For the meals that aren’t included we usually eat in local restaurants and the leader arranges bookings for those in the group who would like to join. We suggest you budget around 20 Jordanian dinars (US$28) per non-included meal. If you are vegetarian, please note that main meals are limited in choice; however, meze is almost always available in restaurants and is a good, filling vegetarian choice. There is a good selection of seafood available by the Red Sea. At the Wadi Rum camp, we enjoy a traditional dinner called zarb, which is cooked underground. This consists of rice with a selection including chicken, lamb and vegetables. Vegetables are cooked separately from the meat.

Alcohol drinks: Alcohol is available in Jordan, but not widely. Many hotels do not sell alcohol and do not allow it to be brought in from elsewhere. It is best to plan ahead if you’ll want a drink, your tour leader will be able to tell you what’s possible and may be able to arrange a stop at a supermarket or liquor store (depending on location). In Petra, the unique Cave Bar in Petra Guesthouse is open to the public. A less expensive option is the bar in the Petra Palace Hotel which is also open to all.

Visit Al Numeira Environmental Association near the Dead Sea to learn about water conservation, smart irrigation, and reuse techniques. Short exhibits highlight community-led projects that respond to scarce rainfall in the Dead Sea basin.

Guides explain practical solutions—greywater systems, drought-tolerant planting, and education initiatives—that equip local families to steward fragile resources. It’s a grounded look at climate resilience along the Jordan Rift.

Walk historic Dana village along stone lanes past restored houses and terraced gardens. Pause at viewpoints for clifftop views over Wadi Dana and step into small craft workshops sustaining local livelihoods.

Set within Jordan’s largest nature reserve, Dana dates to the 15th century and shelters rare flora and fauna. The human story—Bedouin roots, Ottoman architecture, and community-run lodgings—interweaves with a dramatic canyon landscape.

Walk the Siq al-Barid, a narrow, shaded gorge opening to intimate courtyards and carved facades. Peek into Nabataean cave rooms where travelers once sheltered at this Silk Road staging post linked to Petra proper.

Quieter and more compact than its famous neighbor, Little Petra reveals painted dining rooms and stairways hewn into rock. The site hints at the logistics that fed Petra’s grandeur—storage, hosting, and the movement of caravans.

Choose your challenge and climb the 750-step stairway to Ad-Deir, the Monastery, or follow ancient paths to the High Place of Sacrifice. Stone steps and weathered switchbacks lead to wide terraces where ibex sometimes graze and sweeping desert panoramas unfurl beneath you.

At Ad-Deir, a monumental facade dominates a sunlit plateau. The High Place preserves altars and processional routes cut high into the cliffs. Both routes reward steady walkers with space, silence, and perspective on Petra’s sacred topography. Your Tour Leader advises on route suitability and pacing.

Join Bedouin hosts to ride in Bedouin-driven 4x4s across ochre sands, skirting towering sandstone massifs and rust-red dunes. Photo stops may include narrow canyons such as Khazali Canyon and wind-sculpted rock bridges, as the desert lights change from copper to gold.

Stories of the Arab Revolt echo through this protected landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site for both its geology and petroglyphs. Look for ancient rock carvings etched by traders and nomads, and feel the scale of time in an arena of silence, space, and shifting light.

Settle into a private desert camp to enjoy Bedouin hospitality beneath towering rock escarpments. As night falls, savor a traditional zarb dinner cooked in an underground oven, then gather to share stories and music by the campfire under a star-filled desert sky.

Your hosts explain nomadic lifeways, spice-rich recipes, and the constellations used for navigation. Away from city lights, the Milky Way arcs clearly overhead, adding an unforgettable celestial canopy to a night of warmth, generosity, and cultural exchange.

Relax at Berenice Beach Club on the Gulf of Aqaba, where clear water and coral-lined shores invite a refreshing swim. Unwind on loungers, swim the Red Sea, and laze on sun decks with views to the Sinai mountains shimmering across the bay.

This private shoreline offers calm facilities and a restorative break from the road. The Red Sea’s reef-rich ecosystem and warm waters set a leisurely mood, with optional on-site rentals sometimes available for those who want to explore from the surface.

Pause along the Dead Sea to float effortlessly in mineral-rich waters where salt holds you buoyant. Smooth on dark mud, rinse in the warm shallows, and savor the hush of a quiet stretch of shore away from large resort crowds.

Situated at the lowest point on Earth, this hypersaline lake has drawn visitors since antiquity for its otherworldly feel and restorative qualities. The scene is stark and beautiful: shimmering flats, distant hills, and the soft weightlessness of a unique natural phenomenon.

