Going places!

Main attractions

So many places, so much info! Have a look at what the Jordan tourism board has to say about it: http://international.visitjordan.com/Wheretogo

Based on our experience, Amman, Wadi Rum and Petra are definitely the main spots and you should definitely look into the details of each of these places to really capture the most out of your experience.

Also, have a look at this cool video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZhCLVJVWZ8 Hopefully, you’re inspired!

How many attractions can we pack into 1 week?

The possibilities were so many and it will ultimately be a fight to see how much you cramp into a certain time frame. We had a week, so here are some things to take into account if you were to have a similar amount of time.

Different people have different styles but from our experience Amman needs at least 2 days. You should really get a walking feel for the city, visit King Abdullah I Mosque, see the citadel, visit the Roman amphitheatre, taste the local cuisine… If you decide to dedicate time to museums then you will definitely need even more time and not get bored in any way.

Given the proper highway connections, you can drive all the way to Aqaba in the south in one day and if you choose to rent a car then you can pack multiple attractions along the way. We drove South from Amman towards Wadi Musa and Petra but on the same day we managed to do the Siq trail at Wadi Mujib and have a dip in the Dead Sea. We did it without too much of a hurry and stopping for sightseeing and pictures but if you would want to also get the Baptism site on the same day I would definitely advise against that unless your idea of fun is running through magnificent places.

Petra was definitely a treat and we scoured the forums trying to decide how much time we ought to spend there. Here it really is highly dependent on your personal interests, your physical shape and your policy towards working animals. The site itself is huge and if you want to walk all of it going through every single detail then it can easily take you three or more days. That being said, from the reception you can be taken to the far end of the site close to the Monastery (Ad-Deir) in a 20m pick-up drive. There and covering all of the main attractions including the climb to the High Place of Sacrifice we managed to visit just about all we wanted in one day. Granted, about 12km walks with hill climbs is not for everybody so at different stretches of the path there were “transport services” offered. Donkeys, horses and camels could transport you through the main areas but we definitely advise against it as at times it really did seem like animal cruelty.

From there it is a hop to Wadi Rum. Again, one day at this place is probably enough. We saw different people be offered different tours taking different amounts of time but regardless of whether it was 2 or 6 hours of touring, we all went to exactly the same places. We did, however, spend 2 nights there and that is for sure something we would recommend. Alternatively to Wadi Rum you may consider going to Dana. Though we finally decided against it, it has phenomenal views, beautiful treks and the possibility to see wildlife so it may be a better option for you.

Being an islander, I wanted to bathe in something other than a lifeless pool of salt. So we went to Aqaba. The diving experience was fantastic and the dinner cruise was really a highlight of the trip but alas the beaches were quite dirty and if you are not a huge fan of water related activities then you might want to actually skip this place. That being said, we had a really good time.

On the swing back we decided to spend the night at Madaba. It was a nice little city which seemed to work more on a western schedule than on what we saw in Amman but the main attractions are definitely religiously oriented with Mount Nebo nearby and an Orthodox church in the centre. This would definitely be worth a day if that is your cup of tea.

Though many other smaller sites are highly recommended, for us the one site which we wanted to visit but ultimately did not find the time to was Aljoun. It is the forest getaway for city dwellers and has multiple forest reserves offering a different pace. If I had to do it again I would surely try to hit this spot.

Moving around

Gratefully transportation was really not an issue. We decided to rent a car as we definitely wanted liberty to move at our will but it would not necessarily be a showstopper if we didn’t have it.

Inside the cities we found taxis to be almost omnipresent and sometimes almost aggressive in trying to get you to board them. In Aqaba we were honked at every 100m by random taxi drivers looking for clients. That being said, they were fairly cheap and easy to use. For longer rides, there are several buses available. JETT buses (http://www.jett.com.jo) are quite cheap and connect the main points of the country as do many other small minibuses. On the downside, they tend to not have a strict schedule and simply leave when full.