Petra, Shobak and Udhruh Landmarks
Advisory as of 31 October 2026. Jordan is feeling the effects of the wider 2026 regional conflict involving Iran, so travel plans can change quickly and flights may be disrupted. On the US State Department scale the whole country sits at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, while the borders with Syria and Iraq and a few named areas are at Level 4, Do Not Travel. At the time of writing the US has also named Ma’an city and parts of Ma’an Governorate on their own. The UK FCDO takes a narrower line: it advises against travel only within 3 km of the Syrian border and has no warning for Petra or Wadi Rum. Petra and Wadi Musa are open and operating. Please read the US advisory for Jordan and the UK advice for Jordan before you book and once more before you fly. What follows is written for a normal visit.
Seeing Ma’an Governorate in time order
The governorate’s landmarks span about 9,000 years, and visiting them in date order makes a tidy plan. Wadi Musa is the base for all of them.
Neolithic: Beidha
Beidha is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B village, about 9,000 years old by standard references, a short drive north of Wadi Musa near Little Petra. Entry is free.
Nabataean: Little Petra and Petra
Little Petra is a Nabataean suburb about 8 km north of Wadi Musa, free to enter. Its Painted Biclinium is the best-preserved painted Nabataean interior, with vines, birds and erotes on the walls.
In Petra itself, a gorge 1.2 km long, the Siq, opens onto Al-Khazneh, the Treasury. Its royal-tomb facade measures about 40 m by 25 m, and nobody may enter. Past it come the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, the Theatre, the Colonnaded Street and Qasr al-Bint. The Monastery, Ad-Deir, is roughly 45 to 50 m wide and waits at the top of 800 to 850 steps. Opposite the Treasury, a small payment may be asked at viewpoints, and the established high lookout is the Al-Khubtha trail.
Roman: Udhruh
Udhruh is a legionary fortress of 4.7 ha, about 15 km east of Petra. Legio VI Ferrata rebuilt it in AD 303 to 304, and Leiden University’s research project calls it among the best preserved of its kind. Visit it as a quiet extra on the road east.
Crusader: Shobak Castle
Baldwin I of Jerusalem founded Montreal, now Shobak Castle, in 1115. Saladin and then the Mamluks held it. It rises on a hill at about 1,300 m and is on Jordan’s UNESCO Tentative List. Foreign visitors pay 1 JD.
Modern: Ma’an Palace
In Ma’an city, the Hejaz Railway station of 1904 is now the Ma’an Palace. Prince Abdullah, later Abdullah I, arrived in town on 21 November 1920 and set up his National Defense Headquarters in the station building. The palace is shown on the back of the 5-dinar note. View it from outside on a brief daytime stop.
Practical notes
The park opens about 6:00 to 6:30 AM and closes between 4 and 6 PM. Entry is 50 JD for 1 day for visitors who spend a night in Jordan. Avoid the Siq in or after heavy rain. The Petra guide has more on planning.
Read more: Walking tours and Attraction tours .
Book a guided visit on GetYourGuide .