Can an Australian Drive in Jordan? — Yes, IDP Recommended + Side Switch

Jordan rewards self-drivers — the Desert Highway down to Petra and Wadi Rum, the King’s Highway with its canyons and crusader castles, are all far easier with your own car than on a tour bus. For an Australian, the licence side of it is simple; the adjustment is in your hands and feet.

The verdict: you can drive in Jordan on your Australian licence, and an International Driving Permit is recommended. It is the document rental desks and police expect to see, so carry the IDP, your Australian licence and your passport together, and arrange the IDP at home before you travel. Foreign licences are accepted for tourist stays.

The real change for an Australian is the side of the road. Australia drives on the left; Jordan drives on the right. The hard part is not the open highway — it is the reflexes: pulling out of a fuel station, judging a roundabout that flows the opposite way, or the instinct to look right when you should look left. Keep your first hour to quiet roads, and be deliberate at every turn rather than trusting muscle memory.

On speeds, expect a 40 km/h limit in towns — lower than you are used to, and worth respecting because Jordanian urban driving is busy and assertive. Rural roads run to 80 and the motorway-grade highways to 110 km/h. The published fine for a modest speeding offence is not well documented, so drive to the posted signs rather than guessing the tolerance. The drink-drive limit is 0.08, but treat it as zero — alcohol is far from the cultural norm here and the safe margin is none at all.

A few practical points: fuel is cheap at roughly $1.32 a litre, the emergency number is 112, and Amman traffic is the most demanding driving you will do, so consider collecting your car on the city edge rather than downtown. Mobile coverage is good on main routes but patchy off them, so download offline maps before you set off.

See the full picture on our Jordan driving guide, confirm your paperwork with the Driving Permit Checker, and read the driving-fines-abroad guide for how penalties reach you after you have flown home.