UPDATE: This viewpoint was closed for a long time but is now open again.
The most famous structure in Petra is undoubtedly the Treasury. A magical place that has been listed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World since 2007. We kept seeing beautiful photos on Instagram of a viewpoint overlooking the Treasury. After seeing these photos, we immediately started looking for how to get there. It turns out there are different viewpoints and multiple routes to reach them. The route we took is incredibly beautiful, and even if you don’t necessarily want to go to the viewpoint, it’s still worth it to go hiking here!
The different Treasury viewpoints and routes
There are three viewpoints to choose from, and to understand where they are, it’s helpful to know what the area looks like near the Treasury. The Treasury is surrounded by high cliffs, but directly opposite, you’ll find a passage through the rocks. This narrow gorge, called the Siq, is the path you walk through when visiting Petra. The two most beautiful viewpoints are located at the top of this gorge, one on the left side and the other on the right side. You cannot walk from one viewpoint to the other because the Siq separates them. Lastly, there’s a third viewpoint, which is also the easiest to climb. It is not as high and therefore less impressive. When facing away from the Treasury, you’ll see a set of stairs in the rocks to your left side of the Siq. Follow these stairs up, and within a few minutes, you’ll reach the viewpoint.
The shortcut
The two highest viewpoints are the most beautiful, and in terms of the view, they are almost identical. Both routes take about 40 minutes to an hour to walk on a stunning path through the mountains. We recommend choosing the left viewpoint because from here, you can easily follow other paths to more beautiful spots. To get here, you have two options. You can take the shortcut, which will get you to the top in 15 minutes, but this route is less scenic and more dangerous, and you will have to pay a guide to go up this way. There are many “guides” near the Treasury who will approach you to go up through this route. They sometimes ask for ridiculous amounts of money. You will see the shortcut on your left side when facing the Treasury.
The most beautiful and free route to the viewpoint at the Treasury
After the Treasury, follow the main route for a few minutes until you see a sign on your left that says ‘High Place of Sacrifice Trail’. Below you can see a photo of this sign. You have to go up the stairs here. If you encounter the theater on your left, you have walked too far and missed the sign. From the sign, there is a clear path uphill. At some point, you will come to a kind of intersection. Here, you need to go straight ahead and then climb some rocks to the left. When you reach the highest point, you should follow the route in the app maps.me and look for a path that goes downhill. We got completely lost here and walked too far to the right. The dotted line in maps.me indicates the correct route quite accurately, so you should rely on it to find the descent. After the descent, there is a bit more uphill and then to the left. There you will see a small café at the viewpoint. You have to pay 1 JD to enter and take photos, but you will be served a nice cup of tea. Then you can either take the shortcut down or go back the same way and take a different turn, for example, to the Garden Temple or the High Place of Sacrifice.
Note: You may encounter a small wall. You need to go around/over it, which you can do by climbing and using the rocks with good grip. Some people find this too difficult/dangerous due to the height. If you’re not good at climbing or expect to find it challenging, it’s better to take the shortcut we described earlier.
Extra tips for Petra
Also, read our article with 15 essential tips for visiting Petra to make the most out of your visit to Petra.
