Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon, became one of the highlights of our whole Jordan trip. The scale of it is genuinely difficult to capture on camera: towering sandstone mountains, endless red sand, and a silence that makes you whisper without noticing.
We explored the desert with a local Bedouin guide, which is the way to do it, the landscape all looks the same until someone who grew up here starts pointing things out. We visited the historic Hejaz Railway, passed camels and herders living the traditional desert life, and found ancient carvings in the rock dating back around 2,000 years.
Then there was the hospitality. Bedouin tea in the desert is a small ritual that somehow tastes better than any café version, and it came with stories, including why film crews keep coming back here. Wadi Rum has stood in for other worlds in Lawrence of Arabia, The Martian, Dune and Star Wars, and once you’re standing in it, you see why.
If you’re planning your own trip: Wadi Rum and Petra are usually visited together, we stayed in unique accommodation near Petra and carried straight on to the ancient city. The big decision is your desert night: a traditional Bedouin camp, a luxury desert resort, or a remote night under the stars. We’d struggle to talk you out of any of them.
Photos from Wadi Rum and Aqaba
Two frames from February 2026: the classic way to see the desert, from the padded bench of a Bedouin pickup, and the giant flag waiting for us down on the coast in Aqaba afterwards.
There’s more from this trip on our YouTube channel, we film the real sights and sounds, no fluff. You’ll also find us on TikTok and Instagram.