Walk ancient avenues to walk the colonnaded Cardo Maximus, stand in the sweeping Oval Plaza, and pass beneath Hadrian’s Arch. Theatres, temples, and forum stones bring one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the Near East to life.

Part of the Decapolis, Jerash flourished on trade and agriculture before windswept sands cocooned its remains. Highlights include the Temple of Zeus and acoustically perfect theatres; everywhere, limestone glows honey-gold against pine-topped hills and olive groves.

Explore Ajloun Castle, an Ayyubid stronghold of Saladin perched high above oak-clad hills. Cross defensive thresholds to hilltop battlements and climb towers for far-reaching views over the Jordan Valley.

Built in the 12th century to control key routes and iron mines, the fortress guarded against Crusader incursions with layered walls and arrow slits. Its strategic outlook connects medieval geopolitics with the serene, green landscape below.

Wander Al Hammam Street past Ottoman-era yellow-stone townhouses, and step into Abu Jaber House to admire frescoed salons. Visit the As-Salt Archaeological Museum to trace this hill town’s layered past and traditions of hospitality.

Recognized by UNESCO as a Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality, As-Salt prospered under late Ottoman trade. Its interwoven Christian and Muslim neighborhoods, intimate stairways, and merchants’ mansions reveal a model of coexistence and Levantine urban grace.

Explore Pella (Tabaqat Fahl), a Decapolis city nestled by the Jordan Valley. Walk among Byzantine basilicas, peek at baths and courtyards, and trace cave-like tombs and a Roman theatre set against rippling farmland.

With a multi-layered tell revealing Bronze Age to Islamic eras, Pella showcases the continuity of settlement in a fertile corridor. Its rural stillness and river-fed landscape frame ruins steeped in everyday stories more than imperial spectacle.

Stroll the ruins of Gadara (Umm Qais) along basalt-paved streets and colonnades, pausing at a black-basalt theatre. From the ridge, savor views to the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights shimmering beyond rolling orchards.

Once a Greco-Roman cultural hub of the Decapolis, Gadara blended refined villas, forums, and baths with commanding northern vistas. Ottoman-era village houses among the ruins add an evocative, time-layered atmosphere to the site.

Sit down to a home-cooked feast in a family home, sharing seasonal salads, stews, rice dishes, flatbreads, and fragrant herbs. Meet your hosts and sample regional dishes that reflect the fertile hills and culinary traditions of northern Jordan.

Jordanian meals are occasions of hospitality, where recipes are passed between generations and conversation is as nourishing as the food. Expect warm welcomes, generous portions, and insights into daily life beyond the archaeological sites.

Follow boardwalk trails through reedbeds and mirror-calm lagoons, pausing in shaded shelters to watch from bird hides. The restored oasis provides vital respite on a migratory flyway where herons, waders, and raptors pause seasonally.

Managed by the RSCN conservation team, Azraq tells a story of revival after overuse of aquifers. Elevated paths and interpretive displays reveal how wetlands once sustained caravans, wildlife, and villages in Jordan’s eastern desert.

Step inside Qasr Azraq, its black-basalt walls absorbing desert heat. Peer into rooms once used by Lawrence of Arabia’s headquarters, and picture scouts and couriers arriving at this ancient oasis crossroads.

Built atop earlier Roman foundations, the fort’s heavy stone doors and broad courtyard evoke centuries of reuse by successive rulers. The contrast between dark stone and pale desert underscores its strategic power in an arid land.

Admire Qasr Amra’s frescoes of huntsmen, musicians, and zodiac signs inside an 8th-century bathhouse, a UNESCO World Heritage gem. Then visit Qasr Kharana, an enigmatic desert lodge whose rooms frame pure Umayyad desert architecture.

These early Islamic retreats mixed governance with leisure, artistry with practicality. Amra’s paintings—rare survivors—animate courtly life, while Kharana’s austere geometry sparks debate about its purpose, from caravanserai to meeting hall.

Explore Qasr al-Abed, a rare Hellenistic monument with carved stone lions and monumental blocks linked to the Tobiad family. Afterwards, visit the Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative to see handmade crafts from paper-making to ceramics and weaving.

Backed by the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation, the cooperative fosters sustainable livelihoods and heritage skills. The juxtaposition of ancient masonry and living craftsmanship casts the valley as a place of both memory and renewal.

