Jordan Trip Details

Hotel Reviews

Full Panaroma Jerash: Stayed here for two nights in May 2023
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Ibis, Amman: We stayed here for two nights in May 2023.
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Salome Hotel, Madaba: We stayed here for one night in May 2023.
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Al Rashid Hotel, Petra: Stayed here for three nights in May 2023.
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Rental Car

Monte Carlo

Driving Logistics

The roads are by and large decent in Jordan and it is easy to drive at the speed limit. The traffic is quite thin by Indian standards. There is very little honking or rash driving.
The place is quite hilly with many blind curves. So please stick to the speed limits.
The road signs are in English. There is good 4G connection everywhere. Occasionally we did enter dead zones. So please check and remember the directions to the next town everytime you drive through countryside.
Amman traffic is bad. We took taxis inside Amman leaving our car in the hotel.
Finding parking in the towns/cities are hard. Parking is available in most of the main sites.
There are plenty of petrol stations. You should never be far from the next fuel station.

Sightseeing Tips

Amman

Citadel: Must see. Very small place. Arrive early to beat the crowd. 1 hour should be sufficient.
Roman Theatre: Must See. Quite easy to walk from the Citadel. 20 mins should ebe sufficient.
Odeon: Must See. It is right next to the Roman Theatre. 10 mins should be plenty.
Nymphaeum: Can skip. It is a 15 min walk from the Theatres. Hardly anything to see here.
Duke's Diwan: Can skip. It is 15 min further from the Nymphaeum. Very difficult to locate. Not a whole lot to see here.
Darat Al Funun: Can skip. It is 15 min furthr (and uphill) from the Duke's Diwan. Unless you are a fan of the artist, this can be skipped.
Blue Mosque: Should see. Decent mosque that invites the tourists to take a look. Women are welcome although they will have to wear a special dress that gets handed out for free.
The Jordan Museum: Must See. One hour should be sufficient. Don't miss the Ain Ghazal statues and Dead Sea Scrolls.
As Salt: Must See. You need at least half a day to do justice to this place. We only had an hour and that wasn't even enough to scratch the surface. It is an hour drive from the Amman city centre.

Madaba

Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist: Must see. 30 mins should be sufficient. Don't miss the Moabite well in the crypt and the view from the bell tower (~110 step climb).
Church of the Apostles: Must See. 15 mins should be enough.
St. George's Church: Must See. 15 mins should be enough.
Archaological Park I : Must See. 30 mins should be enough. Don't miss the Martyr's Church.
Archaological Park II : Must See. 30 mins should be enough. Don't miss the Church of the Virgin Mary.
Madaba Museum : Should See. 30 mins should be enough. There are some interesting mosaics here even for the most jaded.
Moses Memorial Church, Mt Nebo : Must See. 30 mins should be enough. Note that this is a 30 min drive from the Madaba City Centre.
SS Lot and Procopius Church : Must See. 15 mins should be enough. Note that this is a 30 min drive from the Madaba City Centre.

Petra: Of course, a Must See. The site opens at 6 (in summer) and try to be there at that time to beat the crowd (and the heat). We skipped the High Place of Sacrifice and saw everything else. That was 20k steps. It is tiring to see it all. It took us 6 hours to see everything (except the High Place). Monastery is a stiff climb (40 min from the trail head). All Royal Tombs and Monastery face Eest - so they are best photographed in the evening. The Treasury faces East - so best seen in the morning. There is plenty of shacks inside to buy water. There is one restaurant that serves food.
Little Petra: Can skip. Very underwhelming after seeing Petra. But is where you park for Al Beidha. So you may as well see this if you are heading to Al Beidha.
Al Beidha: Must see. The site, taken out of context, is very underwhelming. But you are staring at the very dawn of human civilisation. It doesn't get much older than 8500 BC.
Jerash: Must See. Come early in the morning to beat the crowd. You need at least one hour. Two hours is recommended.
Ajlun Castle: Must See. Come early in the morning to beat the crowd. You need about one hour.
Gadara: Must See. Don't miss the Western Theatre. That alone is worth the effort. One should be just about enough.
Pella: Can skip. There is not much to see here.
Umm Al Jimal: Must See. You need at least one hour. Two hours is recommended.
Qasr Al Hallabat: Must See. You need an hour. Don't miss the mosaics and the nearby Hammam (10 min drive).
Qasr Azraq: Must See. You need an hour.
Qasayr Amra: Must See. 30 mins should be sufficient.
Qasr Khurrana: Must See. You need 30 mins to an hour.
Qasr Al Abad: Must See. Very hard to get to and very difficult to find parking. But the first sight of the building is truly breathtaking.
Umm Ar Rasas: Must See. You need an hour. Don't miss the St Stephen's Church mosaics.
Al Karak: Must See. You need two hours. Difficult to find parking.
Shobak: Must See. You need an hour. Difficult to find parking.
Castle of Herod: Can skip. Very little to see here.
Bethany Beyond the Jordan: Must See. You need 3 hours. You have to take a compulsary tour. If you come at 8:00 am, you can definitely get a spot on the 8:30 tour and there will be no one else at the site.
Wadi Rum: Must See. There are several ways to see this place. Most recommended is to spend the night here so that you can see both the sunrise and the sunset. If you are short on time, the 5 hour jeep ride is recommended. That covers all the main points and it costs 75 JD a jeep.
Aqaba Fortress: Must See. 30 mins should be plenty. Fort itself isn't that impressive. But the location makes it worrth the effort.

TRIP ITINERARY

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