Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the Petra Visitor Centre walk down through the Siq to the Treasury and on along the Street of Façades. Just before the Theatre, the stepped processional way climbs the side of Jebel al-Madhbah to a ridge with two tall obelisks. A short climb north from them, with the same way back, reaches the High Place of Sacrifice (المذبح): a levelled summit with an altar and wide views over the city. Then go down the steps into Wadi Farasa, past the Lion Fountain, the Garden Hall, the Roman Soldier's Tomb and the Renaissance Tomb, to the Great Temple. Return along the Colonnaded Street and out through the Siq.
It is 9.9 km round with 302 m of ascent; allow about 3½ hours, more with stops. The grade is Hard: long flights of uneven rock-cut steps, steep and exposed to the sun, with drops beside the path near the top.
Go up early, before the heat of the day, and carry at least 3 litres of water each. The Siq floods after rain, and the Petra authority closes the site when floods threaten. From October to March it closes at 17:00.
A one-day ticket is 50 JD if you spend at least a night in Jordan and 90 JD on a day trip; the Jordan Pass includes it.
Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.
Good to know
- The High Place of Sacrifice (Al-Madbah) is an open-air platform on the summit of Jebel al-Madhbah, with an altar, benches and a basin where the Nabataeans worshipped their gods
- Two obelisks more than 6 m tall stand on the ridge below it: the Nabataeans quarried the rock away around them and left them standing
- Wadi Farasa, on the way down, holds the Lion Fountain, the Garden Hall, the Roman Soldier's Tomb and the Renaissance Tomb
- Petra's theatre, cut into the foot of the same mountain in the 1st century AD, is passed on the way in and out
Summits on the way
- Jabal al Madhbah · passed close by
Getting there
Start: Petra Visitor Centre car park, Wadi Musa. 30.32568, 35.46733
Directions to the start
Places to stay nearby
Rooms in and around Petra Visitor Centre car park: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →
Affiliate links: if you book, Global Adventurer earns a small commission at no cost to you.
Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.