Everything You Need to Know About Renting a Car in Jordan

We didn’t rent many cars during our RTW trip. We usually opt for public transportation and long-haul buses because 1) Renting a car is more expensive and 2) less environmentally friendly (it’s the least we can do to offset all our plane travel … whoops), and 3) we enjoy using local forms of transportation to see different parts of the places we visit and have the opportunity to interact more with residents and local tourists. After researching bus routes in Jordan, however, we decided renting a car would be worth it. Read on to find out why we felt this way and decide if renting a car is right for you.

See our 10-day road trip itinerary for Jordan.

Why rent a car instead of taking the bus?

Intercity bus routes are fairly limited in Jordan (at least relative to other places we’ve traveled), and given that we were hitting all the most popular destinations, we didn’t want to arrive at Petra (for example) with a busload of other tourists all at the same time. We also knew we wanted to hit a few spots all over the country, so more travel would be required in between locations, whereas we usually focused on visiting one or two locations per country and could mostly walk or take public transit. If you want to do your own research (which we encourage), this guide to bus travel in Jordan is helpful. If you are only visiting one or two locations in Jordan, it might also be worth looking into hiring a private transfer or taking a taxi to simplify your plans.

How much does a rental car cost?

Our rental car (economy, Toyota Yaris or similar) from Budget at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman cost us $31 USD per day in November 2019. A quick search for the same dates in 2022 shows similar pricing. We spent $74.85 in gas over 8 days. Although it is often cheaper to rent a car from a non-airport location, we opted to rent from the airport after reading some questionable reviews about car rental agencies in Jordan. Which brings us to …

See our detailed budget breakdown for traveling in Jordan.

What do you need to know before renting a car?

Document *all* the damage: We had read several negative experiences about renting a car in Jordan, namely that the rental car companies would charge renters for existing damage when they returned the car. To be honest, the car we got in Jordan was not in good shape. There were dents and scratches all over the exterior and what looked like cigarette burns and other holes in the seats. I was actually happy with this because I figured any small scratches we might get would not be noticeable! Given the negative reviews we had read, we were cautious and took photos of all the damage on and in the car. I even took a video walking around the entire car and filming the interior to make sure we had proper documentation. The diagram of the car that the rental agency marks damage on was pretty much completely covered in circles after our pre-rental check.

We were glad we took these precautions because when we returned the car, sure enough … the attendant pointed out a dent on the front bumper and said we had to pay for the damage. This dent was pretty large and had been clearly marked as existing damage on the diagram in our pre-rental paperwork, so fortunately we didn’t have to pay for it, but it is worth taking the extra step to document all existing damage when renting in Jordan!

Insurance: And speaking of damage, you’ll want to make sure you’re covered while driving a rental car. When we visited Jordan, collision damage waiver was required and included in our rental car cost. Typically, we advise you check with your credit card and/or travel insurance to see if rental car insurance is already included. (Our travel insurance provider, World Nomads, covers rental cars under their Explorer Plan but not their Standard Plan, but our Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card includes primary collision insurance at home and abroad. Usually credit cards require you to deny all local coverage in order to use their rental car insurance, but many have exceptions when insurance from the company is required by law, as it is in Jordan. Check with your credit card before traveling to confirm these details.) Additional insurance can also be purchased from the rental company.

International Driving Permit (IDP): Most of the travel blogs I’ve read state an IDP is not required for foreign tourists in Jordan, but our rental agreement from 2019 says an IDP is required for renters with driving licenses “outside the European Community.” The U.S. State Department website states: “Drivers must have a valid Jordanian license or a valid foreign license with an International Driving Permit to drive in Jordan. U.S. visitors who intend to drive should obtain an International Driving Permit before travel to Jordan. Temporary visitors may use their valid American driver’s licenses only to rent ‘green’ plated rental cars.” I would advise getting an IDP before visiting Jordan just in case. They are valid for one year, and we got ours for $20 each at our local AAA office while we were living in California. Your IDP can be post-dated within 6 months of issue, which allows you to plan ahead and still take advantage of the full year of the permit. (For example, we got our IDPs a few weeks before we left, but we had the permit start on April 1.)

Crossing borders: Rental cars from Jordan are not permitted to be taken into other countries. Many tourists combine a trip to Jordan with a trip to Palestine and Israel; if you want to do this, plan ahead to decide if you want to leave your car parked at the border while you leave Jordan for a short time, or if you want to make alternative transportation arrangements to cross the border.

What is it like to drive in Jordan?

General comfort and ease: Jonathan did all the driving in Jordan and thought it was quite easy. Jordanians drive on the right-hand side of the road, and the popular thoroughfares are fairly wide and smooth. (I should note here that many other travel blogs describe some of the roads we took—specifically the King’s Highway—as “winding” and “steep” … so it’s all relative! Jonathan says if you have experience driving in the mountains, you’ll be fine in Jordan.) One unfamiliar driving practice we noticed is that we often saw cars driving along the shoulder of the highway for miles; we speculated this was a common practice when drivers wanted to go slower than the rest of traffic, and honestly it made things a lot more efficient.

Driving in towns and cities was a bit more work. Parking could be difficult and roads were quite narrow in some of the towns we visited, including Madaba, but driving through most of Jordan was pleasant. Also, we did not have a rental car during the days we spent in Amman, and I’m grateful for that because our taxi experiences in the city did not make me feel confident we could have escaped unscathed.

Signage and maps: We found that most road signs were posted in both Arabic and English, especially along the well-trodden King’s Highway and around popular tourist areas including Petra and Jerash. We always download offline Google Maps for the destinations we visit, which means the driving directions work offline as well.

Traffic police: Highway checkpoints are common in Jordan, but we only encountered one. Jonathan got out his passport, U.S. driver’s license and his International Driving Permit as we waited for the police officer to get to our car. As soon as the officer approached our window and saw us, he asked, “American?” We answered in the affirmative, and he simply responded “Welcome to Jordan” and waved us on without even checking our documents. We benefit from various types of privilege (e.g. light skin, opposite-sex couple, U.S. passport), so I can’t promise all visiting drivers and passengers will be treated the same, but that was our experience.

Our overall recommendation

If you want the schedule freedom and flexibility that a rental car allows, it is a great option for visiting Jordan! Road and traffic conditions are decent and not too far removed from what we’re used to in the United States, especially compared to some other countries we’ve visited. Just be sure to document any damage to your car beforehand and get rental car insurance, and enjoy your stay.

Have you decided to rent a car for your trip to Jordan? If so, check out our 10-day Jordan road trip itinerary!

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Feature image: Driving into Petra in the early morning (November 2019)