There is simply no better way to tour Wadi Rum than with an experienced Bedouin guide. Your assigned guide will have been born in the desert and will know it inside out.
You’ll see the desert from a different perspective when you let a Bedouin guide show you the way over the red sand and past several natural attractions. But it’s also a very practical decision to be shown the way by a local guide because the desert is a hot and arid place where things can easily go haywire.
A genuine Bedouin guide will make the trek with you while pointing out hazards along the way. They will also draw your attention to unusual fauna and flora while explaining the efforts being made to keep the Wadi Rum desert from succumbing to overcommercialization.
Whether you’re staying for the day only, or for a couple of nights, be sure to book a guide for the following experiences while you tour Wadi Rum:
On the day tour, you will travel the desert in a Jeep, alongside your dedicated Bedouin guide. The guide will provide interesting facts and historical information about the various attractions you’ll visit, including the Nabatean Temple, Little Arch, Lawrence’s Spring, and Khazali Canyon.
When you’re happily tired from the morning’s excursion, you will be driven to Lawrence’s House for a magnificent lunch, including some excellent tea.
After lunch, the tour will resume and your guide will show you more unforgettable sights, including Burdah Rock and Mushroom Rock. If you’re adventurous at heart you will be given the opportunity to climb Burdah Rock, provided there is enough time left in the day, or you can hike through the Abu Khashaba Canyon.
If you don’t get a chance to catch the spectacular views from the top of Burdah Rock, you may have some time to climb the Um Frouth Rock Bridge where you can add some great photographs to your Instagram account.
When night falls in the desert, your tour guide will take you to the nearest viewing point to see the awe-inspiring sunset while you drink traditional Bedouin tea made over an open fire. And that will conclude an amazing day tour of Wadi Rum.
If you want to tour Wadi Rum at a bit of a slower pace, your Bedouin guide will escort you on a camel trip through the protected areas of the Valley of the Moon.
At the start of the day, you’ll be introduced to the camels at the far end of the village and then head out into the desert. When travelling by camel, it takes around one hour to reach Lawrence’s Spring.
Moving on from Lawrence’s Spring, your camel will take you to the Red Sand Dunes and then onwards you’ll go to the Khazali Canyon. Inside the canyon, you’ll be able to see several fantastic petroglyphs and inscriptions carved by ancient tribes thousands of years ago.
After having some traditional food for lunch, you will travel to Little Arch and then Lawrence’s House. Moving along, you will be taken to view the Anafishieh inscriptions and then gaze out of the beautiful Red Sand Dunes. At the end of the tour, you will ride back to the Wadi Rum village.
If this tour isn’t enough to satisfy your travelling spirit, you can combine the jeep and camel tour for a more encompassing experience.
If you’re more into hiking and want to crunch the desert sand beneath your boots, you should definitely sign up for a full-day hiking tour with a traditional Bedouin guide.
If you’d like to hike to the Burdah Rock Bridge, your day will start in the Wadi Rum village where you will be collected by your guide and driven to the mountain by Jeep. Once you arrive, your guide will also hike up the mountain with you, pointing out various places of interest along the way. The guide will ensure that you’ve packed enough water and sunscreen before you start the climb.
You should note that part of the ascent is steep, especially near the top. For this reason, your guide will secure a rope around your waist to ensure your safety as you make your way to the top of the mountain. Once you’ve taken some photographs, you will hike back down alongside your guide who will then drive you to a cool, shaded spot to have lunch.
Once your food has settled, your guide will drive you to the Wadi Noughra canyon, where you will hike through a natural gorge. The Bedouin guides do not accompany tour parties on this hike and will instead drive to the other side of the canyon to await them.
If you still have some stamina left after the hike through Wadi Noughra, your guide will take you to other canyons for some more hiking. Afterwards, you’ll view the sunset while enjoying strongly brewed Bedouin tea before being taken back to the village.
If you want to tour Wadi Rum, but hike through different parts, there is also the Jabal Umm Ad Dami full-day hike. This is a more challenging climb, but once you reach the top of the mountain, you will be able to see the Red Sea from there, provided the air is clear enough.
It takes around five hours to get up and down from Jabal Umm Ad Dami, and lunch will recharge your batteries to go hiking in the Wadi Sabat region. Afterwards, you will enjoy the sunset from a specific viewpoint and then be driven back to the village.
Touring Wadi Rum with a local Bedouin guide, will not only allow you to see the desert through different eyes, but the experience itself will roll back the curtain of time and you will have far more insight into how the desert was inhabited millennia ago.
This type of adventure will allow you to gain more understanding and appreciation for different ways of life, and how historical tribes built the foundations upon which we rely on so much today.