Wadi Rum Luxury Desert Camps in the Valley of the Moon

Spring and autumn offer warm days and cool nights. Summer days are very hot, but nights are pleasant. Winter days are mild and sunny, and nights can drop close to freezing, so the best camps provide heating.

Most visitors arrive by road from Petra (about 90 minutes) or Aqaba (about an hour), where King Hussein International Airport receives flights from Amman and Europe. Royal Jordanian flies nonstop to Queen Alia International Airport (AMM) from New York JFK, Chicago, Detroit, Washington Dulles and, since May 2026, Dallas Fort Worth, in roughly 11 to 13 hours. Gulf and European carriers add one-stop options from almost every US city. At the Wadi Rum visitor center you leave your car and transfer by four-wheel drive to your camp.

A half-day jeep safari takes in the classic sights: Lawrence's Spring, the red dunes, the Khazali Canyon inscriptions and the Burdah and Um Fruth rock bridges. Camel rides at sunset, horse riding with Bedouin guides, sandboarding and rock climbing on some of the finest sandstone routes in the region are all available. A hot-air balloon flight at dawn is the most memorable way to see the desert, and at night the stargazing is extraordinary.

Dinner is usually zarb, a Bedouin feast of lamb or chicken and vegetables slow-cooked in a pit in the sand. Our pages on desert sports and desert camps and lodges cover more.