Car rental in Amman

Yes. Foreign tourists holding a valid domestic driver's license with Latin script (such as licenses from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and EU/EEA member states) can legally drive in Jordan for up to 3 months of tourist stay. However, an International Driving Permit (IDP, 1949 convention) is legally required if your national license is in a non-Latin script (such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, or Japanese) without certified English text. Carrying an IDP alongside your national license is also strongly recommended to facilitate routine highway police checkpoint inspections.

Both highways are 100% toll-free, but they offer vastly different driving experiences. The Desert Highway (Route 15) is a modern four-lane divided expressway with a 110 km/h speed limit that connects Amman directly south to Petra (approx. 3 hours) and Aqaba (approx. 4 hours); it is fast, flat, and busy with commercial trucks. The King's Highway (Route 35) is a winding, mountainous two-lane scenic route that winds through historic towns (Madaba, Karak, Shobak) and descends into the dramatic canyon of Wadi Mujib; it takes 4 to 5 hours to reach Petra, featuring sharp hairpin switchbacks and steep mountain grades.

No. The entire national highway network across the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (including the Desert Highway, King's Highway, and Dead Sea Highway) is completely toll-free. There are zero highway tolls, vignettes, or turnpike charges. For parking in urban centers like Amman and Aqaba, street parking is managed by municipal parking meters or private parking attendants ('Valet' or parking operators), charging 0.50 to 1.50 JOD per hour in cash. Never park along curbs painted alternating yellow-and-black, as municipal police will issue fines of 20 to 50 JOD and tow your car.

No private or rental vehicles are permitted inside the archaeological park of Petra or the deep sands of the Wadi Rum Protected Area. For Petra, you must park your rental vehicle at the official free parking lots in the town of Wadi Musa adjacent to the Petra Visitor Center and proceed on foot. For Wadi Rum, paved roads terminate at the Wadi Rum Visitor Center / Rum Village; driving standard rental cars onto the unpaved desert sand is strictly forbidden by rental contracts and will void your insurance. You must park at the designated visitor lot and transfer to an authorized local Bedouin 4x4.

Permanent police and military checkpoints (Nuktah Taftish / Dawriyat Kharijiya) are stationed along all major highways, particularly along the Desert Highway (Route 15), the Dead Sea border road (Route 65), and provincial boundaries. When approaching a checkpoint, slow down, dim your headlights to parking lights at night, turn on your interior cabin light, stop at the speed bumps, and wait for the officer's hand wave. Have your passport, tourist visa, vehicle registration card (Rukhsa), rental agreement, and driver's license ready. Officers are generally professional, welcoming, and helpful to tourists ('Welcome to Jordan').

Jordan strictly enforces a zero-tolerance policy (0.00% blood alcohol concentration). It is completely illegal to operate any motor vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol in your bloodstream. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs carries severe criminal penalties under Jordanian Traffic Law, resulting in immediate driver arrest, vehicle impoundment, fines up to 500 to 1,000 JOD, and mandatory imprisonment ranging from 1 to 3 months. In addition, radar speed cameras and mobile police units heavily enforce speed limits; speeding citations are automatically sent to your car rental agency and debited from your security deposit.