Great one day trip. All went well and as expected. It took about 15 minutes for the Eilat guide to find me when I arrived by plane in Eilat; but all went well afterwards. Jordanian driver and guide did a fine job; good food at a restaurant in Petra; I recommend this trip.

Petra is a sight not to be missed. Our guide was a little bit late upon our arrival to the airport so we weren't quite sure where to go but then when she showed up, it all went well. Crossing the border into Jordan is a bit tense but it just takes a while. Our guide picked us up on the other side, we were in a very nice bus and it's a drive to Petra... Once we got there, he took us all thru the site and explained things to us but I would go ahead an bone-up up the sight prior to going as I think it would enrich the experience even more. We rode camels (not incuded in the tour price) and it was like going back in time... A really exciting trip and, as always, well arranged by Viator.com!

Hello:

Due to the tardiness of one participants in Petra, we were much delayed into Aquaba. You may wish to set stricter rules for the time of departure from the sight. Tks.

This trip was great! But it is a bit of a hassle coming back through to Israel - getting through security then getting through security again at the airport if you flew in from Tel Aviv. This trip is probably done better at the end of a trip when moving on to the next country so you don't have to enter Israel again. Be prepared to walk a lot.

Petra was fabulous and I would definitively return. However, there was much confusion with my return flights and I was put on a later flight from Eliat which was delayed and so thus returned to Tel Aviv very late. It definitely took away from the experience of the day. The other issue was we did not have an opportunity for breakfast since we left so early and were not served lunch till 4PM. This was after we had done the quite strenuous hike. Poor planning!!

Given one's individual situation, this tour may or may not be worth doing. I was TREMENDOUSLY limited in the time that I had in Israel, and I wanted to see/do AS MUCH as possible. So, to this end, the trip afforded me the opportunity to check-off yet ANOTHER item on my bucket-list. However, if I had it to do all over again, instead of purchasing the tour from Tel Aviv, I would have simply purchased the tour from Eilat. Then, I would have driven from Tel Aviv to Eilat and back (possibly not in the same day, but possible, if necessary). I feel that I spent A LOT of time waiting in the airport, and had I driven I could have seen more of the country (Yes! It's desert, but it's pretty.), and I could have spent some time in Eilat which has SO MUCH to offer!

The tour started off a bit awkwardly, as there was no one at the airport in Tel Aviv to direct me. Then, upon arriving in Eilat, there was no one in the airport to receive me. Instead, I had to go outside the airport and ask one of the guards who informed me that usually there will be a bus or van that says "Petra" for which I should look. After about 20 or so minutes of waiting, the van circled back around (I never saw it, initially). From this point, it was smooth sailing.

Crossing over into Jordan was easy. MAKE CERTAIN that you have money for the Jordanian visa if you require it ($55 USD/220 NIS...one of the ladies on my tour was able to use her debit card.) Returning to Israel takes a bit longer, but just relax.

The guide was great, the food and bus were fine, Petra itself was very interesting. The only problems were that there was no onje at Sde Dovin cash per person at the border to let us know where to go or what to do. Our first contact with any tour representative was in Eilat. Also, it was not made clear that there was a $55 charge to be paid in cash for the Jordanian visa.

Petra is a mesmerising relic of the past, well worthwhile spending a whole day exploring.Unfortunately, the Viator organised trip disappoints due to the time wasted crossing the border and travelling within Jordan.Be prepared to wait/queue for up to 1hr for the Israeli customs desks to open so that you can have your passport stamped. Once over the Israeli border but still in the intercountry fenced-off zone, we waited for nearly another hour on the Jordanian side, without being informed of what caused the delay. It transpired that the Jordanian tour counterparty waited for a large American group (30+people) to join our relatively small international party (10 people) despite us having turned up good 40min before them and having submitted our passports for inspection. Seeing the paid Jordanian "passport helpers" assist many other groups before ours despite us having arrived first was infuriating. The rain and cold did not help either.
Once we set off, our journey was punctuated by the mandatory tourist trap visits and was protracted by the driver being extremely careful not to exceed a speed limit of 40km/h.
We arrived at Petra at 13:00!! This left us with 2.5 hrs to explore a tiny part of it so that at 16:00 we could have the included lunch. You could imagine we had starved to death by then. After the meal, we were leisurely driven back to the border (3.5 hrs), where we nearly missed our 20:55 flight back to Tel Aviv.
A word of advice: book a tour to Jordan, drive to Petra and stay overnight there. The 2.5 hrs in Petra are definitely not worth $1000 for two travellers and the cross-border hassle.