Ahlan wa sahlan! – Welcome to Jordan
Wherever you go in Jordan you’ll hear the greeting “Ahlan wa sahlan!” This is often translated into English simply as “welcome”, but in truth it means much more than that. It’s rooted in the Arabic words for family and comfort. “Make yourself at home” might be a closer translation.
From history to beaches, vast deserts to buzzing cities, Jordan wows – but it also has a welcome so warm, so refreshingly sincere, that your clients’ most abiding memory of a visit will be the Jordanian people themselves.
What makes Jordan special?
Jordan is tiny – you could drive from one end of the country to the other in an afternoon – but in terms of cultural attractions and natural variety it punches way above its weight. What makes this little wedge of hilly desert land special? We take a look.
History
At a crossroads between Europe, Africa and Asia, Jordan has seen countless armies come and go. Every period of history has left its mark, from the Stone Age village at Beidha to beautiful Ottoman-era architecture around the country. Take in the Roman splendor of Jerash, or the Crusader castles at Karak and Shobak. Explore Byzantine church mosaics in Madaba, then visit the place where Jesus Christ was baptised in the River Jordan. In Jordan, history is not shut away in museums – it’s a living, breathing part of everyday life. Come and join in!
Nature
As part of the award-winning environmental programmes of Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the Wild Jordan project has pioneered sustainable tourism at nature reserves around the country. Stop in first at Dana – a spectacular reserve taking in mountainside villages and scorching open desert: stay in a village guesthouse, camp out on a remote cliff top or hole up at the award-winning Feynan Eco lodge, a romantic, candle-lit wilderness hideaway. Elsewhere, take the plunge at Wadi Mujib, home of epic canyoning trails. Or head up to the highland forests of Ajloun, where deer roam the hillside woods.
Hospitality
Wherever you choose to stay, whatever your budget, Jordan is all about a warm welcome. Traditions of hospitality run deep in Arab culture, and there is no greater privilege for a host than to welcome an honored guest. Jordan has an array of high-quality, family-run midrange hotels, where you may be greeted with a glass of hot sweet tea and hosted in a cosy setting of good food and good company. And at the top of the range, Jordan’s luxury hotels offer Arabian-style comforts to remember, from superb architecture and contemporary design to world-class restaurants and spas.
Adventure
If it’s thrills you’re seeking, you’ve come to the right place. Jordan’s canyoning routes are second-to-none, following jagged, impenetrable gorges down to the Dead Sea. Take on epic horse-rides across the vast, silent sands of Wadi Rum – or roam the mountain paths of Petra. The trekking is exceptional, whether you tackle the four-day wilderness trail from Dana to Petra, or shorter routes across the rolling northern hills. But don’t stop at ground level: at Aqaba, on Jordan’s Red Sea coast, world-class dives explore coral reefs and sunken wrecks in crystal-clear water – or you could take to the skies in a microlight or hot-air balloon.
Food
Jordan pulls in culinary influences from around the region, taking the best of Turkish, Lebanese and Persian cooking to serve up its own unique styles and flavours. That means you can expect a meal to be built around mezze – little sampler dishes of anything from the famous Mediterranean chickpea dip hummus to stuffed vine-leaves, or goat’s cheese to spicy sausages. Fresh-baked flat bread is always on hand, for scooping and dipping, and you should look out for Jordan’s national dish – mansaf, a Bedouin feasting platter of mutton with rice, tangy yoghurt and delicious pine-nuts.
The Main Sites
Petra
Petra is an entrancing place that rewards adventurous spirits – and is well worth returning to for deeper inspection. See it at its radiant best in the early morning and late evening, explore its lesser-known byways and
discover some of its hidden treasures. A rich history Petra was founded 2,000 years ago by the Nabateans, a tribe originally from Arabia. They traded with, and were eventually taken over by, the Romans.
