Lebanon Travel Forum

Is it possible to do a day trip from Beirut to Petra in one day, and if so, must I obtain a Jordanian visa in advance.

It is theoretically possible, but it would be a major waste of time and money. The earliest you can arrive in Amman from Beirut is 9:35 AM. In the absolute best case, you would get a taxi (about USD 100) to Petra and arrive there at noon. You'd then have to leave no later than 4 PM to get a taxi back to Amman (another USD 85 or so) to catch the latest flight back to Beirut at 8:15 PM. The flight costs almost USD 300.

So you're looking at a total cost of about USD 500 per person, including the Petra entrance fee, and total travel time of 12 hours. For that you get a maximum 4-hour visit to Petra. FYI, it takes 45 minutes each way just to walk in and walk out of the site. I stayed for almost two full days in Petra and still didn't see the whole thing. Four hours is completely not worth bothering with.

Thanks for that _ others had told me that you can take a taxi from Beirut - 5 hour drive - one way. They were misinformed

It takes six hours from Beirut to Amman and another 3 hours to Petra.Same time to get back.NO way.
Try visit Damascus it is possible in a day.

It didn't even occur to me to drive--way too far. I have not been to Damascus but hear great things about it. Frankly, I am so fond of Beirut that I would just stay there or go to other places in Lebanon if I had a spare day there. There is no shortage of things to see.

I caught a taxi from Amman to Beirut last October, it took ALL DAY, theoretically its 5hrs but you have to add in all the immigration check in and out points through, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan which will take forever if its busy!! you will also need to line up and pay for your entry and exit visas. If you have a good taxi driver they will do it for you, otherwise you will have to do it yourself!

You will also need a visa to go through Syria, I only had a single entry Visa and had a massive amount of trouble at the check in point as I had already used that up and had to purchase another entry and exit visa! Even though we were "in transit" I still had to pay over $100US

Jordan will issue you a visa at the check in point no worries, but you will have to pay for an exit visa as well.

I advise you spend a couple of days exploring Petra, theres much more to it than The Treasurey!! Petra is also a couple fo hours from Amman and very easy to get to with a shared taxi!