What's on in Wadi Rum (Rum), Jordan through the year

Shoulder season — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Holiday

  Ramadan

  18 Feb – 19 MarClosures

  Camps keep feeding guests, but Bedouin drivers and cooks are fasting all day in the desert and meals move to after sunset. The village at Rum is shut until then. Source ↗

Still on: Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Flash floods in the wadis (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Ramadan, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Desert bloom after the rains

  15 Feb – 10 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  After a wet winter the sand between the jebels comes up green and the wadis carry poppies and iris for a few weeks. In a dry year it does not happen at all.

Still on: Ramadan (18 Feb – 19 Mar), Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Flash floods in the wadis (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Ramadan, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Opening

  Spring trekking and climbing

  1 Mar – 15 May · usuallyTrail seasonBook early

  The best window on the sandstone: cool rock, long days and the wadis still green in a good year. Camps and the better guides are booked well ahead for April. Source ↗

Still on: Ramadan (18 Feb – 19 Mar), Desert bloom after the rains (15 Feb – 10 Apr (usually)), Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Flash floods in the wadis (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Desert bloom after the rains (15 Feb – 10 Apr (usually)), Spring trekking and climbing (1 Mar – 15 May (usually)), Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Spring trekking and climbing (1 Mar – 15 May (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  The unusable middle of the day

  1 Jun – 10 Sep · usuallyExtreme heat

  Camps still run, but jeep trips go at dawn and after five and the scrambles are off entirely. Nights are the compensation: warm, still and completely dark.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: The unusable middle of the day (1 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: The unusable middle of the day (1 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Dark-sky nights

  1 Sep – 30 Apr · usuallyDark-sky season

  No town within an hour and the cold half of the year gives the steadiest air. Camps time the good nights around the new moon, which is worth asking about when you book.

• Opening

  Autumn trekking and climbing

  20 Sep – 20 Nov · usuallyTrail seasonBook early

  The second window, shorter than the spring one and usually drier. Days are cooling fast by November and the camps put the stoves back in the tents. Source ↗

Still on: The unusable middle of the day (1 Jun – 10 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Autumn trekking and climbing (20 Sep – 20 Nov (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Hazard

  Flash floods in the wadis

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyFlood seasonClosures

  Rain on the plateau runs off bare rock and fills the wadis within minutes, and the desert tracks and the road in can both be cut for a day. It is the one real hazard here. Source ↗

Still on: Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Autumn trekking and climbing (20 Sep – 20 Nov (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dark-sky nights (1 Sep – 30 Apr (usually)), Flash floods in the wadis (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))