Their capital, Petra, is a unique mix of classical Roman style architecture and local styles, featuring hundreds of ornate facades carved out of the sandstone cliffs. Petra comes as an assault on the senses – the feeling of exposure to the elements is thrilling. The natural drama of the location, the colouring of the sandstone, the stillness, heat and clarity of light, all make it an unforgettable adventure. Two other factors make Petra feel incredibly special. The first is the isolation of its location, hidden as it is from the outside world between two great parallel rocky ranges. Even today, there are very few ways to get there. The second is the sensuous and remarkable colouring of Petra’s sandstone facades. Gently eroded over time by the wind and rain, amazing bands of colour streak through the rock, from scarlet to yellow to purple to brown. At sunset, the sandstone
are suffused with a warm, pinkish glow.
Don’t Miss
The Siq: the main entrance to the ancient city. This narrow, wind-eroded canyon, often 150m high but a few metres wide, is visually arresting.
The Treasury: An iconic facade. Most likely a royal tomb, dating to the 1st century BC, it was carved by hand from the cliff face and is adorned with figures of eagles and deities.
The Theatre: A giant classical theatre seating 8,500 people. Built in the 1st century AD and originally Greek, it was renovated by the Romans after they took control in 106 AD.
Urn Tomb: Soaring facade towering above the centre of ancient Petra. Originally another royal tomb, it was converted into Petra’s cathedral during Byzantine rule.
The Monastery: Petra’s largest monument, also a royal tomb located up a stepped trail above the ancient city. Offers stunning mountain-top views over the desert.
High Place of Sacrifice: One of the best mountain routes in Petra, leading to an exposed, rock-carved altar 170m above the valley floor. A long descent past colourfully eroded sandstone cliffs makes a great round-trip.
Petra Church: Divert off the main path to reach this Byzantine church with mosaics of animals, birds, fish and personifications of the seasons. It’s rarely busy, but has stunning photogenic views.
Sextius Florentinus Tomb: This modest tomb, the last resting place of a Roman governor, has a graceful design that gives a human scale to Petra’s often daunting public architecture.
Turkmaniyyeh Tomb: Follow the Wadi Turkmaniyyeh road, a great walking route in or out of Petra, past this grand, unvisited tomb, with Petra’s longest inscription above the door.
Little Petra: Concealed in a mini Siq roughly 8km north, this was originally an outlying trading post. Here, more than anywhere in Petra, you can imagine your way into the distant past as you wander the sandy canyon floor past storerooms, houses, dining halls and temples.
Jabal Haroun: Petra’s highest peak, at 1,350m. The mountain is believed to be the last resting place of Moses’ brother, Aaron (Haroun in Arabic). It’s a challenging walk – a full day there and back – with a climb of 500m, but the views at the top are reward enough for all your efforts.
Petra by night: Don’t miss the chance to see Petra after dark on this guided two-hour night walk. It takes you
through the candlelit Siq to the Treasury, where you’ll enjoy tea and a Bedouin piper. Loiter at the back of the group for extra peace and quiet.
Wadi Rum
Located in the South of Jordan, roughly 300km or 4 hours from the capital Amman is one of the most spectacular natural environments in the Middle East – the desert scenery of Wadi Rum.
One of a sequence of parallel faults forming valleys in the sandy desert south of Petra’s Shara mountains (wadi means “valley”), Rum’s stunning panoramas are shaped by giant granite, basalt and sandstone mountains rising up to 800m sheer from the desert floor.
The rocky landscape has been weathered over the millennia into bulbous domes and weird ridges and textures that look like molten candle-wax, but it’s the sheer bulk of these mountains that awes – some with vertical, smooth flanks, others scarred and distorted, seemingly dripping and melting under the burning sun.
The intervening level corridors of soft red sand only add to the image of the mountains as monumental islands in a dry sea. Split through by networks of canyons and ravines, spanned by naturally formed rock bridges and watered by hidden springs, the mountains offer opportunities galore for scrambling and rock-climbing, where you could walk for hours or days without seeing another soul.
