We almost got it catastrophically wrong.
When we first started planning our trip to Wadi Rum, specifically the five-night Bedouin Trail camping experience through the desert, we were looking at dates in July.
A quick check of the average temperature in that part of southern Jordan during midsummer stopped us cold: upwards of 38°C in the shade, with almost no shade to be found.
This article is the guide we wish we'd had from the start.
If you're considering the best times to visit Jordan for hiking, camping, and genuinely immersive desert travel, rather than simply ticking off a bucket list from an air-conditioned coach, then read on.
We've mapped out the climate month by month, explained what each season means for different parts of the country, and shared exactly why we chose the window we did for one of the most extraordinary trips of our lives.
Why Timing Your Visit to Jordan Is More Important Than You Think
Jordan is a country of dramatic contrasts, and that extends to its climate.
The best time to visit Jordan depends almost entirely on what you plan to do and where.
The Jordan Valley sits at one of the lowest points on earth and can feel subtropical even in spring. Amman, perched on its seven hills, can be genuinely cold in winter.
The ancient city of Petra experiences its own microclimate, and Wadi Rum, that vast expanse of rust-red sandstone and silence, scorches fiercely in summer and drops sharply in temperature at night come winter.
We're not the sort of travellers who want to visit Jordan and spend half the day hiding indoors because the heat is unbearable.
For us, visiting Jordan has always been about being out in it, moving through it, feeling the landscape underfoot.
That meant the timing of our trip wasn't just a logistical detail; it was the very foundation of whether the trip would work at all.
A five-night hiking and camping adventure in the desert demands a window when the daytime temperatures are manageable and the nights are cool but not dangerously cold.
The good news is that Jordan has two genuinely excellent windows each year when conditions align beautifully for active travel.
Understanding those windows, and the months in Jordan that sit outside them, is what this guide is all about.
A Jordan Climate Guide: What the Weather Actually Looks Like Month by Month
Let's get practical. Here is a month-by-month breakdown of what you can expect when you visit Jordan.
January is the coldest month of the year. Amman can see frost and occasional snow at elevation, and whilst Petra and Wadi Rum are drier, cold desert nights are very real.
Jordan in January is genuinely chilly, especially in the desert after dark, and the rainy season runs from roughly December to February across the north of the country.
Jordan in February begins to warm slightly but remains cool and sometimes wet in the north.
Jordan in March sees the first signs of spring, with wildflowers beginning to appear across the highlands and temperatures climbing to comfortable levels in Petra and Wadi Rum.
By April, the season shifts into something genuinely lovely.
Jordan in April is widely considered one of the best months to visit Jordan, with warm days, cool evenings, and landscapes still touched with green.
Jordan in May pushes slightly warmer but remains very manageable for hiking.
Then comes the shift. Jordan in June marks the beginning of the heat that builds quickly. Jordan in July is the hottest month of the year in most of the country.
Jordan in August remains brutally hot, especially in the desert. September begins to cool, making it one of the more interesting shoulder season months.
Jordan in October is excellent, with temperatures dropping to very pleasant levels for outdoor activity.
Jordan, in November, holds onto that warmth a little longer before the rains begin to creep back in.
Jordan in December brings cooler, sometimes wet conditions, particularly in the north, though visiting Jordan in December has its own quiet magic.
What Is the Best Time to Visit Jordan for Hiking and Desert Camping?
For any kind of serious walking or multi-day camping in the desert, the best time to visit Jordan sits firmly within two windows: March to May in spring, and September to November in autumn.
These are the periods when the intense heat of midsummer has either not yet arrived or has finally broken, and when the desert landscape is at its most rewarding to move through on foot.
Spring in Jordan, particularly April and early May, is perhaps the most popular time for this kind of adventure.
The days are warm but not oppressive, often sitting between 22°C and 27°C in Wadi Rum. The light is extraordinary in the morning and late afternoon.
Evenings cool pleasantly, meaning nights under canvas in the desert are genuinely comfortable.
It's worth noting that spring is also high season in terms of visitor numbers, particularly at Petra, so booking well ahead is essential.
Autumn in Jordan, from October through to early November, is our personal preference.
The summer crowds have thinned, the temperatures have dropped back to something sensible, and there's a particular quality of stillness in Wadi Rum in October that we found difficult to put into words.
Autumn in Jordan felt less performative than the busier spring months; it felt more like you'd genuinely found something.
For physically demanding trips like the Bedouin Trail, this window is hard to beat.
Is April or October the Best Time to Visit Jordan? We Compare the Two
This is the question we wrestled with for weeks. Visiting Jordan in April means you'll encounter the country in spring bloom.
Wildflowers are out across the highlands, the Dana to Petra trek corridor is lush by Jordanian standards, and the days are long enough to make the most of each hiking stage without rushing.
