Driving in Jordan: Everything You Need to Know
Road tripping is a perfect way how to explore Jordan. If you plan on renting a car in Jordan, keep on reading. In this travel guide, we share with you tips on how to rent a car and our experience, including safety, driver's license, and other practical information. Simply put, we will tell you everything you need to know before driving in Jordan.
Are you planning of visiting Jordan? Then you have to consider how you will get around first. The public transportation network in the country is quite limited, especially if you are on a strict schedule.
Therefore, traveling in Jordan by rental car is the most popular way how to explore this Middle Eastern kingdom.
In the beginning, we were quite reluctant to rent a car in Jordan. First of all, we love to travel around foreign countries by public transport, because it is one of the best ways to observe local life, even though it is often time-consuming, but great to exercise patience.
Second of all, we did not know what to expect. Questions like is it safe to drive in Jordan, do we need international driver's license, what is the speed limit, what about police checks, were popping in our heads.
But in the end, we remembered our road trips in Canada, the USA or Australia, which are to date our favorite travel experiences, and decided to give driving in Jordan a chance.
Jordan is a small, compact country with quite well-maintained roads connecting the country's top tourist attractions, so this destination is perfect even for travelers with a limited amount of time.
We had exciting eight days for Jordan - read our helpful 1-week Jordan itinerary for inspiration - and thanks to having a car we had a feeling we could see the best of Jordan.
If you are still hesitant about whether renting a car and self-driving in Jordan is the right choice for you, keep on reading.
In this blog post, we will share with you our knowledge we gathered when driving in Jordan ourselves, and we will share with you practical tips and information, so you will be well-prepared before your journey.
We aim to provide you with all the details you need to know before driving in Jordan, and hope that this article will help you to put your concerns aside and inspire you to set off for a road trip of your lifetime.
HOW TO RENT A CAR IN JORDAN
Renting a car in Jordan is super-easy. To be honest, we landed in Amman at 12:30 PM and around 1 PM we were leaving the airport in our rental car to Madaba. Most likely, you will also arrive in Queen Alia International Airport, where are several car rental companies.
Rental Locations
There are not that many places in Jordan where you can safely rent a car.
It is possible either here at the airport, then in the center of Amman, and then in the resort town of Aqaba.
Even though it is possible to arrive in Jordan without a car booking, we are strongly against that. Yes, you might be lucky, and the car can be available, but we just think it is too much hassle.
According to us, it is much better to choose your preferred car online.
You will know the price beforehand, and most importantly, you will also know it will be available for your days in Jordan.
We just cannot imagine we would be running around Amman's downtown trying to arrange a car - maybe if we had unlimited time in the country, and we really wanted to save money.
Search Car Rental Deals
For renting a car we use Rentalcars.com, and so far we've been always happy with the service.
The advantage is that the site compares prices from different providers, so you can find a car which suits you the best in one place. It is also possible to buy insurance during the booking process, and when something happens, you can always contact the very prompt customer service.
Once you rent a car, it will be waiting for you on the day and at the time you've selected in your preferred location. If you want to drop off the car in a different location, expect to pay a one-way fee, around 70 USD.
Rates
It is only up to which company you choose, but we never book the cheapest option unless the reviews are great.
The daily rate for a rental car in Jordan varies between 30 USD - 50 USD per day for a standard car (usually Nissan Sunny), but you can pay more for more luxurious cars.
In Jordan, you can rent a car with both manual and automatic gearboxes. Make sure you get what you want.
Documents
To rent a car in Jordan, you only need your driver's license and passport.
It is not necessary to arrange an international driver's license. The clerk will copy the documents, and you will be asked for your credit card to provide the company with a guarantee.
Deposit
The rental company will block a deposit, between 250 - 300 USD (depends on the car), and they will release the money right after you return the car.
Make sure that it is possible to take a deposit from your credit card. We have regular problems with one of our cards when we want to give a deposit.
So we always travel with an extra credit card just to make sure there won't be an issue.
Car Check
Once the paperwork is done, another employee will show you the car.
Often the cars are not in the best condition, at least our car was scratched badly and had a dent in the door.
Make sure that in the protocol you are going to sign are marked all scratches and imperfections, we also strongly recommend taking as many photos as possible of the car from different angles.
