The guide

Before you fly

Visas, passports, money, phones, plugs, and what December in Amman feels like.

Check before you goSome governments currently advise against travel to Jordan, or ask you to postpone it. Read your own country's advice (Spain, Germany, UK) and check that your travel insurance still covers you.

Visas

The rules depend on your passport, so check yours before you book. This is what we found for the passports most of you hold.

To be confirmedEgyptian passports: sources disagree. Some list a month visa-free, others a visa on arrival or prior approval. Check with the Jordanian embassy in Cairo or your airline; we will put a clear answer here.

• Your passport must be valid for at least six months after you land.
• Germans: a Reisepass, vorläufiger Reisepass or Kinderreisepass works. A Personalausweis does not.
• Visitors can now reportedly stay up to 90 days (some sources still say 30). Either way, plenty for a wedding.

Flights

Fly into Queen Alia International (AMM), about 35 minutes from Weibdeh. Spain and Germany are two hours behind Amman; Egypt is one.

The Jordan Pass

The Jordan Pass bundles the visa fee with entry to over 40 sites, Petra included: 70, 75 or 80 JOD for one, two or three days at Petra. If you are going to Petra, it pays for itself.

• Buy it before you fly, and stay at least two whole nights: only then is the visa fee waived.
• Petra by Night is not included; the Baptism Site is an 8 JOD add-on.
• It is not sold to Arab nationals, so Egyptian and Jordanian guests pay at each site instead.

Check before you goOfficial sources disagree on whether the visa waiver needs two nights or three. Staying three covers both.

Money

• The currency is the Jordanian dinar (JOD), split into 1,000 fils. €1 is about 0.79 JOD, so 1 JOD is about €1.26 (November 2026).
• Cards work in hotels, restaurants and bigger shops. The souks need cash; carry some small notes for taxis too.
• ATMs are everywhere, but foreign cards usually pay 3 to 5 JOD a withdrawal: take out more, less often.
• Restaurants often add 10% service. If not, leave about 10%, and round up taxi fares.

Phones and data

Get a local SIM or an eSIM: you will want maps and Careem all week. Bring your passport; you need it to activate a SIM.

Check before you goOrange's prices are from 2025. Check at the booth.

Plugs

Jordan runs on 230 V. Sockets vary, with European and British types both common, so a small universal adapter is worth packing.

December

Amman sits 800 metres up. Expect days around 14 °C and nights around 6 °C, with rain on about one day in five. The sun sets at 17:33 and it is dark by six. The Dead Sea, more than a kilometre lower, is the exception: about 21 °C, with the water warmer than the evening air.

Packing

• Layers and a warm jacket for the evenings, and an umbrella.
• Shoes with grip: Amman is hills and stairs.
• Something that covers shoulders and knees, for the old city and mosques.
• An old swimsuit and water shoes for the Dead Sea. The salt is hard on fabric.
• Sunscreen, and gloves and a hat if you are going to Petra or Wadi Rum.
• A plug adapter, a power bank, and any medicines in their original packs.
• For the week: casual for the 15th, smart for the 16th, a suit or a dress for the 18th.

Next: Arriving