A trip to Wadi Rum is a must for a trip to Jordan. Located in the southern part of Jordan, it is the most famous desert and adventure is found at every turn. During your excursion, you will pass camel caravans and 4x4s filled with travelers. The Wadi Rum is home to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a rock formation and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors experience the epic desert landscape featured in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. Here are the Top Things to do in the Wadi Rum.
Why Visit Jordan
In a land that measures its history in thousands of years, many visit Jordan for its history. With its glorious architecture, many dating back to BCE, visitors can see remarkable monuments like Petra. Its capital, Amman, offers museums, open-air markets and a rich dining scene.
Adventure abounds in Jordan. From diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea to riding a camel in Wadi Rum to a 4×4 trek across the Wadi Mujib, travelers can experience an amazing trip. The Dead Sea is another not-to-miss experience in Jordan.
Best of all, Jordanians are among the most hospitable in the region. Since Jordan sits at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East, travelers have passed through the area since the beginning of time. Hospitality to travelers is part of its culture.
For religious, they can stand in the River Jordan, where John the Baptist performed baptisms. There are many mosques in addition to churches and holy sites that date back to the early days of Christianity.
7 Top Things to Do in the Wadi Rum
Take a 4×4 Tour
Watch the Sun Set
See the Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Enjoy a Zarb
Glamp in a Bedouin Camp
See the Milky Way
Ride a Camel at Sunrise
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Take a 4×4 Tour Through the Wadi Rum
In a Toyota Hilux 4×4, visitors can explore the same sand that people have explored for thousands of years. During my trip, I arranged a sunset ride with a ride through Wadi Rum.
As a true off-road adventure, we jumped into the back of the pick-up and veered off the main road, where the tracks in the sand vanished. Sand swallows everything in the desert, including time.
During our excursion, we passed camel caravans, as other travelers chose to travel in a slower mode. Our guide took us past rock formations. He even showed us the filming spots for several movies, like Lawrence of Arabia.
As the sun inched toward the horizon, our tour found a spot to enjoy the desert sunset. One of the top things to do in the Wadi Rum. They even lit luminaires as they recounted the history of the area.
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Find the Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Named after the British Officer T.E. Lawrence’s book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, the mountain formation dominates the desert landscape. Lawrence described the Wadi Rum as vast, echoing and god-like.
During the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918, T.E. Lawrence was instrumental in the successful fight against the Ottoman Empire. Working as a liaison between the Arab forces and the British, Lawrence also led campaigns with Faisal, the future King of Jordan. After the conflict, Lawrence wrote a book retelling the story that later became the Academy Award-winning movie Lawrence of Arabia.
If you have the chance, watch the movie before your trip.
See the Sunset over the Wadi Rum
After letting some air out of the tires, our 4×4 gained traction and climbed over a dune that looked like a mountain. At the top, I saw the sun inching closer to the horizon.
Skidding down the backside of the sand dune, we drove to an overlook. After climbing from the back of the 4×4, I found a place in the sand.
What happened next drew out the artist in me. The desert light turned an amber gold as the sky flared in colors of tangerine and aubergine. Then, silently, the sky started to darken to indigo before the tiny sparkling lights of the night sky dazzled me.
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Enjoy a Traditional Zarb
The Bedouins have welcomed visitors for thousands of years with their legendary hospitality, myself included. Surrounded by a sheer sandstone wall protected by the wind, we gathered around the Zarb, a traditional underground Bedouin barbecue.
To cook our meals, they use a set of stacked racks, each holding chicken, lamb and vegetables. While the coals slowly cook the food underground, the juices fall from each layer, perfectly seasoning the layers below.
The cooks pulled the Zarb from its pit and presented our food buffet-style. Piling plates high, we dined on lamb and chicken with a mezze of hummus, fattoush (bread salad) and baba ghanoush. Every meal in Jordan ends with Arabic coffee or mint tea, along with dessert, usually baklava.
After enjoying our food, it is traditional to enjoy Arabic music, including North American favorites in Arabic. With music comes dancing, and we learned the more traditional dances in Jordan.
