Group stay in Jordan

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Day 01, Saturday: France – Amman (arrival)

  

  Welcome at Queen Alia International Airport and transfer to the hotel in Amman. Dinner and overnight stay.

• day 2

  Day 02, Sunday: Amman – Salt – Amman

  

  After breakfast, departure towards the city of As-Salt, which is only 25 km from Amman. This charming city is proud of its history and features yellow sandstone architecture. The city already existed in Roman times under the name Saltus and experienced its golden age in the medieval period, of which the ruins of an Ayyubid fortress from the early 13th century still remain today. Visit of the city of Salt. AL-HAMMAM STREET The oldest and most active street in the city of As-Salt, named after a Turkish bath, is a narrow pedestrian street that winds around the contours of the hill, between 150-year-old traditional Ottoman stone architecture. Visit the old souks, rich in the scents of spices and colors. The city is very lively and pleasant. Strolling in the center is enjoyable: you will discover beautiful 19th-century Ottoman houses, with lovely colors and characteristic windows. The most famous, the Abu Jaber house, is located on the main square of the city; it belonged to a wealthy Ottoman merchant. Lunch with locals in Salt. Umm Omar, a resident of As-Salt, has been making homemade jams and other locally sourced products since she was very young. As she grew up, she worked alongside her grandmother, who would take seasonal fruits and vegetables to create different types of jams. You will enjoy a local meal. Return to Amman for a visit of the capital of the Hashemite kingdom. Between the eastern desert and the Jordan Valley, Amman is home to about one million inhabitants. Entirely built in beige white limestone, the city is an aggregate of cream-colored cubes, gilded by the sun. From the top of the citadel, do not miss the superb view over the lower city. But before going down, a visit to the Archaeological Museum, the Temple of Hercules, and the Umayyad Palace is a must. Then, a short tour in the lower city, which has preserved a beautiful Greco-Roman Theater, able to accommodate about six thousand spectators. Return to the hotel. Dinner & overnight.

• day 3

  Day 03, Monday: Amman – Jerash – Ajloun – Amman

  

  

  

  In the morning, departure towards the ancient city of Jerash or Gerasa, about 45 km from Amman. It is the second largest site in Jordan after Petra. Today, it is considered one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the Near East. It remained hidden under the sand for several centuries before being discovered and restored over 70 years. The city was entirely built in a pinkish-orange limestone, which is enhanced at dawn and dusk by the rays of the sun. The peak of Gerasa dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Jerash is the very example of Roman municipal planning, vast and formal, throughout the Middle East. It is adorned with colonnaded paved streets, immense temples on the crest of the hills, delightful theaters, spacious public squares, baths, fountains, and walls pierced by towers and gates. After lunch, continue to Ajloun. This city has a very impressive fortress (Qalaat al Rabad), nestled on top of a mountain, built in the 12th century, at the time of Saladin, to defend the region, control the local iron mines, and prevent the Crusaders from crossing to Jerusalem. From the top, you can enjoy superb views of the Jordan Valley. Return to Amman. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 4

  Day 04, Tuesday: Amman – King's Highway – Madaba – Nebo – Kerak – Petra

  

  

  

  

  Breakfast at the hotel and departure towards the King's Highway, visit of Madaba. The city of mosaics, both in churches and in houses, demonstrates their high technical skill and artistic value. This proves that this Byzantine bishopric, which had 14 churches, was home to an extraordinary school of mosaicists. Their art reached its peak in the 5th and 6th centuries. You will visit in the Saint George Church of Madaba the "map of Palestine," unearthed in 1898 during the construction of the church. This mosaic from the mid-6th century, barely altered, depicts the geography of the Byzantine Near East. It originally measured 25 m by 5 m and was made up of two million tesserae. Then, you will visit Mount Nebo, 10 km northwest of Madaba: "And Moses, leaving the plains of Moab, went up to the top of Mount Nebo, to Pisgah, which faces Jericho... Then the Lord said to him: 'This is the land I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and that I will give to your descendants. I have allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will go no further.' And so Moses, the servant of God, died in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord." (Deuteronomy, 34:1, 4-5). Presumed site of the tomb of Moses, Mount Nebo rises to 840 m in altitude. It became a universal place of pilgrimage from the beginning of the Christian era. Continue to the fortress of Kerak. The Wadi Kerak, the valley below the city, was one of the great routes into Palestine. It was in the years 1115 that Baldwin I founded the lordship of Montreal. Fulk the Younger of Anjou, baron of France and third Frankish ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1131-1144), entrusted this fief to his cupbearer Payen le Bouteiller, who built the fortress of Kerak in 1142 and made it his residence. In 1176, Renaud de Châtillon, former lord of Antioch, received it following his second marriage. It took the disastrous Crusader defeat at Hattin (1187), after which Jerusalem was conquered by the Muslims and Renaud executed, for Kerak to fall, in 1189. But Saladin had to besiege the fortress, defended by Renaud's widow, for more than a year before it finally surrendered. Lunch in Kerak. Continue to Petra via the desert road. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• day 5

