Petra (Jordan)

Advantages: a unique experience
Disadvantages: may be a hard journey for some

...ancient city runs like this. Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended as far as Syria and Saudi Arabia. Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean ...
...century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra to the local people until the early 19th century, when the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited it. For all of its past glories, most of Petra's structures are long fallen to dust. Once the canyons and rock walls that provide the foundation for the ancient trade centre boasted colonnades and paved streets, a tangle of shops and houses brimming with life and colour, now they live only in the imagination ... Read review

Advantages: Hours of exploration if you like archaeology and some spectacular rock formations
Disadvantages: A lot of walking

~Introduction~ Petra is the ruined capital city of the Nabataeans Arabs, it was built in the 3rd century BC by carving the city out of the cliffs and rocks. It is located some 262km or 160 miles south of Amman. A Victorian traveller Dean Burgon described Petra as ' a rose-red city half as old a time'. The most famous ruin is El Khazneh (Treasury), which was used as the entrance to the caverns of the Holy Grail in the film 'Indiana Jones and the ...
...a temple type structures in Petra alongside other smaller caves and holes that have been dug out of the rocks. ~Arriving in Petra~ I arrived from Eilat in Israel on a tour bus. The journey included a stop at the Israel/Jordan border, and long drive across the desert to Petra. The whole trip around Petra was done in the course of one day with an early start and a late finish. The trip cost me $139 (£80) and included the entrance fee to Petra, which ... Read review

Advantages: A very good Tourist Attraction
Disadvantages: Some horse excreta along promenade but nothing serious

...got to be Petra. Petra means ROCK and this is literaly what it is. It is a city carved out of the rock. As you walk down this sort of promenade with cliffs towering over you it is nice and cool and is a good break from the heat of the day. As you walk out of the promenade you come to the Treasury. This feature took my breath away and I am sure it has done the same thing to everyone else that has gone to Petra. The Treasury is a large building that ...
...a sort of pink rock that has been used for carving. I loved this but it wasn't just it. There was a monastery which you can rent donkeys to climb up the mountain to the monastery. It is also breath taking but not as much as the treasury because it is so amazing. There are also other archaelogical digs such as temples and other things like that which are also very interesting. I recommend that you see this when you ever go to Jordan because it should ... Read review

Advantages: stunning sites, wonderful walks, petra by night fantastic experience
Disadvantages: need to be pretty fit, hassle to buy things

...top and looking down into Petra is also fantastic but not for the unfit! You also get quite a lot of hassle from local people trying to sell jewellery and stuff which can be trying after a while, but the actual place and all the sites more than make up for it. The walk in is quite long and hard going in places, and you will need to carry plenty of water with you. It photographs beautifully well, and the colours really are amazing. ... Read review