Petra, the ancient rose and rock city, is a central part of every Jordan itinerary.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’, and a perennial feature on everyone’s Instagram feed, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that being privileged enough to spend a day or two exploring its honeycomb network of caves and marvelling at its facades comes at a decent price.

In this short post, we’ve shared key advice on current Petra entrance fees, where to buy your tickets in advance online or on the day you visit, and a few mistakes to avoid.

Petra Ticket Essentials

/ Option of one, two or three-day ticket
/ Can be bought at Visitor’s Centre
/ Entry included in Jordan Pass
/ 'The ‘Petra by Night’ show is separate ticket

Petra Entrance Fees in 2022

How much is the entrance for Petra? A standard one-day ticket to Petra costs 50 JD (£57 / $70 USD / €67), but you can also buy multi-day tickets for 55 JD and 60 JD.

These prices only apply to travellers who are going to spend at least one night in Jordan, classified as an ‘accommodated visitor’. The main Petra entrance fee options are as follows:

One-Day Ticket | 50 JD ($70 USD / £57 GBP / €67 EUR)

Two-Day Ticket | 55 JD ($78 USD / £64 GBP / €74 EUR)

Three-Day Ticket | 60 JD ($85 USD / £70 GBP / €80 EUR)

If you're visiting Jordan for just a single day - i.e. from Israel or Saudi Arabia, on a tour or independently - then entry fees to Petra are priced at 90 JD ($127 USD / £105 GBP / €120 EUR).

This higher prices also applies if you visit Petra on your first day in the country, although you are supposed to be able to get a refund of the difference if you end up staying longer in Jordan (let us know how that process goes for you in the comments…).

Entrance to Petra is free for children under 12 years old, and just 1 JD for Jordanians and residents (those who hold a valid identity card issued at least one year ago).

Do You Really Need A Multi-Day Petra Ticket?

In our main guide to visiting Petra, we recommend spending at least 8-12 hours exploring the site to have meaningful experience and cover the highlights.

If fit, willing, and able, then you could definitely squeeze that into a single full-day (i.e. enter at 6 or 7am), but that may be too much for some or simply become unenjoyable for others; having the option to spread your time over two days is therefore sensible and allows you the greatest amount of flexibility.

Further, adding on the second day is economical at just an extra 5 JD - even if you do simply pop back in for a few hours to get some more photos, linger longer over a specific section, or take your time to appreciate the Siq or Treasury in different light.

Remember, you can also flip that order, and have a shorter visit on your first day (when you arrive in Wadi Musa) and a longer visit on your second!

So, unless you itinerary means you definitely won’t have enough time, we recommend hedging your bets and grabbing the two-day Petra ticket.

Note that the multi-day Petra tickets must be used on consecutive days i.e. you can’t visit on a Monday and then a Wednesday with the two-day ticket, it would have to be the Monday-Tuesday.

You also don’t have to wait in line at the ticket office if you’ve got your valid ticket from the previous day - simply go straight to the entry barriers at the main gate and beat the crowds.

Plan // Get ready for your visit with our guide to visiting Petra.

Is Petra By Night Included?

Petra By Night is a separate event, starting at 8.30 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and is not included in the Petra entrance fee - your Petra tickets only permit entry during the day between 6am to 6pm.

For Petra By Night, you have to purchase separate tickets for 17 JD from the kiosk inside the visitor centre or from various hotels in Wadi Musa for the same price. If you are keen to get your tickets sorted before arrival though, you can book them in advance here, but do be aware that the price - which does also include transport to the Visitor Centre - is higher.

We did a lot of research into Petra By Night before visiting, and weren’t inclined to go, but know that lots of you trust our opinions on whether an experience is worthwhile or not. However, after a full day exploring the site, we were knackered and preferred to relax with some fizzy malt drinks on our hotel terrace than make the effort to attend something that genuinely sounded overpriced and bit of a tourist sideshow.

Subsequent messages from followers who did attend have only served to confirm this judgement!

Where To Buy Petra Tickets

Although a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and tourist attractions moved their ticketing systems online during the pandemic, it is still not possible to buy your individual Petra tickets online via an official website.

