What it's like to drive in Jordan

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Ingrid

If Jordan is not on your bucket list already, it should be!

It is one of my favorite countries and offers some amazing nature, history and food. In addition I just love a country where I feel safe enough to drive myself because it makes the trip so much more flexible and enjoyable.

Jordan is definitely a country where you can easily drive yourself, but if you are curious to know more about it, you can read everything you need to know about driving in Jordan here.

What are the roads like in Jordan?

All in all I will say the roads are very good. The roads seem routinely maintained even if you drive on the highway or past smaller villages. There are just a couple of main roads in Jordan and they all lead to the big sights such as Petra, the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum. I was pleasantly surprised about how it was driving in Jordan, so don't worry too much about it.

What is the traffic like in Jordan?

Outside of the capital Amman the traffic is very relaxed. Many periods it felt like we had the road to ourselves no matter what time of the day we were driving. It felt very relaxed and calm and it gave us lots of opportunities to just enjoy the amazing views along the way.

The only place we experienced some traffic was in Amman. However this was very doable. Even though there were a lot of cars and everything went by very slowly the experience was a positive one. However, if that is the only thing worrying you about driving in Jordan it is possible to skip Amman and just drive to other cities from the airport. Then I will guarantee you a very relaxing ride all the way.

What happens at police controls?

There are surprisingly many police controls in Jordan. The first time we spotted them a little too late so we drove right past the police trying to stop us, obviously we panicked and stopped further down the road waiting to see what he would do, but nothing happened. We then became very aware of these controls because they are not that easy to spot initially. It will just be a guy, sometimes by a shed or a car and he will wave a sign at you. When you understand it, it makes perfect sense that you should stop. Nevertheless we never had a problem at these controls. Sometimes they just looked into our car and told us to drive on, sometimes they asked us where we were from and where we were headed, but that was it. And just to be 100% clear it never felt uncomfortable, scary or corrupt in any way or form. It seemed like they were just there to make sure the roads were safe.

How do other people drive?

The one thing that always makes me a little nervous when driving in other countries is how crazy some of the people drive. So I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and say that it's not gonna happen here, because it will. There are definitely a lot of people driving way faster than I am comfortable with, and cutting between lanes in what feels like a less controlled manner than I would prefer. However it was never really a problem. If you stay in your lane, keep a safe distance to the car in front of you and drive at the speed you are comfortable with, other cars will just drive past or around you and disappear. And to be honest, there just wasn't that much traffic to begin with, so it was never a big problem.

If you are planning a roadtrip in Jordan, you can easily find a great car to rent here.

Quick facts to know!