This is super important, you don’t want to be charged for something you haven’t done.
Certificate of Roadworthiness
Then, you will get car keys, certificate of roadworthiness (this small white card is super-important as almost every police check on the road wanted to see it), and you are ready to go.
Gas Tank
One more thing. Check whether your car comes with a full tank or empty tank, agree on it with the clerk, and return it the same way.
Read this guides to get from Amman Airport to Madaba or from Amman back to airport (or vice versa).
DRIVING IN JORDAN: PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you start driving in Jordan, there are a few must-know things you should be aware of.
Which Side of the Road to Drive On
First, you drive on the right side of the road, so that should be a huge relief for the majority of our readers.
Age Limit
Second, you should be over 25 years old to be able to rent a car in Jordan, even though driving in the country is allowed from the age of 18.
It is possible that when you are younger than 25 and the system will let you finish the process of booking, you will have to pay an extra fee called Young Driver Fee, but this is quite normal in other countries as well.
If you are not sure about the age restrictions of your rental company, it is always better to ask in advance before you hit the pay button.
Seat Belts
All front seat passengers must use seat belts.
Lights
Lights do not have to be switched on all day long as we are used to in our home country in the Czech Republic, but you should turn on lights when it is getting late or when the weather is bad and the visibility low.
Speed Limits
Speed limits in the urban areas are 50 - 60 kilometers/hour, 80 - 90 kilometers/hour in rural areas and 100 - 120 kilometers/hour on highways. It is always essential to watch the signage, or use GPS.
Even if it can be tempting to drive faster, follow the rules. It is easy to be stopped by police and pay a hefty fine.
Signage
Signs along the road are usually in both English and Arabic, so you will be always able to read it. If the road sign is in Arabic only, it most likely marks a local spot without any significance to travelers. All the tourist attractions are marked in English.
Said that, some villages and towns are also marked only in Arabic, so you need to pay attention and slow down.
You do not need to buy a highway sticker, there is no fee for using roads in Jordan.
IS IT SAFE TO DRIVE IN JORDAN
We found driving in Jordan safe. Well, at least safer than we had expected. The culture here in the Middle East is different, and it can be seen also when it comes to driving, but that's nothing you could not adapt to in only one day.
The first few hours behind the wheel in Jordan were a bit hectic, but once we got used to that we must pay attention to animals crossing the road, super-slow drivers, speeding drivers, multiple cars in one lane, speed bumps, or drivers in an opposite direction, we were fine.
In the beginning, we had a feeling that we must learn one important rule, that there are no rules, but later, we really enjoyed driving in Jordan, especially in its rural parts.
Driving in Amman is absolutely different though because of the heavy traffic, but that's nothing you could not manage.
The positive information is that locals in Jordan drive pretty slow, so almost always you have enough time to think through your next move. It is good to know that locals usually do not use indicators when changing direction or when changing the lane, so always be extra careful.
Rule number one is to be all the time aware of your surroundings, expect unexpected, and follow the country's road rules.
POLICE CHECKS IN JORDAN
Police checks and checkpoints in Jordan are quite common, but it is nothing you should be worried about.
We are not sure how is the corruption in Jordan, but we had not experienced any issues when driving. We know that often in less-developed countries tourists are easy targets for paying fines for an offense they did not even commit, but it was not the case here in Jordan.
We were stopped by police once on King's Highway, it was already after dark, and we were only a couple of kilometers away the Lost City of Petra, but police checks are more common near the borders with Israel.
We were stopped by police several times on Jordan Valley Highway, especially on the stretch between Aqaba and the Dead Sea.
Often it was enough to slow down, and once the officer saw we are tourists, he let us pass. A few times we had to show a passport altogether with vehicle registration, and only once we had to open our car trunk.
It is important to say that Jordan is surrounded by countries with a somehow questionable safety reputation, so you should not see police checks as a botheration, but as a sign that the police do everything they can to protect travelers and locals alike.
GAS STATIONS
Gas stations in Jordan are plentiful, so you never have to be worried that you will run out of petrol.
Of course, it is always better to have a full tank before you set off for a road trip and on days you know you will be driving a lot, just in case.
Gas is not somehow super-cheap, but also not overpriced, you will pay between 0.7 - 0.85 JD per liter.