T.E. Lawrence (“of Arabia”) loved Rum – and the epic, Oscar-winning movie based on his life was filmed right here in Wadi Rum.
However long you are in Jordan, you should clear at least one night in your schedule to sleep out in Wadi Rum’s beautiful natural wilderness, in the safe and capable hands of one of the many local Bedouin guides who operate traditional-style campsites far out in the deep desert. Sunsets are majestic, as the evening cool takes over from the heat of the day. The clarity of the desert air here produces a starry sky of simply stunning beauty – and falling asleep as the moonlight shadows lengthen across the sands is nothing short of magical.
Red and Dead Sea
Red Sea
Jordan’s Red Sea resort of Aqaba is easily reached by road in under four hours, or by a short domestic flight. It has a beautiful 14th-century fort set among palm trees near the beach, and just a short walk from the remains of Ayla, the site of the early medieval port. Hotels in town and along the coast at Tala Bay are some of the best in the Middle East, with great beaches and access to top diving and snorkelling in the Red Sea. Here you can dive at the legendary Japanese Garden reef, go on exciting wreck dives and experience the magic of a night dive. The Red Sea is a year-round destination. Ringed by high desert mountains, it enjoys a pleasant climate. Even winter is balmy and beautiful, with average highs of 25°C.
Dead Sea
An inland lake running along Jordan’s western edge, the Dead Sea is reached from Amman in less than an hour by car. It is also linked to Aqaba by a fast highway, making a combined trip easy to do. The lowest place on earth at 400 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is the world’s greatest natural spa. The air is highly oxygenated and the dense atmosphere filters out harmful UVB rays. The water is 10 times saltier than normal sea water, making it very buoyant – allowing you to float with ease. All hotels at the Dead Sea have superb spas, with treatments that use the famed mineral-rich Dead Sea mud. The Dead Sea is the perfect way to round off your trip to Jordan.
Jerash
Jerash, located 48 kilometers or about 1 hour north of Amman is considered one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world outside Italy. To this day, its colonnaded streets, baths, theatres, plazas and arches remain in exceptional condition. Within the remaining city walls, archaeologists have found the ruins of settlements dating back to the Neolithic Age, indicating human occupation at this location for more than 6500 years. This is not surprising, as the area is ideally suited for human habitation.
Biblical Jordan
JORDAN is the place to go if you’re keen to explore the Holy Land. It’s where, according to the Bible, Jesus was baptised, Salome danced for the head of John the Baptist, Moses climbed the holy mountain and much more.
Mount Nebo
Mentioned in the Old Testament, this stunning mountain is just outside the Christian market town of Madaba, a short drive from Amman. From the summit, which is also the site of a Franciscan monastery, you can enjoy a panoramic view. At 1,500 metres above the Dead Sea, you can see Jericho, the River Jordan, the mountains of Judea and even Jerusalem in the far distance. Here Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land.
Bethany-beyond-the –Jordan.
On the east bank of the River Jordan, a cluster of churches and baptism pools celebrate the fact that many scholars understand this to be the site where Jesus was baptised. Head from Amman on a road that takes you far below sea level, into an otherworldly landscape of chalky marl and enveloping heat. Follow the road past the Church of John Paul II – where the former pope celebrated Mass – and you will reach the 6th-century Church of St John the Baptist surrounded by acacia and tamarisk trees, by the River Jordan.
Umm Qais
In northwest Jordan, by the village of Umm Qais, stand the remnants of the Roman city of Gadara. This is where the Bible says Jesus performed the Miracle of the Gadarene Swine, when he exorcised two men possessed by evil sprits, transferring the demons to a herd of swine. Explore the ruins of the temples, bath-houses, Roman theatres and Byzantine churches, and take in the views from this dramatic ridge-top location, out over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.
Best of the rest.
Jebel Haroun: Petra’s highest peak is topped by a white shrine, visible for miles – the tomb of Moses’s brother Aaron (Haroun in Arabic).
