London to Jordan . . .

Train operator in Jordan:

HJR (Hedjaz Jordan Railway) www.jhr.gov.jo

Time:

GMT+2 (GMT+3 from last Sunday in March to last Saturday in October)

Currency:

£1 = approx 1.1 Jordanian Dinars.  Currency converter

Tourist information:

Information on Petra: http://nabataea.net/petra.html

Recommended guidebooks   Tripadvisor Jordan page

Visas:

UK citizens need a Jordanian visa.  You can get this in London from their embassy at 6 Upper Phillimore Gardens, Kensington, London - tel. 020 7937 3685, www.jordanembassyuk.org.  UK, US & most western European citizens can buy a visa on arrival at the border, cost around 10 dinars or £11.

Page last updated:

26 January 2009

Petra:  The Treasury

Why not?  It's perfectly possible to reach Jordan and Petra overland from London & Europe via Istanbul & Damascus, without flying.  This page will tell you how to plan, book and make this wonderful overland trip both there and back.  Jordan is an amazing place to visit.  Amman is worth a day or two, but the prime attraction is of course the fantastic lost city of Petra (pictured, right).

On this page...

London-Istanbul-Damascus-Amman-Petra by train

Damascus-Amman by train (twice a week, but currently suspended)

Damascus-Amman by bus (several departures daily)

Amman-Petra & Amman-Aqaba by bus

Things to see in Jordan:  Amman, Azraq, Petra, Aqaba, Wadi Rum.

Amman-Cairo by bus or bus+ferry

Sponsored links:

Step 1:  London to Istanbul

The train journey from London or Paris to Istanbul takes 3 nights with daily departures, year-round.  See the London to Turkey page for train times, fares and how to book.

Step 2:  Istanbul to Damascus

A comfortable air-conditioned sleeping-car leaves Istanbul for Aleppo in northern Syria every Sunday, attached to the 'Toros Express'.  Daily air-conditioned trains link Aleppo with Damascus.  See the London to Syria page for train times, fares, how to book and other information.

Step 3:  Damascus to Amman in Jordan

There is (or at least was, see below) a wonderful train service from Damascus to Amman twice a week over the historic Hedjaz Railway.  This train ride should not be missed, although if time presses there are also daily buses which are faster.  Both options are explained below.  There are buses and taxis from Amman to Petra.

If you are new to independent travel, planning a trip like this can seem daunting, but it's not that difficult.  This may help you can plan a journey like this: How to plan an itinerary & budget.

A twice-weekly narrow-gauge train links (or at least used to link, see note on red background below) Damascus in Syria with Amman in Jordan, running over part of the famous Hedjaz Railway.  This historic train ride costs a mere $4, even though buses are faster and run daily.  The Hedjaz line was originally built by the Turks to link Damascus with Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia, and it was the line attacked by T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and the Arabs during the Arab Revolt in 1917.  For more information about the history of the Hedjaz Railway, see http://nabataea.net/hejazad.html.

Damascus ► Amman					Amman ► Damascus
Days of running:		Mondays & Thursdays	Fridays		Days of running:		Mondays & Thursdays	Fridays
Damascus  (Kadem station)	depart	08:00	07:00		Amman	depart	08:00	-
Deraa  (change trains)	depart	13:15	11:20		Mafraq	depart	10:25	-
Mafraq	arrive	15:00	-		Deraa  (change trains)	depart	13:30	14:50
Amman	arrive	17:00	-		Damascus (Kadem station)	arrive	16:55	19:45

Damascus-Amman train suspended indefinitely...    It may or may not ever run again. My wife and I took this train in late 2005, but by mid-2006 it was reported that it was no longer running because 'something is broken' - Syrian tank manoeuvres destroying the tracks, according to one source.  This train is still cancelled, as at January 2009.  Reports from Damascus in February 2008 said that the track was being repaired with the work due for completion in maybe September 2008.  The train has not (as at January 2009) resumed, even though this news report dated 28 October 2008 suggested that a weekly train might resume between Damascus & Zarqa (20km from Amman) in November 2008.  Few Syrians or Jordanians know that this train exists, so don't 100% rely on advice from hotels or agencies that it doesn't run.  Just go to the station and ask there.  If you have any feedback about this train, positive or negative, please e-mail me!  Alternative bus service.

You can phone the Hedjaz Railway in Amman on 00 962 6 489 5413

Damascus to Amman is 223 km (139 miles).

Trains are operated by Syrian Railways (CFS) and Hedjaz-Jordan Railway.  The Damascus-Amman train is in fact two trains, and you have to switch from a Syrian train to a Jordanian train at Deraa while your passports are being checked.  The Jordan Hedjaz Railway website is www.jhr.gov.jo, though it still shows the passenger service as running so it's not kept updated.

