Little Petra (Siq al-Barid)

Tickets and tours: all the options

Little Petra has no ticket office and no entry fee. It belongs to the Petra Archaeological Park but is reached by its own road, and you simply walk in from the car park. A Petra pass is not needed and is not checked here. Most independent visitors take a taxi from Wadi Musa, ask the driver to wait for an hour, and often add the Neolithic village of Beidha nearby on the same ride.

What is sold online are mostly tours of Petra that include Little Petra as a short extra stop. Private day trips from Amman, and from towns on the King's Highway such as Karak, bring you by car with a driver, spend most of the day at the main site and stop here on the way out. The Petra entry ticket is usually extra or folded into the price, so check before booking. Two-day trips add an overnight stay in Wadi Musa and sometimes the Dead Sea or Wadi Rum. A local guided walk starting at Little Petra suits people already staying nearby.

The sensible plan is to come on your own by taxi on the afternoon of the day you arrive in Wadi Musa, or on a rest morning between two days at Petra. If you want to hike from here to the Monastery, take a local guide: the trail is not marked all the way.

A short history

Little Petra was carved in the 1st century AD, when the Nabataean kingdom was at its height and Petra was its capital. It was probably a suburb where merchants on the caravan routes were housed and entertained, near the far older farming village of Beidha. After the Nabataeans declined it was left to Bedouin herders for centuries, and the European travellers who reached Petra from 1812 onwards paid it little attention. The British archaeologist Diana Kirkbride dug at Beidha from the late 1950s, and the work there continued until 1983, later joined by Brian Byrd. In 1985 the area was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Petra World Heritage Site. The painted ceiling was cleaned and restored after 2010.

Getting there

Little Petra lies about 8 km north of Wadi Musa, the town at the gate of Petra, on the local road that passes the Bedouin village of Umm Sayhoun. There is no public bus. A taxi from Wadi Musa takes about 15 minutes; agree a return price with waiting time before you set off. With a car, follow the signs to Beidha and Siq al-Barid and park on the unpaved car park at the end of the short spur road. Wadi Musa is about three hours from Amman by the Desert Highway, with buses from Amman each morning, and about two hours from Aqaba. Queen Alia airport near Amman and Aqaba airport are the nearest. A 6 km footpath also links the site with the Monastery inside Petra.

Rules and what to bring

Do not climb on the carved facades or touch the painted ceiling, and do not use flash in the Painted Room. Drones need a permit in Jordan. Bring water, sun protection and shoes with grip for the rock steps; the canyon floor is sandy. Dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees. There are basic toilets near the car park and Bedouin stalls selling tea and souvenirs, but no restaurant, so eat in Wadi Musa.

When to go

The site is open in daylight and is rarely busy, though coach groups and private tours stop here in the late afternoon on their way back north from Petra. Early morning is the quietest and coolest time, and the canyon, as its Arabic name suggests, stays shaded and cool for much of the day. Late afternoon gives warm light on the sandstone but more company.

Spring, from March to May, and autumn, October and November, are the most comfortable seasons, with mild days for the hike to the Monastery. Summer days are hot at 1,040 metres but rarely unbearable in the shade of the gorge. Winter can bring cold winds, rain and occasional flash floods, when the narrow canyon is dangerous and may be closed. Allow an hour for the canyon, two with Beidha, and a half day if you walk on to the Monastery.