  Day 05, Wednesday: Petra the Rose

  

  

  

  Breakfast at the hotel and departure for a full day visit of Petra. Lunch. The "rose city" Petra, "the pink stone" in Greek, comes from the Aramaic toponym "RQM", pronounced "Rekem" or "Rakmou", which means "bicolored". The geology is indeed the origin of the red city, entirely carved into soft sandstone. Man, present here for about ten thousand years, finished giving the site its appearance between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD: in total, there are nearly 800 monuments, mostly tombs, scattered throughout Petra over 100 km². Eighth wonder of the world and declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, it is the most famous site in Jordan and even in the Middle East. You cross the Siq, a narrow and long fault caused by a prehistoric earthquake. At the end of the Siq, the most majestic monument of Petra suddenly appears, "Al Khazneh" or the "Treasury" with Greco-Roman decor. What a dazzling spectacle of beauty… Beyond the Treasury, there are hundreds of carved buildings, temples, Royal Tombs, houses, funerary chambers, banquet halls, baths, monumental staircases, arched gates, paved streets and above all the Roman Theater with about 3,000 seats. You will cross the Roman Cardo and visit the Qasr El Bint, the only temple still standing and in good condition. Lunch at the site restaurant. In the afternoon, ascent to Mount El Deir or the Monastery (optional), and free time. Return to the hotel. Dinner & overnight stay.

• day 6

  Day 06, Thursday: Petra – Little Petra – Wadi Rum

  

  

  

  Breakfast at the hotel and departure towards Little Petra. Then, drive to Wadi Rum - the Wadi Rum desert. If Petra is the result of the work of man combined with that of nature, the cliffs, peaks, and valleys of Wadi Rum owe their "serene beauty" and "overwhelming grandeur" only to themselves, according to the words of T. E. Lawrence. Wadi Rum, "vast, echoing and marked by the presence of the divine," is such that "[only] landscapes in children's dreams have such grandeur and silence." This desolate site was indeed one of the main locations of the Great Arab Revolt, magnified by director David Lean in one of the most impressive scenes of his Lawrence of Arabia. Tour in a "local" 4X4 pick-up in the desert for about an hour and a half. Lunch in a Bedouin camp. Dinner and overnight under Bedouin tents.

• day 7

  Day 07, Friday: Wadi Rum – Wadi Araba – The Dead Sea – Amman

  

  

  Breakfast at the camp, via the Araba road. Departure for the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, 1306 feet below sea level. Lunch. Then, free time for swimming. The Dead Sea is surrounded by mountains to the east and the rolling hills of Jerusalem to the west, giving it an almost unreal beauty. It is believed that this region, so sparsely populated and peaceful today, once housed five biblical cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. The therapeutic benefits of the Dead Sea have been known for at least two thousand years. It has been proven that the climate and elements (sun, water, mud, and air) offer a unique combination of natural conditions capable of relieving a whole range of chronic conditions such as dermatological problems (psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, vitiligo, psoriatic arthritis, etc.), respiratory problems (asthma, for example), and many other conditions such as arthritis, circulatory problems, hypertension, Parkinson's disease, and ophthalmological conditions. Enjoy a strange but delightful experience: "floating" on the surface of the waters. The buoyancy is due to the salt content being nine times higher than that of ordinary seawater. Return to Amman for dinner and overnight.

• day 8

  Day 08, Saturday: Amman, transfer departure

  

  After breakfast, transfer to the airport and assistance with departure formalities. End of our services.