The Hedjaz station in Damascus is being rebuilt.  In the meantime, the Amman train starts from Damascus Kadem station 3-4km southwest of the city centre, easily reached by taxi for less than $2.

Amman railway station is 2.5km east of Amman city centre, taxis available.

Fares
Damascus to Amman:	200 Syrian pounds (£3 or $4)

How to buy tickets...

There is no need to reserve in advance.  In fact, it's not even possible to buy tickets in advance, as tickets are only sold on the day of travel an hour before departure at the station.  They may not bother selling you a ticket even then, but tell you to board the train and pay later.  So just turn up half an hour before departure with $4 in Syrian pounds, ask about tickets and see what they say.

What's the train like..?

The Syrian train from Damascus to Deraa has one ancient passenger coach, built in 1905, with a side corridor and several 6-seater compartments...

The Jordanian train from Deraa to Amman has two passenger coaches, with bench seats along the coach sides...  You get great views (and covered in dust) from the open verandas at the end of the coach.

What's the journey like?

Arriving by taxi at Damascus Kadem station, you walk over the footbridge to the narrow-gauge Hedjaz Railway platform on the far side of the station, behind all the mainline trains.

At first, with the platform empty, you may think your train hasn't yet arrived from the sidings.  Then it will slowly dawn on you that the ancient freight train standing one track over from the platform line actually IS the twice-weekly train to Amman.

At the head of a long line of grey bogie boxcars is one solitary passenger coach, built in Nuremburg in 1905, with open verandas at each end and a 'clerestory' roof.  It has a narrow side-corridor and a number of 6-seater compartments, the ancient seat springs trying to burst out of what's left of the upholstery.  Ahead of the passenger coach is one 4-wheeler guard's van, a flat wagon and a Romanian-built diesel locomotive.  This is the Syrian train that will take you as far as Deraa.

The train leaves at 08:00 or maybe later, heading slowly out of the industrial suburbs of Damascus and then out into the arid countryside, descending a shallow valley.  There are military outposts in this area, so the policeman travelling with the train may ask you not to take photos.  The train twists and turns on its narrow-gauge tracks across the desert, at no more than 30-35 mph.  Eventually, it arrives at Deraa.

At Deraa, passports are collected and passengers told to transfer to the Jordanian train standing alongside.  The Jordanian train has two wooden passenger coaches of similar vintage to the Syrian coach, also with open verandas at each end.  Inside, these cars are open-plan with bench seats along the coach sides.  Two small guard's vans bring up the rear.  The train is hauled by a beefy-looking General-Electric locomotive marked 'Hedjaz Jordan Railway'.

After a long wait, passports are shown to their owners and handed straight over to the Jordanian policeman who has now joined the train.

With a long low hoot the train leaves Deraa.  You'll see the road frontier and all the wire fences that mark the actual Syrian/Jordanian border, which the train passes straight through.

Some distance after the actual frontier the train reaches the little station at Mafraq, and here there is also a long stop while passports are processed by the Jordanians.

South of Mafraq there is more desert, a river, bridges (including one rebuilt after being blown up by Lawrence in 1917) and a few hours later the train reaches the suburbs north of Amman.  The train seems faster in Jordan, often travelling at 40-45mph.  Now the train heads straight through the middle of a busy town market, past tenements and rubbish dumps.  The policeman is riding on the leading coach veranda, shaking his finger at any kid by the tracks who looks as if they might throw a stone.  Most Jordanian kids simply like waving at the train and love it when you wave back..!

The train follows a cultivated river valley between hills covered in houses, and finally rounds a curve into the pleasant little station in Amman.

If you're interested in the history of the Hedjaz Railway, see http://nabataea.net/hejazad.html.

Although nowhere near as interesting an experience as the train journey on the famous Hedjaz Railway, the Damascus-Amman buses are faster (4 hours) and run daily.

It's possible to travel from Aleppo to Amman (or Amman to Aleppo) in one day, combining an Aleppo-Damascus train with a Damascus-Amman bus.

Their new website (www.jett.com.jo) is still under construction, so here are times & fares:

JETT = Daily air-conditioned bus operated by Jordan Express Tourist Transport.   JETT has no website, but their phone number is +962 6 562 2430 fax +962 6 560 5005.

Karnak = Daily air-conditioned bus operated by Karnak bus company, Syria.

Damascus ► Amman (by bus)						Amman ► Damascus (by bus)
		Karnak	JETT	JETT				JETT	JETT	Karnak
Damascus	depart	07:00	15:00	16:00		Amman	depart	07:00	08:00	15:00
Amman	arrive	11:30	19:30	20:30		Damascus	arrive	11:30	12:30	19:30

Fares
Damascus to Amman:	5.5 JD (£5 or $8)

Damascus to Amman by road is 180 km.

