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Best of Jordan | Itinerary in Jordan

Best Of Jordan

OVERVIEW PROGRAMME:

Duration:	8 day
	An 8-day itinerary taking in the highlights of Jordan.
Highlights:	Amman, Mt.Nebo, Madaba, and Kerak, Petra, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea

Day one:

ARRIVE AMMAN

Arrive at Queen Alia International Airport. You will be met and transferred to your hotel, Amman International Hotel. Pre check-in will be arranged so that you can go directly to your room and luggage will follow immediately.

Buffet dinner at your hotel in Amman.

Overnight:

Four Seasons Amman

Day Two:

AMMAN

Begin the day with a city tour of Amman, including stops at the Citadel, the Archaeological Museum, the Roman Theatre, the Folklore Museum, and the Royal Automobile Museum, King Hussein's private car collection.

The capital of Jordan, Amman, is known in history as Rabbath-Ammon and in Greco-Roman times as Philadelphia. High above the city, at the ancient Citadel, study the traces of Amman's many lives: the regal columns of a roman temple in silhouette against the sky, the elegant capitals of a Byzantine church, endlessly inventive carvings in the Umayyad Palace, fascinating displays in the Archaeological Museum, and digs and ruins everywhere you step. At the foot of the Citadel, take a seat in the Roman Theatre, a deep-sided bowl carved into the hill and still used for cultural events.

After that to the Greco-Roman city of Jerash (around one hour drive north of Amman). Second only to Petra in tourist appeal, the ancient city of Jerash is remarkable for its long chain of human occupation. Here at a well-watered site in the hills of Gilead, remains from Neolithic times have been found, as well as Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad and others. Jerash's golden age, however, arrived with Roman rule. Jerash was a member of the Decapolis, a dynamic commercial league of ten Greco-Roman Cities. Today it is acknowledged as one of the best-preserved province cities of the Roman Empire.

When Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash in 129 AD, it was already thriving. To honour its guest, the city raised a triumphal arch. Today you can walk beneath the imposing south gate and then make your way up the 'Street of Columns' � the Roman road running 600 metres north from the Oval Plaza. As you step over the tracks of chariot wheels, still visible in the paving stones, imagine prosperous citizens window-shopping beneath a covered sidewalk.

Overnight:

Four Seasons Amman

Day Three:

AMMAN- MT. NEBO - PETRA

After breakfast, you will drive to Mount Nebo for a visit (around one hour drive).

Mount Nebo is the mountain where Moses was allowed to see the Holy Land but not allowed to enter it. Nowadays the mountain is a memorial site. Here you will find the "Church of Moses", built by the first Christians. Ever since the first days of Christianity this mountain has been a holy place and a destination for pilgrimage. Like Moses, you can have a great view over Jordan, the Dead Sea and Israel. When the weather is clear, you should even be able to see Jerusalem, which is about 60 kilometers away.

Continue to Madaba (15 minutes� drive from Mount Nebo). South of Amman, Madaba, the "City of Mosaics", stands perched on an archaeological site with more than 4,000 years of history buried beneath it. The quality and quantity of mosaic flooring has made Madaba one of the most prominent cities in the world for mosaics. St. George's Church houses the world famous mosaic floor depicting a large mosaic map of Palestine. Centrally located on this mosaic floor is a detailed map of Jerusalem as it was during the sixth century AD. At the Church of the Apostles, at the southern entrance of the city, is a mosaic floor attributed to the craftsman Salamanios, depicting the sea, with the central figure of a woman encircled with a selection of creatures, vegetation and an inscription.

After lunch at a local restaurant in Madaba., continue to the city of Kerak to visit the Crusader's castle that was built here overlooking a valley. Afterwards proceed to Petra.

Arrive Petra and check in to your hotel.spa.

Overnight:

Moevenpick Petra

Day Four:

PETRA

Start your tour of Petra with a horse ride from the main gate to the entrance of the old city (around 800 metres). The ancient city of Petra was built from 800 BC to 100 AD by Nabetean Arabs. In this era Petra was a fortress, carved out of craggy rocks in an area which was virtually inaccessible. In the first and second century, after the Romans took over, the city reached the peak of its fame. Petra covers an area of about 100 square kilometres where over 800 monuments can be found. When shipping slowly displaced caravan routes, the city's importance gradually dwindled; it fell into disuse and was lost to the world until 1812, when it was re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Nowadays Petra is Jordan's number one tourist attraction, known as the "rose-red city half as old as time". The Khazneh (the Treasury) even starred in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Buffet lunch at Basin restaurant inside the site of Petra. Back to your hotel in Petra and rest of day free at leisure.

Overnight:

Moevenpick Petra

Day Five:
PETRA - WADI RUM - PETRA	This morning visit Little Petra. Afterwards drive to the Valley of the Moon, the spectacular desert of Wadi Rum. Arrive Wadi Rum Visitors Center and pick up your 4x4 car with driver for a two hour trip through the desert. Otherwise known as Valley of the Moon, the landscape of Wadi Rum with its immensity, colour and awe-inspiring shapes creates an almost supernatural atmosphere. This was the setting for the film Lawrence of Arabia, and the actual location where T.E. Lawrence set his camp. His book "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" was named after the seven natural columns varying in height located en route to Wadi Rum. Bedouin camps are evident in the Wadi, which is still home to a number of Bedouin families who welcome visitors with the hospitality and generosity that Bedouins are so famous for. Explore the desert with a one of our 4x4 vehicle, or overnight in a real Bedouin tent, in the middle of the desert. Back to your vehicle and transfer to your hotel in Petra.
Overnight:	Moevenpick Petra

Day Six:

PETRA - BAPTISM SITE - DEAD SEA

Buffet breakfast at your hotel in Petra.

After breakfast check out from hotel and luggage will be stored at your vehicles. Board your vehicle and drive via the Desert Highway to the place where Jesus was baptized � Bethany Beyond or Baptism site (around 4 hours drive).

The excavations conducted at Bethany in Jordan have uncovered a first century settlement with plastered pools and water systems that were used almost certainly for mass baptisms, and a fifth to sixth century Byzantine settlement with churches, a monastery, and other structures most probably catering to religious pilgrims.

A survey made about the site has documented an ancient sacred pilgrimage route that linked Jerusalem, the Jordan River, Bethany, "beyond the Jordan" as it is clearly mentioned in the Gospels to separate it from the area "within" the Jordan that is Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and Mount Nebo.

John the Baptist started his mission in the land of modern Jordan, it was here that he baptised Jesus, and it was also here that his life ended. He was arrested by Herod Antipas, imprisoned in the fortress of Machareus (modern Mukawir) and beheaded upon the request of Salome, Herod Antipas' step daughter (Mark, 6:17-29).

At 400 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is infinite in what it has to offer. Ever since the days of Herod the Great, people have flocked to the Dead Sea in search of its curative secrets. Due to high annual temperatures, low humidity and high atmospheric pressure, the air is extremely oxygenated, and the high content of oxygen and magnesium in the air make breathing a lot easier. With the highest content of minerals and salts in the world, the Dead Sea water possesses anti-inflammatory properties, and the dark mud found on the shores have been used for over 2,000 years for therapeutic purposes.

Overnight:

Dead Sea Hotel

Day Seven:
DEAD SEA	Day at leisure to swim or use the spa.
Overnight:	Dead Sea Hotel

Day Eight:
DEAD SEA - DEPART AMMAN	After breakfast transfer to Queen Alia International Airport for your departure flight. The drive from the Dead Sea Hotel to the airport will take around 45 minutes.