Aqaba: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Aqaba is Jordan’s only port, at the head of the gulf where four countries meet: from its beach you see Eilat, the mountains of Sinai and the coast of Saudi Arabia. Its history runs from early Christianity through the first Islamic towns to the Arab Revolt of the First World War. Two hours; walk in the morning or after four, when the heat breaks.

A short history of Aqaba

At the head of the gulf there was already a departure point for the Red Sea in biblical times, and after the Muslim conquest in the 7th century the city of Ayla was built here; its remains have been uncovered in the heart of the modern city. In the 16th century the Mamluks built a fort on the shore. In July 1917, during the Arab Revolt, tribal fighters together with T. E. Lawrence took Aqaba from the Ottomans in an attack from the desert. In 1965 Jordan exchanged territory with Saudi Arabia and lengthened its coastline. After the peace treaty with Israel in 1994 the crossing to Eilat opened, and in 2001 the city was declared a special economic zone.

The ten best sights in Aqaba

1
Aqaba Fort
The Mamluk fort taken by the Arab Revolt
2
Arab Revolt Flagpole
A giant flag seen from four countries
3
Aqaba Museum
In the house of Sharif Hussein
4
Ayla
An early Islamic town on the seafront
5
Aqaba Church
One of the oldest purpose-built churches
6
Saraya Aqaba
A beach club and water park in town
7
Ayla Oasis
A lagoon resort with a golf course
8
Berenice Beach Club
A beach with reef right offshore
9
South Beach
The public beaches and dive centres
10
Aqaba Marine Park
Coral reefs and sunken wrecks to snorkel

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Aqaba →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Aqaba:

Free walking tours in Aqaba

Old Aqaba and the Arab Revolt

Aqaba Fort · A fort built by the Mamluk sultan al-Ghawri in the early 1500s to guard the road of the pilgrims to Mecca. In July 1917 Arab forces of the revolt against the Ottomans, with T. E. Lawrence, crossed the desert and took Aqaba from the land side, where its guns did not point — the scene of the film Lawrence of Arabia.
Arab Revolt Flagpole · A flagpole about a hundred and thirty metres high, once among the tallest in the world, flying the flag of the Arab Revolt — black, green and white with a red triangle. It is so large it can be seen from Eilat, from Taba in Egypt and from Saudi Arabia.
Aqaba Museum · The museum is in the house where Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the leader of the Arab Revolt and great-great-grandfather of King Abdullah the Second, stayed in the 1920s. It holds finds from Ayla, including coins and gold dinars of the early Islamic town.
Ayla · Ruins of a walled town founded around 650, soon after the Muslim conquest — one of the first Islamic towns built outside Arabia. Its four gates faced the four directions; the one toward Egypt is still standing, beside the beach and the hotels.
Aqaba Church · Mud-brick ruins excavated in 1998 of a church built around the year 300, before Christianity was legal in the Roman Empire — among the oldest buildings in the world built as a church. It was probably destroyed by an earthquake in 363.
Saraya Aqaba · Aqaba’s whole coast was once only a few kilometres long; in 1965 King Hussein exchanged land in the desert with Saudi Arabia to gain about twelve more kilometres of shore, where the beaches and reefs of the south are today.

The reefs of the south coast

South of the town the coral reefs begin just a few metres from the beach, and the water stays warm all year. Divers come for the reefs and for wrecks sunk on purpose to make new ones. Half a day; bring a mask or rent one.

Ayla Oasis · North of the town a whole new resort has been dug out of the desert around an artificial lagoon, with a golf course designed by the golfer Greg Norman — a sign of how Aqaba has grown since it became a special economic zone in 2001.
Berenice Beach Club · A beach club where the reef starts right off the jetty, so you can snorkel over corals and reef fish within a few strokes of your sunbed.
Aqaba Marine Park · A protected stretch of reef with famous dive sites. In 1985 the Lebanese freighter Cedar Pride, gutted by fire in the port, was sunk here on purpose and became one of the best wreck dives in the Red Sea; since then a tank, a military plane and other wrecks have been sunk to make new reefs.
South Beach · The public beaches of the south, where Jordanian families picnic on Fridays and dive centres take snorkellers out to the Japanese Garden, a reef of hard and soft corals in shades of every colour.
Tala Bay · A resort village of hotels around a marina, a few kilometres from the Saudi border at the end of Jordan’s coast. Its beaches face the mountains of Sinai across the gulf.
Yitzhak Rabin Crossing · The border crossing between Eilat and Aqaba, opened after the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, signed in the Arava on 26 October 1994. Israelis cross here on foot for Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra.

