Treasures of Jordan

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Arrival in Amman

  

  Arrival at Queen Alia Airport (Amman Airport). Welcome and assistance by our representative for passport and visa formalities, then transfer to your hotel in Amman. Overnight in Amman. Distance: 30 km

• day 2

  The desert castles, Amman

  

  Magnificent examples of early Islamic era architecture and art, the desert castles bear witness to a fascinating period inscribed in the rich history of the country. The refinement of their mosaics, frescoes, illustrations, and engravings on stone and stucco, in the pure Persian and Greco-Roman tradition, gives us a glimpse of the way of life in the 8th century. Lunch at Al Azraq. Back in Amman, visit of the capital of the Hashemite kingdom. From the top of the citadel, we will be able to admire a superb view of the Lower City. We will visit the Temple of Hercules, the Umayyad Palace, and the archaeological museum. Then, we will take a short tour in the Lower City, which has preserved a beautiful Greco-Roman amphitheater. Dinner and overnight in Amman. Distance: 200 km

• day 3

  Jerash, Umm Qais

  

  Today, we will head to the north of Jordan to discover the Greco-Roman city of Jerash. The city experienced its golden age under Roman rule, then called Gerasa. Today, this site is considered one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world. Hidden under the sand for several centuries before being discovered and restored over 70 years, 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, charming theaters, spacious public squares, baths, fountains, and walls pierced by towers and gates. Lunch at a restaurant in Jerash. Then we will head to Umm Qais, the ancient Gadara. Site of the famous "miracle of the swine," Gadara was renowned at the time as a cultural center. Several poets and philosophers lived there, notably Theodorus, founder of the school of rhetoric in Rome. A poet even called this city "the new Athens." Perched on the crest of a splendid hill overlooking the Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee, Gadara is known today as Umm Qais. It is renowned for its immense vaulted terrace and its colonnaded streets, as well as for the ruins of two theaters. Dinner and overnight in Amman. Distance: 220 km

• day 4

  King's Road, Madaba, Mount Nebo, Kerak, Petra

  

  Departure for Petra by taking part of the King's Highway connecting Aqaba to Amman. Stop at Madaba, a biblical site with 14 Byzantine churches. Visit of Saint George's Church, famous for its 6th-century mosaic representing the oldest map of Palestine and Jerusalem. Continue to Mount Nebo to enjoy the panorama over the Jordan Valley and the Memorial of Moses, with its Byzantine frescoes. Road to Kerak, a large fortress built by the Crusaders in the 12th century. Lunch en route. Dinner and overnight in Petra. Distance: 230 km

• day 5

  Petra

  

  Day dedicated to Petra, the Rose City. To get there, we will have to cross the Siq, a kilometer-long narrow gorge bordered by cliffs 80 m high! The dazzling colors and formations of the rocks will lead us to the magnificent Treasury (Al-Khazneh), carved into the sandstone. The site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is immense and contains hundreds of rock-cut tombs, a Roman amphitheater, temples, a sacrificial altar, and a colonnaded street. Lunch at the restaurant on the site. Dinner and overnight in Petra.

• day 6

  Little Petra, the Wadi Rum desert

  

  Breakfast and departure for the visit of Little Petra, then drive to the Wadi Rum desert. If Petra is the result of the combined work of man and nature, the cliffs, peaks, and valleys of Wadi Rum owe their "serene beauty" and their "overwhelming grandeur" only to themselves, according to the words of T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lunch in a Bedouin camp. In the afternoon, discovery of this majestic desert during a 2-hour 4x4 ride. Dinner and overnight in a camp. Distance: 112 km

• day 7

  The Wadi Rum desert, the Dead Sea, Amman.

  

  This morning, we will head to the Dead Sea by passing through the Wadi-Araba desert, which marks the border between Jordan and Israel. We will discover the Wadi Al-Mujib gorge before reaching our hotel by the sea. Lunch at the hotel. In the afternoon, swimming in the Dead Sea, relaxing while floating in the salty waters or resting by the pool. Dinner and overnight in Amman. Distance: 330 km

• day 8

  Departure

  

  Transfer to the airport and assistance with departure formalities.