Take this incredible Petra tour from Eilat which starts when you are picked up from your Eilat hotel and taken swiftly across the Arava Border into the Kingdom of Jordan. We take a 2-3 hour drive through the desert landscape past mountain scenery and stunning vistas to reach Petra. The Nabataean people carved the city of Petra out of red-colored rock cliffs about 2,300 years ago.Today Petra is an archaeological site in pristine condition. We pass obelisks and the cave tombs then enter Petra on foot or horseback via a long narrow gorge or “Siq” flanked by high rock cliffs. As we reach the end of the Siq the Treasury looms up in front of us. The Treasury façade is intricately decorated and carved with columns, statues and a 3.35 meter high urn. The tour takes you down Petra’s colonnaded street past temples, tombs and other structures all carved out of the red rock cliffs.
Stop at the monumental El Deir Monastery created in the 1st century with a façade that’s 50 meters wide and 40 meters high. You’ll even see the Roman theatre built many years after the Nabataean’s abandoned the city. The return journey back to Eilat takes us past Wadi Rum, also called the “Valley of the Moon” because of its unique landscape. We can stop for some brilliant photo ops overlooking the desert wilderness. If there is time we may fit in a panoramic tour of Aqaba, Jordan’s only Red Sea port city before crossing back into Israel and returning you to your Eilat hotel.