Petra on a Budget: Prices and Free Extras
Petra on a budget: what the ticket actually costs
Petra’s price tag depends on where you’re sleeping, not on how long you stay. Overnight-in-Jordan visitors pay 50, 55 or 60 JOD for a one, two or three-day ticket. A same-day crossing with no Jordan overnight, common from Eilat, pays a flat 90 JOD instead, with no multi-day discount. Little Petra costs nothing and under-12s enter free either way. This page covers what’s worth paying for and what to skip. For a full day-by-day plan, see the 5-day , 6-day or 7-day budget itinerary.
| Item | Price (JOD) | Hours | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petra entry, overnight visitor (1/2/3-day) | 50 / 55 / 60 | ~6am-6pm summer, 6am-4pm winter | Full day minimum, two better |
| Petra entry, day-tripper (no Jordan overnight) | 90 flat | same | Single day, no re-entry |
| Jordan Pass Wanderer / Explorer / Expert | 70 / 75 / 80 | n/a | 1 / 2 / 3 Petra days |
| Little Petra (Siq al-Barid) | Free | Daylight hours | 1-2 hours |
| Petra by Night, when running | ~30 | Sun-Thu, 8:30-10:30pm | 2 hours, separate ticket |
Tickets and the Jordan Pass math
Skip the line that the Jordan Pass makes Petra “free.” It bundles Petra entry with a waiver of the roughly 40 JOD Jordan visa fee, and that waiver only kicks in if you buy the Pass online before you land and stay at least 2 nights or 3 days in the country. Buy it after arrival and you’ve paid full Pass price for a ticket with no waiver attached. For most overnight visitors the tiers run Wanderer (70 JOD, one Petra day), Explorer (75 JOD, two consecutive days) and Expert (80 JOD, three consecutive days); pick based on how many separate days you’ll actually walk through the gate, per jordanpass.jo . Opening hours and any short-notice closures (flash floods can shut the Siq with little warning) are posted on the site authority’s own visitpetra.jo , worth a check the night before. If you’d rather have a guide walk you through the Siq and the myth-busting on your first pass, a short private tour from Wadi Musa runs a couple of hours and is bookable online rather than arranged at the gate.
The Treasury is a tomb, not a treasury
The Al-Khazneh facade is 30 metres tall and carved directly into the sandstone cliff, and it is a Nabataean royal tomb from around the 1st century, not a functioning treasury. There are no rooms behind the columns holding gold; the name comes from a legend about loot hidden in the stone urn on top. Budget your first hour here for photos and the myth-busting, then move on: the Treasury is one stop, not the whole visit, and treating it as the whole visit is how people end up thinking Petra takes an afternoon.
The Monastery costs nothing extra once you’re inside
Ad-Deir, the Monastery, is larger than the Treasury, and once you’ve paid the entry ticket it costs zero JOD more to see it, unlike a lot of “included” attractions that turn out to have an add-on fee. The catch is the 800-plus rock-cut steps, 45 to 60 minutes at a steady pace, genuinely strenuous in real shoes rather than sandals. It’s the best free upgrade in the site and, hour for hour, the better payoff than the Treasury photo everyone already has.
Skip the animal rides, they cost more than they look
Horse, donkey, mule and camel rides get pitched near the entrance and along the route as included or cheap, and the real bill lands at the end as a demanded 20-50 JOD tip, with pressure if you push back. Camels can’t manage the Monastery’s stepped climb either, so a camel offered “to the Monastery” is a partway ride followed by a costly donkey switch. Agree an exact total in JOD before you get on anything, or just walk; it costs nothing and the animals are worked hard in serious heat regardless.
Where to sleep cheap in Wadi Musa
Wadi Musa, the town at Petra’s gate, runs budget guesthouses from 15-20 JOD for a dorm bed or 35-40 JOD for a private double, well under the Movenpick and other resort-style properties at the entrance gate, which run USD 200-300 a night. Rocky Mountain Hotel is a long-running budget pick with a rooftop view toward the mountains and rooms bookable directly ; check current rates before assuming the dorm bed is still available in spring or autumn, when budget rooms fill first. Local restaurants along the main street serve mansaf, Jordan’s national lamb-and-jameed dish, and grilled meats for 8-12 JOD a main, real local pricing rather than a tourist markup.
Is Petra worth the money?
Yes, for anyone spending at least one full day, and it’s a bad use of money if you rush it into a 2-3 hour stop between an Amman day trip and a border crossing. The 50-90 JOD entry buys access to a site covering many square kilometres, most of it still unexcavated; a single hurried visit sees a fraction of it and misses the Monastery entirely.
Do you need the Jordan Pass for a short Petra-only trip?
Not always. The Pass only beats standalone tickets once the visa waiver applies, which needs 2+ nights or 3+ days in Jordan bought online before arrival. A one-night, one-day visit with no visa waiver benefit can come out roughly even on price, so run the math against your actual nights before assuming the Pass is automatically cheaper.
How much does a full day at Petra cost beyond the ticket?
Figure 10-15 JOD for lunch, water and Bedouin tea inside the site, more if you eat the Basin Restaurant buffet near Qasr al-Bint, the only sit-down option deep inside. Bring more water than feels necessary; May-September runs 35-40C with almost no shade on the sandstone trails, and dehydration is the most common way a cheap day turns into an expensive one.
Book the Jordan Pass online before you fly, walk past every animal-ride pitch without stopping to haggle, and put the money you save toward one extra night in Wadi Musa instead. That’s the single trade that makes a Petra visit both cheaper and better.