History & Culture

We’ll begin our journey from Amman and drive to Jerash, the “Pompeii of the East”, perhaps the best preserved of the provincial Roman towns. Around its colonnaded main street, you’ll see the Cardo, South Theatre, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian’s Arch, the Artemis Temple and the Nymphaeum. The city’s 14 churches date from the Byzantine Era and are filled with fine mosaics. We’ll continue westward to Saladin’s 12th century Arab castle, Qalaat al Rabad (Ajloun), one of the region’s finest examples of military architecture, then return to Amman for the night.

After breakfast we will head out on the road, visiting Madaba, Mount Nebo and Kerak (King’s Highway) as we make our way to Petra. The first city you will come upon is Madaba, “the City of Mosaics”. Madaba’s chief attraction, in the contemporary Greek Orthodox Church of St. Georg, is a wonderfully vivid, sixth-century Byzantine mosaic map showing Jerusalem and other holy sites. Ten minutes to the west is the most revered site in Jordan: Mount Nebo, the memorial of Moses, the presumed site of the prophet’s death and burial place. From here we will proceed south to Kerak, some 150 km south of Amman. It is famous for its crusader fortress, filled with underground galleries, rooms and secret passageways and its thick defensive walls pierced by narrow arrow slits where crusader archers held out bravely but vainly for over 100 years. After the tour, we will proceed to Petra and check in for the night. (B)

Following breakfast, we will drive to Petra, a wonder of the ancient world, and enjoy a guided tour of its many treasures. Petra was carved into the rose-red Sharah Mountains by the Nabateans and lost to civilization until re-discovered in 1812. You will walk through the unforgettable Siq, a narrow and winding fissure between the cliffs, to reach the imposing Treasury, the Roman Theater, the Courts, Qasr Bint Pharaoun, the Temple of the Winged Lion and other monuments. After exploring this wonder, we will stay overnight in Petra. (B)

After breakfast, we will drive into Wadi Rum and enjoy a moonscape terrain of ancient river beds, wind-sculpted mountains, vast desert vistas and smooth, pastel-coloured sands. You will meet long skirted legionnaires offering cardamom-spiced coffee at the “Beau Geste” outpost. Enjoy a 2-hour jeep tour of this oasis — home to the film “Lawrence of Arabia.” A truly out of this world experience! We’ll transfer to the Dead Sea for our overnight. (B)

Today, after breakfast, we will visit the baptismal site believed to be the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus, and return to our Dead Sea hotel for the night. (B)

After breakfast we’ll get you to the airport in plenty of time for your flight. (B)