Visit Bethany Beyond the Jordan to trace riverside paths to baptismal pools and remains of early chapels. Pause amid tamarisk and reeds where pilgrims gather at this UNESCO pilgrimage site on the Jordan River.

Tradition holds that John the Baptist anointed Jesus here. Byzantine and early Islamic layers—church foundations, steps, and water channels—speak to centuries of devotion at a quiet bend of a storied river.

Step into the Roman Theatre carved into a downtown hillside, then ascend to the Amman Citadel for vistas and ruins including the Temple of Hercules and Umayyad Palace. Conclude at the Jordan Museum, home to the Ain Ghazal statues and Dead Sea Scroll fragments.

From Roman Philadelphia to modern Amman, the capital’s layers stand shoulder to shoulder. Markets buzz at street level while hilltop relics and curated galleries illuminate Jordan’s deep historical arc.

Explore Shobak Castle (Montreal), a lonely crusader stronghold guarding the King’s Highway. Wander through vaulted chambers and secret passages as cool mountain air sweeps across mountain vistas.

Founded by Baldwin I in 1115 and later reshaped by Mamluks, the fortress mixes Latin crosses, Arabic inscriptions, and ingenious defenses. Its isolated perch conveys both medieval ambition and the hardships of frontier life.

Enter Kerak Castle to navigate crusader galleries and tunnels cut deep into the limestone. Cannon embrasures and storerooms speak of sieges at this King’s Highway stronghold, with terraces revealing Dead Sea views on clear days.

Built in the 12th century and later refortified by Ayyubids and Mamluks, Kerak’s layered defenses and shadowy halls illustrate medieval military architecture honed by hard lessons on the frontier.

Visit Umm ar-Rasas, where a Roman military outpost evolved into a Byzantine town. The highlight is the St Stephen’s mosaic, a carpet of cities and vines at this UNESCO World Heritage site on the steppe edge.

Modest excavations preserve a sense of discovery: church ruins, desert towers used by stylite monks, and lanes that map a Roman-to-Byzantine transition. The artistry of tesserae here rivals better-known Mediterranean mosaics.

Stand on Mount Nebo for sweeping views to the Jordan Valley, Jericho, and the Dead Sea. Inside the hilltop church, admire Memorial Church and mosaics that depict pastoral scenes beneath subdued light.

According to tradition, Moses first saw the Promised Land from this ridge. The serene sanctuary, curated by Franciscan custodians, preserves exquisite floor panels that link biblical memory to Byzantine craftsmanship.

See the Madaba Map inside St George’s Church, a remarkable 6th-century mosaic charting towns, roads, and rivers from Egypt to Lebanon. Cities like Jerusalem and the Dead Sea appear in lively, tessellated detail.

Once a pilgrim’s aid and now a scholarly treasure, the map anchors Madaba’s reputation as Jordan’s mosaic capital. It offers a rare cartographic window into the late antique world and its sacred geography.

Explore the Petra Museum to contextualize the Red Rose City before or after your site visit. Exhibits trace Nabataean artistry, incense-route trade, and sophisticated water engineering through statues, ceramics, and carved inscriptions.

Thoughtful displays illuminate how Petra’s residents harvested flash floods, terraced farms, and adorned tombs. The museum sharpens your eye for detail, transforming rock-cut facades into living narratives of craftsmanship and commerce.

Take a camel ride to glide across the sands at a classic desert pace, guided by Bedouin handlers. From this timeless saddle-height, dunes, cliffs, and inscriptions reveal a slower, storied Wadi Rum.

This experience is available at additional cost and bookable on tour with your Tour Leader. It’s an evocative complement to the 4×4 tour, offering silence, gentle sway, and a photographer’s perspective on light and line.

Share a home-hosted dinner in Wadi Musa to meet locals over warm bread, salads, and slow-cooked specialties—perhaps mansaf or maqluba when available. Join your hosts at table and savor Jordanian hospitality in a relaxed, family setting.

This cultural meal is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Expect generous portions, informal conversation, and insights into daily life beside Petra’s sandstone cliffs—an evening that connects cuisine with community.

Enter the canyon-like gorge to enter the Siq and emerge before El Khazneh, the Treasury, its rose-red facade glowing in the light. Continue along the main thoroughfare past tombs and theatres to the colonnaded street, where Roman-era grandeur meets Nabataean ingenuity amid towering sandstone walls.

Hear how caravan tolls funded Petra’s prosperity and why its rock-cut facades survived for centuries, sheltered within a maze of chasms. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, the city showcases artistry carved straight from living rock and a trading legacy that linked Arabia with the Mediterranean.