Practical Information
From Israel to Jordan
There are 3 border crossings from Israel to Jordan, one in the North, one by Jerusalem and one in Eilat. Only the one in Eilat and the one in the North give visas to tourists. For the one near Jerusalem, called the King Hussein bridge, you need to arrange a visa in advance.
I found that crossing the border in Eilat was the easiest. You can book a bus over the phone from Tel Aviv’s Central Station to Eilat. The buses run about every hour and cost 70NIS so it is really no problem to get a seat. I traveled overnight and took the last bus from Tel Aviv. The trip takes about 5 hours and gets you to the bus station in Eilat. From there I took a taxi to the border crossing. The taxi took at most 10 min and cost 30NIS. The border opened at 8am. Israel charged me 90NIS to leave their country, but the Jordanian side gave me their visa for free. It was really a very smooth and easy border crossing. We didn’t have to wait very long and everyone was very friendly.
You need to watch for the taxi drivers on the other side though. They are incredibly arrogant and won’t hesitate to lie. You will have no other choice than get a taxi to Aquaba (6JD) and figure out from there where you want to go next. Don’t get a taxi from the border to Petra, as you will likely pay too much. The taxi drivers at the Aquaba border are really the worst I met.
Aquaba
I mainly went to Aquaba to go diving. I went diving with Seastar diving and I had a good experience. They booked my hotel for me at Rae D. I could certainly recommend that hotel. It was very clean, had internet, large rooms, well located etc. It cost me 35JD a night, which was a discounted price because I also booked 2 dives.
Seastar diving was great. They have this incredible dive instructor Thair. He is the only Jordanian diver I met (the other ones are all foreigners). He is incredibly friendly, helpful, careful and I would highly recommend him. I also dived with some other Russian instructor, I think her name was Lana. She was incredibly arrogant, randomly yelled at people and I would strongly advise anyone not to go with her. She screwed up one of my dives by shortening it for no clear reasons.
Petra
Everyone tells you to stay at Cleopetra because the owner is so nice and the atmosphere so great. Maybe that used to be the case, but not anymore. The owner now just wants to get money out of tourists and doesn’t hesitate to lie or harm other businesses in town. The hotel is certainly fine, but I wouldn’t stay there, I would stay at Valentine Inn instead which seemed to be an incredibly happy place for backpackers.
Wadi Rum
Booking a tour in Wadi Rum can be quite a challenge and you will find a million of people trying to offer you all kinds of tours. I haven’t figured out who to trust and who not. Eventually, I just went to the visitor’s center in Wadi Rum and booked a tour from there. They have prices listed on a board which makes them trustworthy. I booked the 5 hour tour, but wouldn’t do it again. The 3 hour tour really shows you the same places in the end. You pay for the whole jeep. So if you are a single traveler, you can just stick around the visitor’s center and eventually other travelers will arrive to share the cost of a jeep with you. I stayed at the sunset camp (25JD) and would recommend it to anyone else. We had great food and a magnificent sunset view.
Dana
The Nawatef camp is really THE place to go. Just read the post on Dana and you will understand why. It is likely to be on of your best experiences in Jordan!! Beds are 15JD a night and here is the contact information to book a room at the camp:
Mobile: 00962 796 392 079
email: nawatefcamp at hotmail dot com
Madaba
I haven’t found a good place to stay in Madaba. I stayed at the Inn of Madaba which was a fine place to stay at but not amazing… Beds were 15JD. I heard the Maryam place is supposedly amazing, but it was booked out when I came.
Leaving Jordan towards Israel
There are buses from Amman to the King Hussein bridge and shuttle buses on the Israeli side. Otherwise, you could also take a taxi from Madaba. Be aware that the King Hussein bridge is a painful border crossing. The Israelis will likely keep you for hours there. Also, the King Hussein bridge is the only place where you will get a 3 months visa again for Israel. If you go over Eilat or the North, you will only get a 1 month visa.