Jordan is a versatile country which is ideal for an adventurous tour. The historic capital Amman, the breathtaking wonder of the world Petra, the lunar desert Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea and diving hotspot Aqaba; Jordan has something to offer for everyone. In addition, it has a rich culture, good climate and super nice inhabitants.
We visited Jordan in early May, traveling from the north to the south of the country in 12 days. Below we have recorded our travel planning and experiences from day to day. In our other blogs about Jordan you can also read all about our full travel route and the best hotels in Jordan.
Day-to-day itinerary
We had a direct flight from Brussels Zaventem to Amman. Amman is the capital of Jordan and the starting point of our tour. After we landed we picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel in the center of Amman. After this long travel day, we had something to eat near the hotel and took it easy.
For our first full day in Jordan, we had a busy schedule in Amman. We first visited the Citadel of Amman. At these ancient ruins you will find, among other things, the Temple of Hercules and a beautiful view of the city. Next we visited the ancient Amphitheater and walked through the center. Here you will find many shops and a number of nice markets. We also visited the Blue Mosque.
In the evening we visited Rainbow Street. Here you will find many nice restaurants and bars. An absolute must to visit in the evening. We ate some delicious Jordanian dishes, which were also very affordable.
The next day we got up in time to leave Amman again. From Amman we drove about 50 km to Jerash. Jerash is also called the Rome of Jordan. This is because it has the largest and best-preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy. In a few hours we walked past all the beautiful sights and then had lunch at the restaurant near the entrance to the ruins. We left Jerash again in the middle of the afternoon. This time towards our hotel at the Dead Sea.
We spent the next two days at our hotel on the Dead Sea. Here we enjoyed the different pools and the good weather. Even at the beginning of May, the 36 degrees were already tapped here. We also spent a morning at the Dead Sea itself, which was directly accessible from our hotel.
Completely relaxed after our days at the Dead Sea, we left for the south of Jordan. We had the choice of three different routes, we chose the option that runs through the middle of the country. This is the longest route, but also definitely the most beautiful. This route is also called the Kings Highway. We left early and only arrived in Wadi Musa in the evening; the base for world wonder Petra. Along the way we stopped at Mount Nebo, Madaba and Al-Karak Castle, and drove through the Grand Canyon.
We wrote a separate blog with the exact route including all stops of the Kings Highway.
This day we got up early again, because we wanted to get the most out of our visit to one of the seven wonders of the world. Petra is much more than just the Treasury which is known from all the photos. It is a gigantic ancient city with houses, tombs and temples carved out of the rock. Petra is truly breathtakingly beautiful and in our opinion the highlight of our trip through Jordan. Because Petra is large, it is smart to make a plan in advance and choose a route that you want to walk. We walked a lot of kilometers that day and climbed at least 20 stairs.
One of the other things in Jordan that we were really looking forward to was our visit to the Wadi Rum desert. This desert not only has a lot of sand but also beautiful rocks, and has been the setting for various films many times. On our 8th day in Jordan we departed from Wadi Musa to Wadi Rum. Here we slept in a so-called bubble room in the middle of the desert; a great experience with fantastic views. In the evening when the sun had set, a beautiful starry sky became visible due to the lack of any light pollution. We even booked a star gazing tour where we took a closer look at the stars and moon through three different telescopes.
Besides spending the night in Wadi Rum, a 4×4 jeep tour through this desert is also recommended. We opted for the 4-hour tour where we sat on the back of our private guide’s jeep. He took us to the most beautiful places in the desert and the views along the way were truly amazing.
After these two days in the desert it was time to leave for our last stop in Jordan. This was Aqaba; the one and only seaside resort in all of Jordan located at the tip of the Red Sea.
The next two days we spent again at the pool and beach with good weather. Please note that Jordan is an Islamic country, and that you (as a woman) cannot go to the public beach in a bikini. We stayed in a bay just outside Aqaba called Grand Tala Bay. There are several resorts on this bay where tourists are allowed to sunbathe and swim in a bikini. In addition, we decided to dive, because Aqaba is also known as a good place for diving.
On our last day in Jordan we left early from Aqaba back to Amman, this time on route 15; a fairly new highway. This brought us back to the starting point of our tour, the airport of Amman, in about 4 hours.