See the Milky Way
With little light pollution to dim the night sky, Jordan enjoys dark night skies filled with stars. During our trip, finding the Milky Way was no problem. Many Bedouins can still navigate across the desert by the stars.
For a better look, pack binoculars. Phones are much better at night phones so a special camera is not necessary. Some Wadi Rum camps even offer telescopes to see the Milky Way.
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Ride a Camel Across the Desert
If you are camping or glamping in Wadi Rum, I recommend you wake before dawn to take a camel caravan for sunrise. The Bedouins have used camels for 10,000 years.
With an experienced guide, they will help each rider onto the camel (not the same as riding a horse). After climbing into a traditional saddle, I held on as my camel stood up, first leaning back and then forward. After standing, the ride is more gentle than on horseback. Camels glide across the desert sand.
During our excursion, our guide tethered the camels together so we didn’t have to give them directions with the reins. After riding through the soundless desert, the camels reached the point where the sun peaks above the horizon.
At this moment, I felt gratitude for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Jordan. I took many photos but let my mind wander, knowing that I was experiencing the same moment that others had for a millennium.
Our group was led by a father-and-son team. The father helped passengers on and off and led the camels from the front. His son walked with the group, keeping the camels moving at the same pace. The camels were well-treated and even affectionate to the boy. During my trip, I got a camel kiss from my ride. Be sure to arrange a guided trip with healthy-looking animals that are docile, meaning they are treated well.
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Learn about Wadi Rum’s History
At a crossroads of civilization and trade, the Wadi Rum seems to stretch to the edge of the earth. The nomadic Bedouin people have traveled the desert on camels using the stars to navigate for nearly 10,000 years.
Now, technology helps them with 4×4 Toyotas and smartphones for navigation, but the old ways are still important. Most families live closer to schools during the year, though kids learn to tend to animals as well.
AsJordan’s largest desert, or wadi, it serves as a natural barrier. So large, armies before thought they were safe from the north.
It wasn’t until the early 1900s that T.E. Lawrence and his British troops crossed the Wadi Rum on camels. They pushed the Ottomans out of Aqaba during the Arab Revolt.
The Wadi Rum Desert in Movies
The Wadi Rum desert is featured in several movies. Before my trip, I did some research the easy way by watching movies.
Lawrence of Arabia–On top of the list is the 1963 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, it tells the true story of T.E. Lawrence, a British soldier dispatched to Arabia to find Prince Faisal. Then, he led a group of warring tribes to run the Ottomans out of Arabia during the Arab Revolt.
Filmed in Jordan, it’s a cinematic masterpiece. The shots of the Wadi Rum desert are stunning. Then, I downloaded the soundtrack and listened to it during my flight to Jordan.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed in 1989. The Martian was filmed in 2015. Then Star Wars: Rogue One and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were filmed in 2017 and 2019. The live-action version of Aladdin was also filmed in 2019.
Where to Stay in the Wadi Rum Desert
During my visit to the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, I stayed in a traditional camp, Rahayeb Desert Camp. Located in a protected area from the desert wind, I enjoyed a deluxe goat hair tent with a bathroom and a shower.
Rahayeb Desert Camp also offers travelers’ tents without attached bathrooms. I toured the mini-suites along with the family suites with two bedrooms and an attached bathroom. There is a clean bathhouse within steps of all the tents.
I enjoyed my breakfast and dinner at camp while staying at Rahayeb. Served buffet-style in a separate tent, I enjoyed my meal outside around the fire pit. In the morning, I opted to eat in the dining tent.
Rahayeb Desert Camp arranges 4×4 tours, camel tours, and hot air balloon rides. It collects guests at the Wadi Rum Visitor Center for their stay.
Is it Safe to Travel to Jordan
According to the U.S. State Department, “While Jordan itself is relatively stable, due to high tensions in the region, the security environment remains complex and can change quickly.” Follow the U.S. State Department for up-to-date information.
You can also register for its STEP, Safe Traveler Enrollment Program, which sends out text alerts if the conditions change on the ground. Traveler insurance is always a good idea at any time, especially for international trips.
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