Wadi Rum

National Park of Jordan – Wadi Rum, also known as Valley of the Moon, is the largest valley in Jordan (​​74,180 hectares), located just 60 km east of Aqaba. The surface of the valley is uneven, replete with local canyons, dips and elevations. In some places, the desert turns into a semi-desert with sandstone and granite rocks. Due to the dry climate, flora and fauna are neither rich nor diverse, namely, lonely standing desert trees and shrubs, foxes and desert goats. Perhaps all this, for most people visiting Wadi Rum, causes associations with the planet Mars, especially if they are lucky enough to stay overnight and see an unusually beautiful sky full of stars, magnificent Milky Way and a stunning sunrise.

Wadi Rum was inhabited by various cultures, and some of them even left a memory of themselves in the form of cave paintings. And the best place to see them would be the Khaz’ali Canyon, it’s the most popular site of petroglyphs in Wadi Rum, etched into the cave walls. Another famous attraction is the mount Jabal Umm ad Dami – the highest elevation in Wadi Rum with a height of 1840 m. It is located 30 km south of Wadi Rum Village, a homeland to the hundreds of Zalabia Bedouins. They are living here in a concrete houses and tents, have schools and shops, managing local tourism industry and even have a headquarters of the Desert Patrol. The main source of their income is ecotourism, which they have successfully developed over the years. And this is not surprising, as they have been inhabiting the Wadi Rum for many generations. Today, Zalabia Bedouins offering high quality accommodation for tourists. Modern camping with authentic Bedouin or Martian style tents and various levels of comfort.

Despite the fact that it’s a desert, here you will find all the necessary amenities of the modern world for a comfortable stay, such as orthopedic mattresses, air conditioning, private bathroom, Wi Fi, ATM, as well as excellent food & beverage services and more. For entertainment, tourists are offered guided safari jeeps tours, horse and camel rides, hiking, rock climbing and much more. Wadi Rum, famous for its “Martian” landscapes, attracts not only tourists, but also filmmakers. They use this fantastic areas as a background setting for filming their science fiction movies. For example in the movies Red Planet (2000), The Last Days on Mars (2013) and The Martian (2015) – Wadi Rum was used for exterior filming as the surface of Mars. In the movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) – Wadi Rum representing the surface of the desert planet Pasaana and in the movie Dune (2020) the surface of the desert planet Arrakis. Travel agency Jordan Journey offers various tours to Wadi Rum from Aqaba or Amman. Whether it’s a One Day Wadi Rum Tour or a part of your Custom Tour in Jordan, you will enjoy this unique journey and admire the extraordinary beauty of this truly unique desert.