The Hedjaz Railway no longer operates south of Amman, except for freight trains.  But there are regular buses and minibuses from Amman to Petra (Wadi Musa is the name of the modern town next door).

Amman ► Petra (by bus)						Petra ► Amman (by bus)
		JETT	JETT	Taxi				JETT	JETT	Taxi
Amman	depart	06:30	15:30	taxi		Aqaba	depart	13:30	-	taxi
Petra (Wadi Musa)	arrive	11:00	|	taxi		Petra (Wadi Musa)	depart	|	16:00	taxi
Aqaba	arrive	-	20:30	taxi		Amman	arrive	18:30	20:30	taxi

JETT = Jordan Express Tourist Transport.  Air-conditioned bus.  Please check that the JETT bus from Amman to Petra is running, it has been reported that JETT no longer serves the Amman-Petra route.  JETT has no website, but their phone number is +962 6 562 2430 fax +962 6 560 5005.  Bus fare about 3 JD Amman-Petra, 4 JD Amman-Aqaba.

Taxi = service taxis, usually 25-seater minibuses.  The taxis leave when full and usually operate throughout the day.  The fare from Amman to Petra is 3 JD or less, journey time about 2 hours 40 minutes. These minibus taxis leave from Amman's Wahedat bus station.

Hiring a private taxi to take you to Petra will cost about 40-50 JD (£36-£46) after negotiation.

For ferries from Aqaba to Nuweiba in Egypt, see below...

Amman

Amman is a sprawling modern city which has grown very rapidly from what was once a small village.  Built on a number of hills and valleys, it does have a centre with a citadel and Roman amphitheatre, but isn't worth more than a day if you're passing through.  The Al Saraya Hotel, near the centre, is a good choice for budget travellers.

Azraq

T E Lawrence fans will want to visit the castle at Azraq, an hour's drive east of Amman.  The castle was used as the headquarters of the Arab Revolt for a while in 1917, and Lawrence slept in the room immediately above the gatehouse.

Above:  Azraq castle.  Lawrence of Arabia slept in the room above the gatehouse in 1917.		Above:  The Roman amphitheatre, Amman.

Petra

Jordan's premier attraction, and deservedly so.  The famous ruined city of Petra nestles in a valley surrounded by mountains and approached through over a mile of narrow defile.

Above left:  The end of the defile, where you emerge in front of the 'Treasury'.  Centre:  The royal tombs.  Above right:  The 'monastery', reached after a steep climb up into the hills on the far side of the Petra site...

Jerash

A ruined Roman city in northern Jordan, well worth a visit.

Aqaba

Now Aqaba is a modern town and holiday resort, but when Lawrence and the Arabs attacked it was little more than a fishing village.  The fort they captured from the Turks is still there and can be visited.

Wadi Rumm

A beautiful area of desert and rocky outcrops, it enthralled Lawrence, and much of the film 'Lawrence of Arabia' was filmed here.  You can visit on a jeep safari as a day trip from Petra or Aqaba.

Above:  Aqaba fort.		Above: Brewing up in Wadi Rumm.

No flying was involved in the taking of these photos:  All travel from London to Jordan and back was overland by train...

It used to be possible to go to Israel by sea from Greece, then travel overland from Jerusalem to Amman.  However, all ferries from Piraeus via Cyprus to Haifa in Israel were suspended in 2001 and show no signs of restarting.

Amman-Cairo by bus...

A daily long-distance bus leaves Amman (JETT terminal) at 03:00, taking some 19 hours to reach Cairo.  It is run by Jordan Express Tourist and Transport Co (JETT), telephone Amman 662722, fax 601507.  This bus crosses Israel - remember that you won't be able to re-enter Syria with any sign of a visit to Israel in your passport.

Amman-Cairo by bus+ferry...

It's also possible to travel from Jordan to Egypt avoiding Israel, using a ferry.  Here are details for the southbound journey - details for the northbound journey are shown on the Egypt page.

• Travel from Amman or Petra to Aqaba by bus or service taxi as shown above.

• There is a daily fast catamaran (departing 12:00, crossing 1 hour) and a daily conventional ferry (departing 15:00, crossing 3-4 hours) from Aqaba to Nuweiba in Sinai, Egypt.  The fare is about 16 JD for the ferry or 21 JD for the fast catamaran.  You must check in at least 2 hours before the ferry sails.

• There are buses from Nuweiba to both Cairo and Sharm el Sheik, taking several hours.  For trains within Egypt, see the Egypt page.