The Jerash Festival doesn't take place in April, but the ancient city of Jerash itself is spectacular in spring light and worth a morning if you're routing through Amman on either end of your trip.
Jordan in October, on the other hand, offers slightly cooler temperatures and noticeably fewer fellow travellers on the trail.
The landscape in Wadi Rum takes on a different quality in autumn light, the reds seem deeper, the shadows longer and more dramatic.
The Dead Sea is still warm enough to float in comfortably, and the city of Aqaba, if you build in a couple of days, is perfect for snorkelling along the Red Sea coast, where the marine life is extraordinary.
We ended up choosing October for our Bedouin Trail trip, and it was, without exaggeration, one of the best decisions we've ever made for a holiday.
That said, visiting Jordan in April is an equally excellent time, and for many travellers, the vibrant spring landscape makes it the more visually dramatic choice.
Both months represent the prime time to visit Jordan for active adventures.
Why We Would Never Visit Wadi Rum and Petra in Summer
We'll be honest: we had friends who visited Petra in August.
They described spending most of the afternoon in a café waiting for the heat to ease before they could face walking back through the Siq.
That's not the kind of experience we were after. June to August in Jordan is a period when the heat doesn't just inconvenience you; it genuinely limits what's possible.
In Wadi Rum, where there is essentially no shade across huge stretches of the desert, summer months can scorch with a ferocity that makes extended hiking genuinely dangerous.
Wadi Rum and Petra are places that deserve your full presence.
They deserve early mornings and late afternoons and the experience of sitting still in the middle of them without your only thought being how to find water.
The intense heat of July and August robs you of that. Even the popular sites in Petra feel diminished when you're spending 40% of your mental energy managing your own body temperature.
For anyone planning an active trip, especially in the desert, the summer months should be avoided unless you are very specifically heat-adapted and have planned your itinerary entirely around early-morning activity.
The best times to visit Jordan for meaningful cultural and physical immersion are simply not in the height of summer.
What Is the Best Time to Visit Petra Specifically?
Visiting Petra deserves its own section because it occupies a slightly different climatic position from Wadi Rum.
It sits at a higher elevation, which softens the summer heat slightly compared to the desert floor, but not enough to make summer visiting Petra a comfortable prospect for a full day on foot.
The best time to visit Petra, in our experience, is either April or October.
These months offer manageable temperatures in the Siq and beyond, and the quality of light through the famous slot canyon is particularly beautiful in the lower-angle sun of spring and autumn.
The back-route approach to Petra, rather than the standard Siq entry, is a genuinely different experience and one that requires a good level of fitness and a local guide.
Walking in from the heights and descending into the ancient city adds an element of discovery that arriving via the main entrance can't quite replicate.
The time to visit Petra for this kind of experience is absolutely in the cooler months; doing it in the heat of summer would be a very different and far less enjoyable undertaking.
In terms of crowd management, April tends to see more visitors than October, making October the better choice if you want a quieter time at this magnificent ancient city.
Either way, arriving early in the morning before the day-trip coaches arrive is always a good strategy for the most atmospheric experience.
How Does the Season in Jordan Affect the Bedouin Trail Camping Experience?
The season in Jordan affects the Bedouin Trail experience at every level: temperature, physical comfort, the quality of light, and even the nature of your interactions with the Bedouin guides.
In summer, the desert is simply too brutal for multi-day foot travel of this kind. In the depths of winter, cold nights in a tent require a specific kind of preparation that changes the character of the trip considerably.
The weather of winter in Wadi Rum, whilst not Arctic, can mean nights dropping close to freezing, which requires robust sleeping equipment and proper layering.
The shoulder season months of April, October, and early November offer the perfect conditions for camping in the desert.
Days are warm enough to hike comfortably in light layers, and evenings are cool to a point where sitting around a fire feels genuinely wonderful rather than necessary for survival.
The landscape rewards slow movement during these months; you notice more, you stop more, you sit longer.
Over the five nights of the Bedouin Trail, you'll be moving through one of the world's great desert landscapes, sleeping under some of the darkest skies you'll ever encounter, and waking each morning to silence and sandstone.
The best months for this experience are, without question, the shoulder season windows on either side of summer.
Choosing the right window isn't a minor detail; it's the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.
Exploring Jordan Beyond the Desert: Amman, the Dead Sea, Aqaba, and Jerash
One of the things we love most about exploring Jordan is how much variety you can pack into a single trip without ever feeling like you're rushing.
Amman is a city that rewards a day or two of wandering; the old downtown, the Citadel, and the Roman Theatre are genuinely compelling, and the food scene there has become quietly outstanding.
We had two nights in Amman, either side of our main adventure, and both felt well spent.
The Dead Sea is one of those experiences that sounds like a cliché until you're actually floating in it, completely unsupported, reading a newspaper like every tourist photograph you've ever seen.