Wadi Rum

An hour from Aqaba lies Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon: red sand and great sandstone mountains, where Lawrence rode with the Arab Revolt and where films set on Mars are shot. A full day by jeep with a Bedouin guide, or stay the night in a camp.

Wadi Rum Station · A station on the Hejaz Railway, built by the Ottomans from 1900 to 1908 to carry pilgrims from Damascus to Medina. In the war Lawrence and the Arab forces blew up its trains and track again and again; an old Ottoman train stands here and the attack is sometimes re-enacted.
Wadi Rum Visitor Centre · Opposite the centre rises the mountain called the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, named after Lawrence’s book about the revolt. Wadi Rum is a world heritage site, protected for its landscape and for thousands of ancient rock inscriptions and drawings.
Wadi Rum Village · The village of the Zalabia Bedouin, who run the jeep tours and the desert camps. The red valleys around it played Mars in The Martian, and were filmed for Lawrence of Arabia and Dune.
Lawrence’s Spring · A spring high in the rock face, surrounded by green plants and fig trees in the desert, where Lawrence wrote that he bathed. Below, camels wait for riders on the red sand.
Khazali Canyon · A narrow cleft in the mountain whose walls are carved with inscriptions and drawings of people, camels and footprints, left by Thamudic and Nabataean travellers more than two thousand years ago.
Burdah Rock Bridge · A natural stone arch about thirty-five metres above the ground, high on a mountain in the far south of the desert. The climb up with a guide takes about an hour and needs a head for heights; from the bridge the desert spreads to Saudi Arabia.

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Getting to Aqaba and getting around

King Hussein Airport · Ten minutes north of town
Yitzhak Rabin Crossing · The border from Eilat; a few minutes by taxi to town

Cheap eats in Aqaba

Aqaba’s own dish is sayadieh, the fisherman’s meal: fish from the gulf on rice cooked brown with caramelised onions and cumin, with a tahini sauce. Add grilled fish by weight, falafel and hummus in the old market streets, and kunafa for dessert; in Wadi Rum the Bedouin cook zarb in the sand.

Aqaba Fort · Fish restaurants in the old streets near the fort
Ayla · Cafés on the seafront
South Beach · Beach kiosks
Wadi Rum Village · Zarb in a desert camp

Museums in Aqaba

Aqaba’s history is small but deep: an early church, an early Islamic town and the fort of the Arab Revolt.

Aqaba Museum · Finds from Ayla
Aqaba Fort · The Mamluk fort
Ayla · The early Islamic town
Wadi Rum Station · The Hejaz railway

Nature and day trips near Aqaba

Two worlds within an hour: the coral reefs of the Red Sea and the red desert of Wadi Rum.

Aqaba Marine Park · Reefs and wrecks
Berenice Beach Club · Snorkel from the jetty
Burdah Rock Bridge · The arch climb
Khazali Canyon · The inscribed canyon
Lawrence’s Spring · Green in the desert

Things to do in Aqaba with kids

With children: a water park, glass-bottom boats over the reef, a camel ride and a night under the stars.

Saraya Aqaba · The water park
South Beach · Glass-bottom boats
Wadi Rum Village · Jeeps and camels
Wadi Rum Station · The old train

Holy places in Aqaba

Aqaba holds one of the world’s oldest churches, and lies on the old pilgrims’ road to Mecca.

Aqaba Church · A church of about 300
Aqaba Fort · On the pilgrims’ road
Khazali Canyon · Ancient prayers on the rock

Nightlife in Aqaba

Aqaba’s nights are on the beach clubs and hotel terraces; the best night out is the desert, under the stars of Wadi Rum.

Saraya Aqaba · Beach bars
Tala Bay · Marina restaurants
Wadi Rum Village · A desert camp under the stars

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Frequently asked questions about Aqaba

What is there to see in Aqaba?

The top sights in Aqaba are Aqaba Fort, Arab Revolt Flagpole and Aqaba Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Aqaba?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Aqaba without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Aqaba?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Aqaba, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Old Aqaba and the Arab Revolt.

How do you get to Aqaba and get around?

The main ways are King Hussein Airport and Yitzhak Rabin Crossing. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Aqaba, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Aqaba that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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