Wadi Rum is a 74,000-hectare desert in southern Jordan, made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 for both its landscape and its human history — the sandstone cliffs carry more than 25,000 rock carvings and 20,000 inscriptions left by people passing through over roughly 12,000 years. It's also where T.E. Lawrence based himself during the Arab Revolt, and where Wadi Rum's rock formations later stood in for Mars in The Martian and for alien planets in Dune and several Star Wars films. At Jordan Address, it's the one night on every itinerary our guests talk about afterwards.

Getting around. Wadi Rum is huge and mostly unpaved, so it's normally seen by 4x4 jeep with a Bedouin driver rather than on foot or by rental car. A half-day jeep tour typically covers Khazali Canyon (look for the ancient inscriptions on its walls), a couple of natural rock bridges, and a sand dune or two for photos. If you want more, camel treks and guided rock climbs are both possible to arrange, and hot-air balloon flights over the desert run on clear mornings.

Where you stay. Camp options in Wadi Rum range from simple Bedouin tents with shared facilities to private "bubble" or dome camps with glass ceilings for stargazing from your bed. We match the camp to the trip: family groups usually prefer a camp with private tents and proper bathrooms, while travellers who want the most authentic experience often ask for a smaller, traditional Bedouin camp further from the main tourist routes.

What a night there is actually like. Camps serve a zarb dinner — meat and vegetables slow-cooked underground — followed by tea around a fire, and often live music from the Bedouin staff. Once the fire dies down and the camp's own lights go off, there's essentially no light pollution: on a clear night you can see the Milky Way without any equipment. This is the part guests consistently mention when they get back.

Best time to go. October to April has the most comfortable daytime temperatures for jeep tours and hiking. Summer days get very hot for anything active outdoors, though nights are still good for stargazing — if you're visiting in July or August, we'll usually plan the desert activities for early morning or after sunset.

How to combine it. Wadi Rum sits between Petra and Aqaba, so it fits naturally into a route that does Petra one day, Wadi Rum the next, and either the Dead Sea or Aqaba's Red Sea coast after that — this is the backbone of most of our multi-day tours.

Thinking about a Wadi Rum night as part of your trip? Tell us your dates and we'll build the route around it, or start from one of our ready-made tours that include Wadi Rum.