Only a Week in Israel/Jordan!

Before you get too excited, and I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but do you realize that a visit to Petra will take an absolute minimum of three days and be extremely costly?

It takes one full day to get from Jerusalem (or anywhere in northern Israel) to Petra and another full day back. That leaves however many days you wish to see the place. Now consider the cost of the Jordanian visa, the exit fee to leave Israel, the transportation costs to and from Wadi Musa (Petra), the fee to enter Petra, the fee to leave Jordan and you're looking at somewhere around $300 per person for one day there and three days eaten up.

The best border crossing is probably the one in Eilat since you cannot get a Jordanian visa at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, but either way it's an eight hour trip if everything goes without a hitch at the border crossing (it took me ten hours when I did it in reverse).

Good luck though on whatever you decide.

I agree with Laketraveller. If you have only one week choose either Israel or Jordan, but not both.

If you have only one week and must visit Jerusalme Dead Sea and Petra and money is not an issue here is how you can do it
Arrive Tel Avi visit Jerusalem and Dead Sea at Ein Gedi you have 3 full days.
Travel to Eilat to border cross to Jordan and then on to Petra for the night this can take whole day.Visit Petra following day and again Petra overnight for trip back to Tel Aviv
cheers

Note that #3's suggestion is heavily dependent on days of the week. You cannot get from Ein Gedi (Dead Sea) to Eilat on a Friday afternoon/evening or a Saturday unless you have a car, as there is no public transport then.

That is something you need to consider when juggling your days.

This is really tight. You need at least two full days to have a taste of Petra, and has been said, two full days to go there and back.

The only way you can do this is go straight to Jerusalem, visit Jerusalem / Bethleem, then head to Eilat with a stop at the Dead Sea on your way, cross the border to Aqaba and make your way to Petra, and back.

Alternatively you can cross the border at Allenby, a 30 mn drive from Jerusalem, provided you've arranged a visa in advance (can be obtained in a couple of hours at the Jordanian consulates in Tel Aviv or Ramallah, but probably easier to do it in your home country), stop at the Dead Sea on the Jordanian side (generally considered more beautiful than the Israeli side due to cliffs and absence of urbanization) and move on to Petra, and back.

#5 OP hasn't expressed a desire to visit Bethlehem, but if that is indeed on the agenda, note that there is no way to get from Bethlehem to the Dead Sea. You have to return to Jerusalem first.

While it's not ideal, if you only have a week in the region and you want to see Petra as well, IT CAN BE DONE.
Possible itinerary:
1. Arrive, Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Sleep in Tel Aviv.
2. Day trip to the north: 2 options- the coast with Acco (aka Acre) and Haifa (may include Mt. Carmel and maybe Caesarea if you have a car) or the Sea of Galilee area if you have a car. Back to Tel Aviv for the night.
3. Early morning flight to Eilat, spend the day snorkeling/diving, etc. Eat some fresh fish for dinner and go out to the 3 Monkey bar for live music. Sleep in Eilat.
4. Day tour to Petra (something like this: http://www.israelpetratours.com/petra_daily_tours_from_eilat.asp ), evening flight back to Ben Gurion, sleep in Jerusalem. (or sleep in Eilat and fly back early the next day).
5. Jerusalem all day.sleep in Jerusalem.
6. Day trip to the Dead Sea (may include Masada and/or Ein Gedi). Evening spent walking around Jerusalem. sleep in Jerusalem.

Take into account that a tight schedule and a low budget don't go hand in hand so a rented car is the way to go with the trips to the north and the Dead Sea and a flight to Eilat will save you time and energy.
You may need a rest after your vacation but it will be a lot of fun. :-)
Don't be discouraged and if you have any more questions, then ask!

Hi All, thanks for all the advice and ideas. We will do the straight to jerusalem for 2 days, with Bethlehem and dead sea, then still not sure whether to cross the bridge or travel down to Eilat and cross that way? Is it pretty much the same time for either route? Is it cheaper and easier to get a taxi/bus once we are over the border from the bridge or Eilat? Petra does sound expensive to get to but not sure when back in this area of the world so I think Petra and Jerusalem have to be done. 3 weeks sounds more like a minimum timescale to see both countries! Any advice on which border crossing would be appreciated and also any cheap accomodation in the places mentioned on a low/lower middle budget would be good. Thanks again and have a great year! Cheers

amirico - Of course it's possible. Heck, someone wanting to tour Israel in four days and see all the sights is possible. Few here would advise it however.

You need full disclosure. If one visits Petra as a day trip out of Israel they still have all the same transportation costs, Israel exit fees, Jordanian exit fees and so forth, but the cost to enter Petra almost doubles. That's around $150 per person just to walk in the place (not counting any other expenses).

You've really gotta want to see the place to spend that kind of money for a few hours walking around (you won't have much time given the transportation requirements).