You are therefore limited to three options:

The Petra Visitor Centre

You can buy your Petra ticket on the day at the Visitor Centre in Wadi Musa (find it here on Google Maps). Everyone has to pass through this complex in order to access Petra, and it’s therefore not an inconvenience.

There are three kiosks (not all open or staffed at the same time) and queues are common, but they do tend to go down quite swiftly.

If you’re planning on an early entry to Petra, note that you can arrive here before 6am to queue, but the ticket office will not open until scheduled at 6am.

You can pay in cash or card here, but card payments incur a 2% fee. We recommend carrying enough cash to cover your entry and spending for the day, just in case there’s an issue with the machines, and sourcing this the day before you arrive. Worst comes to worst, there’s an ATM directly outside the Visitor Centre entrance, but it charges for withdrawals.

When we visited, there was a single self-service ticket machine opposite the ticket office kiosks, but this was out of commission (let us know in the comments if that changes).

Top Tip // The girl ahead of us in the queue had to pay an additional 10 JD in order to buy her ticket because she didn’t have her passport. Due to the difference in fees between ‘accommodated’ visitors and 'one day’ visitors, there is a rationale to this (and she didn’t have a Jordan Pass). However, we hadn’t read anything about this before visiting, and the numbers didn’t seem to add up.

We wanted to double-check if this was a ploy or not.

Andrew returned the next morning to ask if he could buy a ticket in person and if he needed his passport, and he was told in no uncertain terms that he didn’t need to show a passport, visa, or entry / exit stamp. Based on this, we recommend those of you buying in person to either 1. carry your passport or 2. take photos of your passport ID page and entry visa to show (may not be accepted, but stand your ground).

The Jordan Pass

The Jordan Pass is a government-run tourism scheme, whereby a single digital pass includes entry to 40+ attractions, waives your Jordan visa fee, and includes your Petra tickets.

At time of writing, this is the only official way to buy your Petra tickets in advance online (so don’t get scammed elsewhere by websites claiming the opposite).

Five essential things to note:

· you have to buy the Jordan Pass before you arrive in Jordan.

· you have to spend a minimum of three consecutive nights in the country.

· there are three ‘levels’ of Jordan Pass, based solely one whether you want to include 1, 2, or 3 consecutive visit days to Petra.

· the Petra tickets are the same price as paying in person at the Visitor Centre.

· you do not have to specify the day(s) you'll be visiting Petra, but simply ensure you visit within the two-week validity period after it's activated.

For most travellers in Jordan, buying the Jordan Pass is a no-brainer due to the overall savings it provides beyond the cost of your visa and Petra tickets. However, there are some rule-proving exceptions and exclusions, so make sure you read our quick guide to the Jordan Pass before you buy it.

Top Tip // Please be aware of the website, www.jordan-pass.com (which we aren’t going to link to directly), which is not the official site for purchasing the Jordan Pass. Instead, it is a entirely different company that will process your application via the official channels. You will end up with a valid pass, but you’ll pay a lot more for the privilege.

You can only buy the Jordan Pass on the actual official website here.

Petra Tours & Tickets

If visting Petra on a day trip or multi-day tour from Amman, Aqaba, or the Dead Sea resorts, then it's important to double-check if your Petra ticket is included in the overall cost or something you have to cover in addition. Obviously, the latter will see the price of the tour experience increase significantly!

GetYourGuide and Viator are the two best options for finding and booking tours online, and all the Petra tours we’ve seen do not include your price of entry or ticket. So, if you’re likely to visit Petra on a day trip tour, make sure to clarify or factor in the price of your ticket when planning your overall budget for it. The following tours from Amman are all highly-rated and well-reviewed by travellers:

· Tour One | This tour has fantastic ratings, with private transport and even includes time to go to the Monastery. Find out more here.

· Tour Two | This option is the one to go for if you’d prefer a private tour. The time in Petra isn’t vast, but it does also include a visit to Little Petra. Find out more here.

You can check tours from Aqaba in this post.

Longer small-group tours, like this Explore Jordan tour by G Adventures, do include your Petra tickets.