Totally Jordan - 8 days

Tour Information
Starts in: Amman
Ends in: Amman
Price: £679 per person, excluding flights
Length: 8 Days
Breakfast: 7
Dinner: 2
Hotel rating: 3 (Desert Camp - Wadi Rum)
Tour Leader: Yes


Day 1: Amman
Welcome to Jordan and the start of your holiday! Arrive Amman, included transfer to hotel.
Overnight - Amman

Day 2: Ancient Cities & Roman Ruins
Amman - Jerash - Umm Qais - Amman. Heading north, we visit Jerash, the Graeco-Roman city known as the ‘Pompeii of the East’. Built over 2,000 years ago, Jerash is widely regarded as the best-preserved city of the Decapolis, a confederation of 10 Roman cities dating from the 1st century! We’ll explore the site taking in the colonnaded street, amphitheatre, nymphaeum, forum and more before continuing to Umm Qais (Gadara), a dramatic black-basalt Roman city of the Decapolis with panoramic views over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. Overnight - Amman

Day 3: Dead Sea
Amman - Dead Sea - Petra. Today, we tour the citadel, Archaeological Museum and enjoy free time in the local souq before descending from the elevation of Amman to the Dead Sea for a chance to take a dip in the mineral-rich waters. Next we head to Shobak castle to walk round the fantastic crusader castle and admire the brilliant views (with Al Karak as an alternative) before continuing south to Petra. Overnight - Petra

Day 4: The Rose City
Chief among Jordan’s many archaeological riches is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Rose City of Petra. The city was first settled around the 6th century BC by the Nabataean tribe from Western Arabia. Rediscovered in 1812, it remains on the list of many travellers. We access the hidden archaeological treasures of the Rose City on a walk through a narrow, deep siq, where the rocks finally give way to reveal the famous facade of Al-Khazneh (the Treasury). It's also possible to ride a horse through the Siq. Continuing our walk, we’ll then go on to explore chunks of this fantastic once-lost city which is full of tombs, temples, an impressive amphitheatre and a Roman colonnaded street. The intrepid can ascend the hundreds of rock-cut steps to Ad-Deir. Better known as the Monastery, Ad-Deir has a similar facade to that of the Treasury, but is far bigger and the views from the nearby cliff-tops are awesome. Want to learn how to cook Middle Eastern food? Consider opting for our Petra Kitchen bolt-on tonight! Overnight -Petra

Day 5: Wadi Rum
Petra - Wadi Rum. A chance to revisit Petra before our afternoon drive to Wadi Rum. A vast, silent landscape of ancient riverbeds, pastel coloured stretches of sandy desert and amazing rock formations known as jebels that rise from the desert floor, the desertscape of Wadi Rum represents some of the most stunning countryside on the planet. Boarding 4x4s jeeps, we take a safari through the sand dunes, getting up close and personal to the surrounding scenery of Wadi Rum. Tonight, we enjoy a Jordanian dinner. Overnight - Wadi Rum

Day 6: Umm ar-Rasas & Mt Nebo
Wadi Rum - Umm ar-Rasas - Mt Nebo - Madaba. This morning, we visit Umm ar-Rasas, a haunted deserted city on the ancient caravan routes. The village is the site of the now ruinous Roman garrison town of Kastron Mefaa, which developed during the Byzantine and Umayyad periods into a relatively important city. Large mosaic floors from two of its dozen or more churches have been painstakingly cleaned and protected. The mosaic floor of the Church of St Stephen dates to 785, over 150 years after Muslim rule was established in Jordan, and depicts the cities of the day including Jerusalem, with Palestinian cities below such as Nablus and Gaza and seven Trans-Jordanian cities including Philadelphia (modern-day Amman), Madaba and Karak.

Continuing our journey, we head to Mt Nebo - the single most important biblical site in Jordan. Having led the Israelites for 40 years through the wilderness, Moses finally saw, from this awesome vantage point, the Promised Land, that God forbid him to set foot in. We too can enjoy the excellent views offered of the Jordan River Valley, the northern shore of the Dead Sea, Jericho on the opposite bank and (on clear days) the towers on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. We then proceed to Madaba, a bustling Muslim-Christian market town. Overnight - Madaba

Day 7: Madaba
Famed for it’s Byzantine mosaics, including the fascinating map of the Holy Land made in the 6th century out of two million stone pieces and now housed in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, Madaba, its mosaics, quaint village shops and local market are all here to explore. Overnight - Madaba

Day 8: Amman
Saturday. Madaba - Amman Airport. Explore Madaba your way, before hotel check-out and included onward departure transfer to Amman airport.