8-Day Jordan Trek with Petra Backdoor Hike and Wadi Rum

Welcome to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The airport is a 30-minute drive from the capital city of Amman. Today is arrival day, and for those arriving in time, this is a good opportunity to discover the beauty of the capital and try the delightful Jordanian food available in the numerous restaurants and cafes across the city.

After an early breakfast, we set off promptly for Madaba - a town with a strong Christian heritage and aptly dubbed the "City of Mosaics". Around 90 minutes from the capital, Madaba is home to hundreds of Byzantine-era mosaics. The most famous is the 6th-century map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, created with two million pieces of vividly coloured local stone and believed to be the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land.

Continuing our journey for another 20 minutes, we arrive at Mount Nebo, referenced in the Old Testament as the place where Moses stood to look over the Promised Land. This sacred location is important to many devoted pilgrims and offers views across the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem on a clear day.

Later this morning, we continue travelling south, just as traders, armies, and pilgrims have done before us, along the impressive 5,000-year-old King's Highway to Kerak. Imposingly situated on a rocky outcrop next to the road and containing a maze of stone-vaulted halls and passageways, this ancient Crusader stronghold is the most famous among a chain of fortresses built for the Holy War against Islam.

Our packed day of sightseeing ends with a short drive to Petra - undoubtedly Jordan's most valuable treasure. We can look forward to a couple of days here to get under the skin of this awe-inspiring site. If your tour starts on a Saturday, we arrive in time to take an optional candlelight tour of the ancient city. Abandoned centuries ago, this other-worldly place is enhanced by the play of light and shadow, creating an altogether magical setting.

Today's walk descends from the Mediterranean climate at 1,200 m above sea level to 100 m above sea level. Throughout this 16 km hike, you will walk through a natural open flora museum. Wadi Dana is the most important geological feature of the Dana Nature Reserve, and its great canyon joins the Rift Valley through the Feynan Desert, mentioned in the Bible as Fyenon.

This landscape dates back thousands of years, as Feynan is the oldest site for copper mining, dating to 4600 BC. It is a very colourful day as you come across Bedouin families who still practise this mystical lifestyle and see their scattered goat herds.

At the end of the walk, you will visit the ancient copper mining sites from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, dating to the Roman Paganism era. This walk stirs your thoughts and emotions about history and nature.

At the foot of the mountains, today's route ascends steeply across rocks and small boulders along a twisty track, climbing high into the mountain. This section is challenging.

We are rewarded with stunning views west over Wadi Araba. We then continue over a high saddle before descending to the river valley of Wadi Alforn, following the goat track.

Today's walk descends through the masterpiece of nature's creation, crossing the colourful sand dunes and reaching Little Petra, where we will spend the night in a fixed campsite with flushing toilets.

Breakfast and lunch will be taken outside during our journey, while dinner will be served at the campsite.

On our last day of hiking, we start from the campsite and pass by the oldest village known to man, dating to 9500 BC in the Neolithic period of the Stone Age.

On this day, we enter Petra from the back door, where there are fewer people, through the beautiful cliffs of the western part of Jordan. The first Nabatean carved monument we will see is the Monastery. We then continue through the Cardo to reach Petra's most famous facade, the Treasury, and finally pass through the twisty natural gorge to end at the Petra Visitor Centre.

For those who want to sleep longer, we depart at 11 a.m. for Wadi Rum. Alternatively, you may take the opportunity to wander around Wadi Musa. Wadi Rum is a massive desert in the southern part of Jordan and is unique among the deserts of the world. This part of the desert was home to many previous civilizations.

Wadi Rum is also known as the Moon Valley because of its spectacular colourful dunes and huge rock formations that compare to the moon's landscape. The clear night skies give you an opportunity to enjoy some amazing stargazing.

Today, we discover this gorgeous desert after a 2-hour drive from Petra and 70 km from Jordan's only seaport city, Al-Aqaba. We arrive in Wadi Rum by 1:00 pm, check in to our campsite, and enjoy a welcome drink with our hosts.

In the late afternoon, we take a 2-hour Jeep tour (safari) to discover the beauty of the desert and see nature's textures. Wadi Rum has more than 20,000 documented inscriptions tracing back through 12,000 years of history. This is truly a place steeped in ancient history.

This morning, we depart Wadi Rum and travel for around 4 hours to the Dead Sea. Officially the lowest point on the Earth's surface, this unique body of water has an amazingly high salt content of 33%, meaning no animal life survives and it is almost impossible to sink. The experience of floating naturally is unique and relaxing on the calm sea.

We spend a couple of hours this afternoon at a tourist beach, where food and drink can be purchased and shower facilities are available.

Finally, we drive to Amman and spend our last night in the bustling capital, with free time for some last-minute shopping and sightseeing. To mark the end of your trip, you may enjoy a traditional or cosmopolitan meal, washed down with some excellent Jordanian wine, in one of the capital's many restaurants.