Attractions in Jordan
Petra
The ancient city of Petra is one of Jordan’s national treasures and by far its best known tourist attraction. Petra is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled in southern Jordan more than 2,000 years ago. Admired then for its refined culture, massive architecture and ingenious complex of dams and water channels, Petra is a UNESCO World Heritages Site and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Inhabited by the Nabateans, Edomites and Romans, Petra brought together the knowledge and skill of these civilizations to create this world wonder. Caravans laden with incense, silks, spices and other exotic goods would rest at Petra.
Wadi Rum
“The Valley of the Moon”, depicted as Mars in several Hollywood feature films Wadi Rum is an Arabian fairy-tale waiting to be discovered. Home to nomadic Bedouin tribes, Wadi Rum is a a quiet getaway of stars, sand, and sun; a perfect complement from Amman’s epicenter. Once inhabited by the Nabataeans of prehistoric times, Wadi Rum allows you to get lost in large landscapes and horizon lines. The calmness of the desert is sure calm your spirit and de-clutter your thoughts. Wadi Rum is waiting for you.
Dead Sea
A spectacular natural wonder the Dead Sea is perfect for religious tourism and fun in the sun with the family. With its mix of beach living and religious history you can soak up the sun while Biblical scholars can get their daily dose of religious history. The leading attraction at the Dead Sea is the warm, soothing, super salty water itself – some ten times saltier than sea water, and rich in chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, bromine and several others. The unusually warm, incredibly buoyant and mineral-rich waters have attracted visitors since ancient times, including King Herod the Great and the beautiful Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra. All of whom have luxuriated in the Dead Sea’s rich, black, stimulating mud and floated effortlessly on their backs while soaking up the water’s healthy minerals along with the gently diffused rays of the Jordanian sun.
Amman
Amman, the capital of Jordan, is a fascinating city of contrasts – a unique blend of old and new, situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. In the commercial heart of the city, ultra-modern buildings, hotels, smart restaurants, art galleries and boutiques rub shoulders comfortably with traditional coffee shops and tiny artisans’ workshops. Amman’s neighborhoods are diverse and range in cultural and historical context from hustle and bustle of the downtown markets to the art galleries of Jabal Lweibdeh and the modern shopping district of Abdali.
Jerash
Jerash is an amazing blend of Greco-Roman and Oriental influences. A great place to visit during the spring with its beautiful rolling hills and lush greenery, Jerash has a rhythm not seen anywhere else in Jordan. Also, every year Jerash hosts the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, a three week summer program filled with folk dance, music, and theatrical performances.
Umm El Jimal
Rising out of Jordan’s northern basalt plain, beautiful Umm al-Jimal is both a modern town and an ancient archaeological site, home to almost 2000 years of fascinating history and culture – Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Mamluk, Ottoman and Modern. It was a thriving agricultural center and a stop on the Hijaz to Damascus caravan route. One can explore over 150 well preserved ancient structures, built in neighborhoods along meandering alleys and around hosh-like plazas.
Umm al-Jimal is also a modern community with much to offer to its visitors. Your visit to this town will enrich your archaeological experience with a still living Bedouin cultural heritage, in the downtown shops and residents’ homes. Just 90 minutes from Amman by car, a visit to Umm al-Jimal makes an easy day trip that can include other similar sites in Northeast Jordan, or even the Desert Castles.
Kerak
Whether you approach Karak from the ancient Kings Highway to the east or from the Dead Sea to the west, the striking silhouette of this fortified town and castle will instantly make you understand why the fates of kings and nations were decided here for millennia.
An ancient Crusader stronghold, Karak sits 900m above sea level and lies inside the walls of the old city. The city today is home to around 170,000 people and continues to boast a number of restored 19th century Ottoman buildings, restaurants, places to stay, and the like. But it is undoubtedly Karak Castle that dominates.
Irbid
Located in the north of Jordan with the second largest population in the kingdom, Irbid is a mix of authentic Arabian society with flashes of western influence. Boasting panoramic views of the West Bank and ancient architectures from the Roman era, Irbid tells a tale of its own.
