In short
Petra is a Nabataean city from the first century BC, carved into pink sandstone. The Siq, a kilometre-and-a-half gorge, opens onto the Treasury; the Monastery is earned eight hundred steps higher.
The site covers more than two hundred square kilometres. Seeing it in a day means seeing half of it.
What it really costs
The ticket is 50 JOD a day for a visitor spending at least one night in Jordan, 55 for two days and 60 for three. A day visitor coming from Aqaba or Israel pays 90 JOD.
The Jordan Pass, at 70 JOD, covers one day at Petra, forty other sites and the visa fee. It is almost always cheaper than the ticket alone — provided you buy it before arriving and stay two nights.
What nobody tells you
The rate doubles if you do not sleep in Jordan. It is the most expensive and least known difference in the country.
The Monastery takes two to three hours there and back from the floor of the Siq, on top of everything else. The one-day ticket only covers it if you start early.
Horse, donkey and carriage rides are pushed hard, sometimes presented as included in the ticket. They are not, and the treatment of the animals is regularly criticised.
