Is Petra safe?

Most visitors never think about the Siq as a hazard, but it is one. A flash flood through the gorge in 1963 killed 23 French tourists, and in November 2018 rangers evacuated roughly 3,700 people when floodwater came down the wadi. From November to March, check the Wadi Musa forecast before you set out; staff close the Siq when rain is forecast upstream, and we would never argue with them. In summer the same danger comes as heat. Shade runs out past Qasr al-Bint, and by 11am the sandstone throws heat back at your shins. The climb to Ad Deir is about 850 rock-cut steps, so go through the gate at 6am and carry 2 litres of water. The tea stalls sell more at about 1 JOD a bottle, roughly $1.40.

Petra's problems are commercial, not criminal. On the Ad Deir stairs and the trail to the High Place of Sacrifice, donkey and mule handlers will offer you a ride a dozen times, and some quote 10 JOD at the bottom and ask for 20 at the top. Agree the fare, including the ride back, before you climb on, or walk instead. Solo women should know about a pattern that Wikivoyage and years of traveller reports describe: young Bedouin men around Al Khazneh offer a secret viewpoint over the Treasury or tea in a cave at sunset. Usually it is flirting with a sales pitch behind it. Sometimes it is not. Our advice is to turn down any walk with a stranger after 4pm, however friendly the cardamom coffee smells. Licensed guides at the Petra Visitor Centre carry ID cards and charge fixed rates.

Wadi Musa is quiet and safe to walk at night, though the road uphill from the Visitor Centre to the Shaheed roundabout covers a steep 2 km, and taxis usually ask 2 to 3 JOD for the trip. Petra by Night runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30pm and costs 17 JOD: you walk a candlelit Siq with several hundred other people, which is the safest way to see it after dark, and we rate it the best solo evening in town. Pack a fleece. At 8pm on 15 October it was 19.9°C, and the desert air felt cooler on bare arms. If you dread eating alone, Petra Kitchen in Wadi Musa runs a shared cooking class every evening where you roll maqluba and stuff vine leaves with strangers, and the cumin and lamb fat stay on your fingers afterwards.

Two quieter risks are worth planning for. The Back Trail between Little Petra and Ad Deir takes about 4 hours over loose scree with no phone signal in places; we would not hike it without a guide. The medical picture is the other concern: Queen Rania Hospital in Wadi Musa handles sprains and heat exhaustion, but anything serious goes to Amman, about 3 hours north by road, so buy insurance that covers evacuation before you fly. LGBTQ+ travellers face a 3.5/10 (sourced from TTDI's editorial rubric). Same-sex relations have been legal in Jordan since 1951, but public affection draws stares in Wadi Musa and booking a double room as two men can cause friction, so book a single-occupancy room through the hotel's own listing and you avoid the supplement for a double.