, prices & availability
Travel guides
Like Mars on Earth, the sun scorched and rust red landscape of Jordan is one of the driest places on the planet. For thousands of years, the only foot...
A trip to Petra can be a box ticker or a deeper experience and if you have the chance to stay an extra day or two you’ll find there’s much more than o...
Holiday information
Small group tour, ideal for solos & couples:
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modeled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. For those with limited time, a small group tour will save valuable time in planning, and on holiday.
Indigenous communities:
This trip benefits Bedouin communities by providing homestays with food and supporting local restaurants with a socially responsible kitchen, where each meal purchased also buys a meal for a homeless person or community member in need. The trip promotes gender equality by training local female guides.
Reviews
1 Reviews of Trekking holiday in Jordan
5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 23 Mar 2023 by Amy McGlinchy
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Visiting Petra was incredible, as was trekking through the beautiful desert landscape at Wadi Rum and staying in the wonderful Bedouin 'Rainbow' camp. Our tour leader Wally was fantastic. He was an amazing font of knowledge and had great energy throughout the trip.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Definitely bring your sleeping bag if you're visiting in the early Spring or late Autumn as the desert can get really cold at night. Pack for all eventualities - we had a couple of days of rain and others of glorious sunshine. I didn't find any need for my bug spray so there's no need to pack any. You need a reasonable level of fitness due to the hiking but it isn't too intense, although definitely pack your walking polls (in your hold luggage)!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
I feel that it benefited local people insofar as a local guide was hired for the duration of the trip and we ate at local restaurants and supported local sellers at the tourist sites. However, it concerned me to see a number of school-age children working at the Petra site, as well as animals such as camels, horses and donkeys who clearly weren't treated well. I'm glad that our guide warned us not to pay for any trips on any of the animals in the site. I hope that companies such as Responsible Travel continue to lobby the Jordanian government against such practices.
The amount of hiking clearly reduced the environmental impact but I was sad to see that everyone still drinks from plastic bottled water in Jordan despite the tap water apparently being drinkable. We got through a lot of small plastic bottles during the trip and it would be great to do more to reduce this where possible e.g. encouraging guides to buy bigger bottles such that people can transfer water from there into their sustainable bottles, or encouraging guides to advise people to drink the tap water where it is safe to do so. I was also sad to hear that there is currently no recycling scheme in Jordan.
In terms of food waste I was glad to see the local Bedouins leaving out any excess food for local animals to use.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
It was a fantastic holiday and I'd highly recommend for people looking to be amazed by the ancient world and astounding desert landscapes. Ending the trip at the Dead Sea on the last day was perfect, but I'd recommend booking to stay at one of the Dead Sea resorts for a few extra days at the end of your trip if you have the time, in order to relax and unwind after a busy week of trekking!
Read the operator's response here:
Hi Amy, thank you for taking the time to leave a review for your tour in Jordan. It sounds like your trek allowed you to truly experience the astounding landscapes as well as the fascinating culture & history of Jordan. We hope you have some happy, lifelong memories from your adventure. We’re also delighted to hear that your leader, Wally, was knowledgeable and energetic throughout the trip.
Thank you for flagging your concerns regarding ‘working’ animal welfare. Jordanian organisations, international partners, UNESCO and PETA (animal rights group) are trying to improve the conditions for the animals, which we continue to support. However, for many local people this is their only form of income, making this is a complex problem. As a responsible travel company we believe that – until conditions improve – our travellers should politely decline animal transport in Petra, and we are glad that Wally made your group aware of this. Moreover, single-use plastic reduction is a key priority of ours in all destinations, though it is particularly challenging in this region. We are continuing to trial alternative solutions such as large filter jugs and partnerships with filter bottle companies. We promise to continue working towards the best improvements for people and the planet.
Thank you again for your review, Amy. We hope to welcome you onto another adventure soon.
Thank you for flagging your concerns regarding ‘working’ animal welfare. Jordanian organisations, international partners, UNESCO and PETA (animal rights group) are trying to improve the conditions for the animals, which we continue to support. However, for many local people this is their only form of income, making this is a complex problem. As a responsible travel company we believe that – until conditions improve – our travellers should politely decline animal transport in Petra, and we are glad that Wally made your group aware of this. Moreover, single-use plastic reduction is a key priority of ours in all destinations, though it is particularly challenging in this region. We are continuing to trial alternative solutions such as large filter jugs and partnerships with filter bottle companies. We promise to continue working towards the best improvements for people and the planet.
Thank you again for your review, Amy. We hope to welcome you onto another adventure soon.
Responsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) holiday so that you can travel knowing we've worked to maximise the benefits of your holiday to local people and places, and minimise any negative impacts.
Planet
This is a small group trekking adventure and we want to leave nothing behind but footprints. So, our experienced and committed leaders ensure that no rubbish is left in our wake, protecting the environment for local wildlife and future generations. We carry bags to collect up any litter produced and make sure that it is disposed of properly.To reduce single use plastics during this trip, we give reusable cloth bags to all of our travellers. Many Jordanian hotels and operators provide plastic bottles of water making it easy to use plastic excessively. However, we encourage our travellers to buy larger 5-10 litre bottles that they then use to refill their smaller ones.
Water conservation is a hot topic in Jordan, as it’s one of the driest countries in the world. Our trained tour leaders are well versed in advising travellers on initiatives to manage water consumption, and we are working with our suppliers to encourage better management of this precious commodity. This may be by way of water refilling opportunities in hotels and more signage to advertise water conservation practices. We also ask our travellers to take short showers and to never leave the tap running unnecessarily.
People
This trip is run by our own local Jordanian operator who shares our commitment to responsible travel, from waste and water management to ensuring we leave as minimal a footprint as possible. Our local team are trained on our global responsible travel policies and practices.We encourage our travellers to eat in local establishments, including our favourite: a socially responsible kitchen where each meal you purchase buys a second meal for a homeless person or another community member in need.
In a country where the workforce is dominated by males, only 12-15% of the formal workforce sector are female and 25% of the informal workforce sector, we are actively campaigning for change by training more local female guides.
Our philosophy is to act local and that means respecting local traditions. For instance, women will be required to wear a headscarf when appropriate and both men and women are required to dress conservatively, with arms and legs covered.
We also take care to form genuine and mutually beneficial relationships with local people. An excellent example of this is in the remote Bedouin desert camp stay, where we get a taste of what it’s like to live like a Bedouin, eat local food and sleep under the stars.
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