Jordan
Jordan is relatively new to tourism. Its traditional image abroad is dominated by camels and deserts, even though it has mountains, beaches, castles, medieval churches, and a rich culture. Read our ideas for the best things to do in Jordan and start organizing for your holiday.
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1. Ma’in hot springs
Ma’in hot springs are located about 30 kilometers southwest of Madaba, at the end of one of Jordan’s steepest and squigglies highways. The springs (and the entire valley, which is more than 250 m below sea level) have long been popular with weekend day-trippers, constantly dousing the sheer desert cliffs of the Wadi Zarqa Ma’in with heated water ranging in temperature from a cozy 40°C to a blistering 60°C.
The waters have been channeled to make hot waterfalls, and there are hot spa pools with natural saunas, as well as spa amenities in the neighboring hotel. The valley is busy with day-trippers from Amman and Madaba on Fridays, particularly in the spring and autumn. If you’re looking for peace, come back another day when you can easily find a quiet, steaming crevice in the rock all to yourself.
2. Hospitality
Jordanians are famously friendly: whether you’re walking through a town or traversing the barren landscape, you’re bound to be invited in for tea. During your time in Jordan, you will very probably be invited to have tea with a person, either in their shop or at their place of residence. It’s also likely that you’ll be asked to someone’s house for a complete meal at a certain time.
Jordanians take hospitality very seriously and are interested in talking to you and making you feel welcome. However, offers tend to come in thick and fast, making it tough to agree with everyone, and individuals are sometimes so eager that refusing outright can be difficult – and potentially disrespectful – to do.
3. Ajloun
A spectacular Crusader-period castle nestles in the northern highlands, at a short distance from a serene nature reserve. The Ajloun region, which surrounds the highland market town of the same name, has ample opportunities for walking and picnicking in some of the world’s most southerly natural pine forests.
Use the town – or, better, the rural tourism projects around the nearby Ajloun Forest Reserve – as a base for a day or three of hiking silent hillside trails and exploring the beautiful Crusader-period castle situated among the olive trees.
4. Jerash
Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the eastern Mediterranean, is the main point of interest on a journey to northern Jordan. It is located in the bowl of a well-watered valley about 50 kilometers north of Amman. The old city, with its colossal and sophisticated public buildings balanced with charmingly intimate touches, is likely to inspire even if you are on the penultimate leg of a ruin-hopping tour of the region.
Jerash is a massive location that may easily take a full day. If you just have a few hours, you can quickly explore the Oval Plaza, which includes a temple and a theatre, the Cardo, the Sacred Way leading to the Temple of Artemis, and the North Theatre. Make sure to plan your visit around one of the hippodrome’s Roman-style chariot racing shows, which are rather spectacular.
5. Jordanian cuisine
In Amman, you may sample some of the best restaurants in the Middle East, or enjoy Jordan’s national meal, mansaf, at a bedouin gathering in the desert. The cheapest budget restaurants will usually only feature one or two major items on the menu – full, stew with rice, roast chicken, and so on – but you can nearly always get hummus and salad to round out the meal.
In higher-quality Arabic restaurants, it is customary to order a range of small starters (meze), followed by either a selection of main meals to be shared by everybody, or a single, enormous dish for sharing. Good Arabic restaurants may offer thirty distinct types of meze, ranging from basic bowls of hummus or labneh to more intricate mini-mains like fried chicken liver (kibdet djaj) or wings.
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