Lot’s Cave: On the slopes above the Dead Sea, Abraham’s nephew Lot is said to have
sheltered from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Machaerus: Trek up to Herod’s mountain- top palace, high above the Dead Sea, where Salome danced for John the Baptist’s head.
Tell Mar Elias: Visit the birthplace of the prophet Elijah, and the site where it is believed he ascended to heaven.
Nature Reserves in Jordan – Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature
From walks through forests to bird spotting, Jordan offers you the perfect chance to get back to basics with nature. You may have thought Jordan was all desert, but think again. From the fertile green hills of the north, to the stunning nature reserve in the southern Dana Valley, Jordan offers plenty of ways to experience the great outdoors. One of the best introductions is to enjoy the network of nature reserves run by Jordan’s Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). Their Wild Jordan tourism division showcases walks, cultural encounters and overnight stays in natural settings across the country.
Mujib Valley: The canyons above the Dead Sea, southwest of Amman is the lowest nature reserve on Earth, the Mujib Valley ends 400 metres below sea level, at the River Mujib’s outflow into the Dead Sea. From here, routes lead up into the narrow, high-walled canyon where you can enjoy epic adventures gorge walking, wading and canyoning or venture into the canyon at its outflow, working your way through the pool-studded gorge to a hidden waterfall.
Ajloun: Set amid green hills roughly 46 miles north of Amman. The Ajloun forest stands 1,200 metres above sea level and is home to pine, oak, pistachio, carob and wild strawberry trees, alongside olive groves. As well as roe deer, you may see badgers, foxes and wild boar, as well as plentiful birdlife. Try the Soap Makers’ Trail that goes through the woods to Soap House, a community project employing local women to make olive oil soap. Or tackle the Prophets’ Trail, going past caves and meadows to Elijah’s Hill, above the Jordan Valley.
Azraq: In the desert, 62 miles east of Amman. Azraq oasis is a major stopping-off point for migrating birds. A vast area of wetlands extends out from Azraq village into the desert, home to birds, water buffalo and one of the world’s few species of desert fish. Sunset and sunrise are the best times to spot hoopoes, warblers and finches among the wetland pools and reeds – hundreds of migratory species have been recorded here.
Dana: In the mountains of southern Jordan, about 31 miles north of Petra. It’s Jordan’s largest nature reserve, extending from the village of Dana – a cluster of 15th-century stone cottages amid lush, spring-fed gardens with incredible hillside views – all the way down Dana valley to Feynan, isolated amid the arid deserts of Wadi Araba. The reserve includes a variety of terrain and habitats, from sandstone cliffs over 1,500 metres high near Dana to verdant, sheltered valleys. You could hole up in Dana village, to relax and enjoy the views and the silence, perhaps doing a spot of bird-watching (vultures and other birds of prey are frequent visitors to these rugged cliffs). There are also plenty of walks to do, including the three-hour trail around the head of the valley to the campsite at Rummana, or the full-day ramble down through the valley to Feynan.
Wadi Feynan Eco- Lodge: Switch off and relax at a sensitively designed wilderness lodge. Whether you walk from Dana, or approach across the bumpy desert track from Wadi Araba, don’t miss the chance to visit Feynan Ecolodge. Located at the far western end of the Dana Biosphere Reserve, this wilderness lodge stands miles from the nearest road. All 26 rooms are lit solely by candles – solar-generated electricity is used only in communal areas – while water, sourced from local springs, is also solar-heated. The array of traditional dishes includes only locally sourced ingredients, which are predominantly organic. Feynan offers a truly magical experience, whether you come for a peaceful retreat, or want to embark on walks and bike rides in the surrounding desert and mountains. Trained nature guides from local Bedouin tribes can bring Feynan’s stunning natural environment to life, pointing out the desert’s uniquely adapted flora and fauna, taking you to explore archaeological sites or simply showing you the best spots from which to take in a breath taking sunset.