Walker Jenny Fiona Hawkes - Jordan Travel Guide

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At the crossroads of history for more than 2000 years, the kingdom of Jordan is a treasure trove of world-class heritage sites and spectacular desert scenery.

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Sunset at Petra ()

Jordan has welcomed high volumes of visitors since camel caravans plied the legendary Kings Highway transporting frankincense in exchange for spices. Nabataean tradesmen, Roman legionnaires, Muslim armies and zealous Crusaders have all passed through the land we now call Jordan, leaving spectacular monuments behind. In turn, these monuments have provoked a modern wave of visitors who, since the early 19th century, have been fascinated to discover this potent past or who have gone in search of the origins of their faith.

Jordan, then, is no stranger to the tourist and there are many ways to enjoy a visit on a short package holiday, on a specialist archaeological tour, by hiring a Bedouin guide on arrival, or simply by hopping in a hire car and travelling where the fancy takes you. Minimal planning and only a modest budget is required to reach the main sites of interest, although booking a room in major destinations is recommended during the peak season in April.

Thanks to its small size and large diversity, Jordan repays even the shortest visit with sights and activities that are truly world-class. Petra, the ancient Nabataean city locked in the heart of Jordans sandstone escarpments, is the jewel in the crown of the countrys many antiquities. The walk through the Siq to the Treasury (Petras defining monument) is sublime in every sense and leaves an indelible impression on even the most jaded of visitors. It takes at least two days to make the most of a visit, particularly as the sites are far flung and require a fair amount of walking.

Petra is a highly persuasive reason to visit Jordan but it is far from the only reason. Apart from the many other spectacular historical and biblical sites, the country offers striking desert landscapes, a salty sea at the lowest point on earth, magnificent springtime flowers scattered across the interior, and rural towns that keep continuity with the traditions of the past.

It takes tolerance to host endless volumes of incomers and Jordan has displayed that virtue in spades, absorbing in recent times hundreds of thousands of refugees from Palestine and Iraq, as well as accommodating ever-growing numbers of tourists who are often insensitive to conservative Jordanian values. While the country has challenges, particularly in terms of modernisation and growing urbanisation, it remains one of the best countries in which to gain an impression of the Middle East without the often attendant difficulties.

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Bedouin man with oud

Ever since the Swiss explorer Jean Louis Burckhardt rediscovered this spectacular site in 1812, the ancient Nabataean city of Petra () has been drawing the crowds and with good reason. This is without doubt Jordans most treasured attraction and when the sun sets over the honeycombed landscape of tombs, carved facades, pillars and golden sandstone cliffs, its a hard-hearted visitor who is left unaffected by its magic. Allow a couple of days to do the site justice and to visit the main monuments at optimum times of the day.

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Treasury, Petra

Ruins of Empire

For a country so small in size, Jordan punches well above its weight in world-class monuments, boasting some of the finest Roman ruins outside Rome. Most countries would be pleased to have attractions like the Citadel (). Visit during a chariot race when commentary from a red-plumed centurion will help bring this ancient outpost of Rome alive.

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Temple of Artemis, Jerash

Lawrences Desert

It wasnt just the sublime vista of Wadi Rum (), with its burnished sandstone cliffs and vivid- coloured dunes, that impressed Lawrence of Arabia as he paced on camel back through the land of the Bedouin. He was also impressed by the stoicism of the people who endured hardships associated with a life in the desert. Today, its possible to get a glimpse of that traditional way of life, albeit with a few more creature comforts, by staying in one of the Bedouin camps scattered across this desert wilderness.

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Red sand dunes against Jebel Umm Ulaydiyya

The Dead Sea Experience

Floating in the Dead Sea () is one of the worlds great natural experiences. Floating is the right word for it: with an eye-stingingly high salt content it is virtually impossible to swim in the viscous waters of a sea that is 415m below sea level. The experience is usually accompanied by a mud bath, a bake in the sun and a health-giving spa treatment at one of the modern pleasure palaces lined up along the Dead Seas shores.

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Crusader Castles

As a frontier in the battle for the soul between Muslim and Christian forces, the land east of the Mediterranean is dotted with castles. In Jordan, there are well-preserved examples at Ajloun (), commanding the semi-arid hills midway along the Kings Highway, is the best. You dont need to be military-minded to be impressed by the ramparts of this enormous construction, but imagination helps to hear the dying howls of those pitched from the parapet by the sadistic Renauld de Chatillon.

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Karak Castle

Madabas Handmade History