Jordan Travel Guide

Jordan Travel Guide, climate:

Best: Spring and Autumn
Worst: July-August [excessive heat], Nov-March [cold and windy] and Ramadan [Muslim fasting month, Sept 24 - Oct 22 '06; Sept 13 - Oct 11 '07; Sept 1 - Sept 29 '08].

Tour operators offering tours to Jordan can be found in our listings here: Jordan Tours

Length of Stay:
Minimum worthwhile stay, not incl. flights/border crossings: 2 days [Wadi Rum- Petra via Aqaba].
Recommended: 10 days

Festivals Guide:
Dates vary, nationwide, Eid al Fitr, end of Ramadan, a couple of days of feasting.
February. Eid al-Adah, pre-Mecca feasting.
May, Independence day.
Summer time, 2 weeks. Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts.

Activities Guide:
Trekking: around Wadi Rum [hard sand, wandering Bedouin and lots melting rock formations] and Petra [though just regular visits involve plenty of leg work].
Cycling: Mountain bike tours with some walks thrown in include all Jordan's major attractions.
Riding: tourists love to follow in Lawrence of Arabia's tracks - either camels and horses - around the majestic desert landscapes of Wadi Rum.
Climbing: rock pinnacles of Wadi Rum. Basic gear available for rent locally.
Diving: Aqaba and further south into the Red Sea contain some superb dive spots with 100 species of soft coral, 120 species of hard coral and over 1000 species of fish.
Aqaba also has dive centres offering PADI courses.
Health Spas: the Dead Sea is about 400m below sea level and due to high evaporation has an intense concentration of salts and minerals - particularly magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, bromine - that have curative effects on many skin conditions, as well as allowing visitors the odd experience of lying almost on the surface of the sea.
Mud packs are a popular option. Hotels in the area offer a huge variety of spa treatments and costs. The Dead Sea is about an hour from Amman airport.
Beach Life: Aqaba [50kms from Wadi Rum] is a pleasant though primarily commercial town offering some small, sandy public beaches that are on the grubby side, but private hotel beaches can be used for a small fee and are well manicured. The water is warm [generally about 23C] and multicoloured marine life is rampant; coral reefs are not far off.

Visas:
Officially all tourists need to get a visa in advance from the Jordan consulate in their own country; or available on arrival at a border or airport, except entry from Israel at the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge, where you must already have a visa/entry permit on your passport.

If you plan to travel in the Jordan region you may also find these guides useful:

Why Travel to Jordan?

Jordan offers friendly, hospitable people, history up to its keffiya - Lawrence of Arabia's ghost still wanders around - it's relatively small and easy to travel around and good value if you can escape the usual mega-tourist hotels.
There are some incredible, world class sights such as Nabatean Petra, the red and melting rock desert of Wadi Rum, varied medieval castles, Roman Jerash, while the below sea level, mineral-packed Dead Sea is a weird and floating, mud-pack must and the Red Sea is home to famously colourful marine life.
Jordan is a natural addition to an Israel holiday as border crossings are easy, roads are good, locals are in no way anti-western and the best Jordanian destinations are not far from the Eilat/Aqaba crossing.

Downside:
- Much of the desert is flat, hard and featureless except for Wadi Rum.
- Amman and Aqaba are not attractive.
- Tourist infrastructure is still undeveloped - in other words cold beer and sandwiches are not always available and the hotel selection is limited.
- This is not a gourmet destination, with protein dishes being tough local produce though vegetarians will find plenty to keep them happy.

Where to travel in Jordan:

***Petra. One of the word's best ancient wonders, this 'lost' pink city is a huge geological and artistic marvel, and really requires two full days of constant walking. There are hotels nearby so stay over if possible. Petra is about 150km from Amman, 80km from Aqaba. Don't miss the 'Petra by Night' event that's on two or three nights a week, involving 2,000 candles and live Bedouin music but book at a hotel as soon as you arrive in the local town, Wadi Musa. See Petra Pictures.

***Wadi Rum. One of the world's best desert landscapes, with soft sand and pinnacles of melting red rock providing a wonderful contrast. This was the inspiration for Lawrence's 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'.
Travel by camel or 4WD around the Wadi.
Accommodation was only tents a couple of years ago, but it's worthwhile staying at least a couple of days.
It's an easy drive from Eilat, Aqaba or Petra [about 40km from each of them].

***Jerash. 50km north of Amman and known as the Pompeii of East, this is a large and superbly preserved Roman city dating from around 300 AD. Although only 10% is currently uncovered, there is plenty to see. Only a handful of hotels currently stand nearby though!

**Quseir Amra. A desert castle built by the Umayyad caliph Walid I in 8th century, 100 km east of Amman. It has well-preserved frescos in the reception hall and the hammam, but it's way less impressive than the must-see Petra, tho' relatively easy to do as a quick detour.

**The Dead Sea. Bathe in the therapeutic waters of the Dead Sea 55km south of Amman. Some hotels are there already and more are on the way.

*Um er-Rasas [Kastrom Mefa'a]. A new UNESCO World Heritage archeological site with ruins from mixed civilizations - Roman, Byzantine and Islam, but apart from two unique square towers and a magnificent Roman mosaic in the Church of Saint Stephen, it is still little more than rubble.

Jordan Travel Guide
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