Cheap Petra Tour
Cheap Petra Tour
What is the cheapest way to travel to Petra?
Petra is the most expensive national Park in the world! The only park that is more expensive is the Jurasic Park. However, unlike Petra, the Jurasic Park is fictional.
Yet, like the Pyramids of Giza, Petra in Jordan is one of the Seven Wonders of the World that must be in the Bucket List of every traveler.
So, you may ask yourself what is the cheapest way to travel to Petra.
Will it be better to take a taxi or rent a car, and have a cheap Petra tour by yourself, or maybe just book an organized tour to Petra with one of the many agencies or tour operators?
It’s not allowed to cross the border from Israel to Jordan by a rented car. So, you should take a taxi from your hotel in Eilat to the border, another taxi from the border to Petra and again from Petra to the border, and one more taxi from the border back to your hotel in Eilat. Another option is to let a local Petra tour operator to take care of all these arrangements.
How much costs to travel to Petra from Eilat?
Let’s calculate the total price of a tour to Petra.
Taxi from your hotel in Eilat to the border: $15-$20
Israeli departure tax: $30 per person
Visa to Jordan: $60 per person
Taxi from the border to Petra: $100-$150 each way
Entrance ticket to Petra: $130 per person !!!
Local guide in Petra: $100-$200 (upon availability)
Lunch at a local restaurant in Petra: $15-$25 per person
Jordanian departure tax: $15
Taxi from the border back to your hotel in Eilat: $15-$20
So, the total price of a Cheap Petra Tour for two people is $365-$430 per person (WITHOUT a guide). I’d say that this is quite expensive!
How much costs an organized tour to Petra from Eilat?
Most of the tour operators offer you an organized one day tour to Petra for $185-$215 per person (not including the border fees and the visa fees). However, the two biggest Petra tour operators that most the thousands agencies work with require you to pay extra money for a taxi from your hotel in Eilat to a meeting point, and another taxi from the meeting point back to your hotel in Eilat (after they promise you that there are no hidden fees). Also, the biggest tour operator to Petra from Eilat doesn’t even offer you lunch in Petra.
We offer you the best possible Petra tour from Eilat for just $200 (not including $65 border fees and $75 visa fees). We organize for you the entire tour to Petra from ‘A’ to ‘Z’, including all transfers from your hotel in Eilat to Petra and back to your hotel in Eilat, lunch at a superior restaurant in Petra, and one of the best tour guides in Jordan.
So, the total price of our one day tour to Petra from Eilat is $340 per person (including the border fees and the visa fees) – this is a cheap Petra tour!
Yet, I strongly recommend you on our business class Petra tours in small groups, which costs just $250 per person (not including $65 border fees and $75 visa fees) – total $390 per person, accompanied by probably the best tour guide in Petra.
Why the tour operators charge more money for the border fees and the visa fees?
The Israeli departure tax costs $30, the Jordanian departure tax costs $15, and the visa to Jordan costs $60. So, why do the tour operators charge $65 for the border fees and $75 for the visa fees?
Well, the fees are calculated as follows:
Border fees: $30 for the Israeli departure tax + $15 for the Jordanian departure tax + $20 for the transfers in Eilat.
Visa fees: $60 for the visa to Jordan + $15 for the Jordanian representative.
By the way, all the tour operators charge these extra fees, even if the declare that their price has no hidden costs (just check the small letters in the bottom of their page), and it doesn’t matter if they give you extra services like us or not.
I don’t need to pay for the visa to Jordan!
Since January 1st 2016, all nationalities need to pay for the visa to Jordan.
The only nationalities that are exempt of the Jordanian visa fees are: Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, South Africa and Turkey.
Some nationalities, like Colombia, India, Philippines and some other need to get a visa to Jordan in advance at the Jordanian embassy.
So, why does it written in my embassy website that I don’t need a visa to Jordan? Well, the answer is that you do need a visa to Jordan. But, you can get your visa at the Jordanian border, and you don’t need to arrange it in advance, like Colombians, Indians and Philippinians.
Will it be better to book a cheap Petra tour at my hotel?
Almost all the hotels in Eilat, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem offer you to buy a tour to Petra, either at the reception, at the concierge, at an attractions desk or from a receptionist/bellboy (also an agent of your tour operator). Yet, this is absolutely the worst possible option! It doesn’t matter if you have a great tour operator, or if you stay at a 5-star hotel. If you buy a tour to Petra from your hotel or from the agent of your tour operator, then they will definetly send you to the cheapest (and worse) local Petra tour operator that offer them the biggest commision for a cheap Petra tour.
It is best to choose your Petra tour operator by yourself online, after checking the testimonials of their clients, and making sure that it’s really a tour operator and not an agency.
Have a great trip! 🙂