It's extraordinary and worth building into any Jordan itinerary.
The best time to visit the Dead Sea is arguably late spring or early autumn, when the air temperature makes a dip in its hyper-saline waters feel like luxury rather than a cold shock or an overheating exercise.
Aqaba, at the southern tip of Jordan, is a different world entirely.
The city of Aqaba sits at the northern tip of the Red Sea and offers access to some spectacular diving and snorkelling, with remarkably rich marine life considering how close the reef is to a busy port town.
Jerash, to the north of Amman, is one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world and is perfect for combining with a few days in the capital.
The Jerash festival, which takes place in July and August, is vibrant and culturally rich, though of course those months bring the heat challenge, making it a trade-off worth weighing carefully.
What to Expect on the 5-Night Bedouin Trail Through Wadi Rum
The Petra and the Bedouin Trail tour with Encounters Travel is a nine-day experience that combines three nights in hotels in Madaba, Petra, and Amman with five nights camping along the Bedouin Trail in Wadi Rum.
The journey into Petra itself is made via the back-route hiking trail with a local guide, which sets the tone immediately: this is not a sightseeing trip.
It is an active, immersive adventure that treats the landscape as something to be moved through rather than simply viewed.
The five nights of desert camping take you through a sequence of extraordinary landscapes, from the Um Ishrin Siq to Lawrence's House and Um Fruth Rock Bridge, the ascent of Jebel Umm Ad-Dami (Jordan's highest peak), Jebel Burdah, Burrah Canyon, and finally back to Wadi Rum village.
A Bedouin guide leads the way throughout.
All camping equipment is provided, including tents, bedding and sleeping mats, along with a portable toilet and bag showers, which is the kind of logistics detail that makes a genuine difference when you're five days into a desert journey.
Meals are included whilst camping, along with snacks and energy bars during the hiking days.
It's worth being clear: this is a challenging itinerary.
The ascent of Jebel Umm Ad-Dami and the traverse of Jebel Burdah require a reasonable level of fitness and a head for heights.
The reward is access to a version of Wadi Rum that most visitors will never see, moving through the desert at a foot pace with a guide who has grown up in this landscape.
The best time of the year to do it is October, in our experience, or April if you prefer the spring energy and slightly longer daylight hours.
Is Jordan a Good Year-Round Destination, or Should You Wait for the Right Window?
The honest answer is that Jordan is a fantastic destination in almost any month, but for physically active itineraries, waiting for the right window is genuinely worth it.
The low season months of December to February offer a quiet time at popular sites and noticeably lower visitor numbers, but cold desert nights and the possibility of rain in the north require flexibility and appropriate kit.
This can be a lovely time to visit Jordan if your itinerary is weighted more towards cultural sites, city exploration, and the Dead Sea than multi-day desert hiking.
The high season runs broadly through April and May, when Jordan in April in particular draws significant numbers of visitors who have done their homework and know that spring is one of the best times to visit.
October is technically a shoulder season month in terms of visitor numbers, despite offering weather that rivals April for outdoor activity.
This makes it something of a sweet spot: excellent conditions, slightly fewer crowds, and a quality of light in the desert that photographers genuinely rave about.
If you're planning a year to visit Jordan that combines the Bedouin Trail with broader exploration of the country, our recommendation is clear: book for October if you want a quieter, slightly more intimate experience, or April if you want the full spring energy and the chance of encountering those extraordinary wildflowers across the highlands.
What we'd strongly advise against is leaving the timing to chance. In Jordan, when you go shapes everything that happens when you're there.
It is, without exaggeration, one of the best times to visit for active travellers when the seasons align, and one of the most challenging places to be when they don't.
Key Things to Remember When Planning Your Visit to Jordan
- The best time to visit Jordan for hiking and desert camping is either April to May (spring) or October to November (autumn).
- Avoid June to August for any active outdoor itinerary; the heat in Wadi Rum and Petra is extreme and genuinely limits what is safe and enjoyable.
- October is our top recommendation for the Bedouin Trail: cooler temperatures, fewer crowds, and extraordinary desert light.
- April is equally excellent and offers the bonus of wildflowers and spring energy across the Jordan highlands.
- January is the coldest month; winter travel is possible but requires a proper kit, especially for desert camping.
- The five-night Bedouin Trail through Wadi Rum is a physically demanding, deeply rewarding adventure best suited to those with a good base level of fitness.
- All camping equipment, meals during the camping section, and Bedouin guiding are included in the Encounters Travel itinerary.
- Build in time for Amman, the Dead Sea, and Aqaba to get the full breadth of what Jordan offers.
- Book well ahead if you're travelling in April, which is peak season at Petra and Wadi Rum.
- For any questions about the itinerary or to start planning your trip, get in touch with Encounters Travel directly.