You usually can’t fill the gas in the tank yourself, just wait for the attendant, and tell him that you want either full tank or give him in advance a banknote which you wish to pay with.
We usually stopped by Jopetrol station, but as we never wanted to buy anything on the gas station or use the bathroom, we cannot tell the difference.
GPS
When renting a car, you can also rent GPS for an extra fee. But instead of paying extra for GPS, we decided to purchase a Jordanian sim card.
For 16 JD we purchased a sim card from Zain company with data, so we could normally use Google Maps.
We also had other apps, but Google Maps worked the best for us.
Sometimes we encountered a problem that one place in Jordan has many different spellings and several variants.
Karak Castle, Mukawir or Qasr Kharana are great examples - but in the end, we were always able to find it on a map.
ROAD CONDITIONS IN JORDAN
The main roads connecting the northern part of the country with south, such as Desert Highway, King' Highway, and Jordan Valley Highway are mostly in good condition and not dangerous.
Potholes
Watch out for potholes, especially on King's Highway because even though it is called a highway, it is rather a normal road dotted with many small settlements.
The most potholed road where we did not find driving very comfortable (it was also enhanced by the unpleasant weather) was Azraq Highway alias road number 40, which we drove as we wanted to visit Desert Castles.
Speed bumps
Not the potholes but speed bumps were the most annoying things on driving in Jordan. Speed bumps are literally everywhere, not only in the villages but also on the roads before junctions where drivers can pick up speed, so you need to be super careful and always have eyes on the road.
In the worst-case scenario speed bumps in Jordan can break down your rental car, and it is for sure something you do not want to deal with on your vacation.
Most of the speed bumps are signposted by a yellow color and a road sign, but some of them are not, and it is often very hard to recognize an obstacle on the road until it is too late. They are mostly to be found in the villages.
What we found helpful, especially after dark, was to drive behind a local, so we always could see the driver slow down.
Lanes
Most of the regular roads have only two lanes, while highways have two lanes in each direction. But you might be surprised how many cars can actually fit into one lane (a small hint - it’s more than one).
Be always ready that a random car can join your lane and that an overtaking car in the opposite direction might use your lane, probably expecting you will drive in a ditch for a while.
Pedestrians
Yeah, and it is also good to know that people can freely walk on the side of the highways, and sometimes they are not scared to cross the road without looking around even though you are going at a high speed.
And that's not just people, but stock as well, but that is somehow more understandable.
GPS
Because of the road condition, traffic and speed bumps, it is wise to expect that the drive will take you a bit longer than the GPS says, although we found driving distance and time quite accurate.
CAR LIGHTS
We've already mentioned that it is not necessary to have your lights on during the day, but you definitely should after dark.
Although there is no official time to switch lights on, you should use your common sense and once the visibility is worse and you have a feeling that it is harder to spot oncoming cars, this is the time to turn on car lights.
DRIVING AT NIGHT
We drove in Jordan a couple of times after dark, and it was completely fine, the only problem was that speed bumps were harder to spot, and also locals have mounted extra front lights on their cars, which can often blind you for a while.
It is for sure much better to drive in the country during the day, but as we had only one week in the country, it sometimes happened that we arrived in our hotel later in the evening.
DRIVING IN AMMAN
Amman is the biggest city in Jordan, and driving here is different than in the rest of the country.
The traffic here is heavy, especially early in the morning and later in the afternoon when people are returning from work and the sound of honking is perpetual.
The rule number one for driving in Amman is to know where you are headed and do not be distracted by other drivers who are not exactly following the road rules.
Driving in Amman is basically the same as driving in any other large city, the only thing is that you do not know the directions, so turn on your GPS and follow the instructions closely.
The streets in the city center are often narrow and one-way, so it is essential not to get lost otherwise it would take you a long time to get back on track.
Travel Insurance
We never leave home without travel insurance that was designed to cover our expenses if something goes wrong during the trip.
Travel insurance protects against theft, flight delays, injury, illness, cancellations, and much more.
World Nomads provides travel insurance for travelers to cover their trip essentials, including sports and adventure activities.
SafetyWing is affordable travel insurance for backpackers, long-term travelers, and digital nomads.
Travel smarter and safer!
Travel Resources
Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.
Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.
Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.
We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.
Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.
Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.
Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.
