In the city
The Citadel & Roman Theatre
Amman from the top of its oldest hill. The Temple of Hercules, the Umayyad Palace and the Byzantine ruins sit together on one site, with the Roman Theatre below still hosting live shows.
Amman · Jordan
Travel
& Stay
Coming in for a session? The night is a few hours. The country is the rest of the trip. Here is what we would tell a friend flying in, with the drive from Amman on each one.
Worth The Drive
Out Of The City
In the city
Rainbow Street & Downtown
Cafés, record shops and murals up on Rainbow, then down into the old souks for falafel, shawarma and kunafa. Best done on foot, late afternoon into the evening.
≈ 1 hr
The Dead Sea
The lowest point on earth, 400 metres below sea level. You float without trying. Go for the afternoon, stay for the sunset, and do not shave that morning.
≈ 1 hr
Jerash
One of the best preserved Roman cities anywhere. Colonnaded streets, two theatres and an oval forum you can walk straight through. Half a day, easy.
≈ 3 hrs
Petra
Through the Siq until the Treasury opens up in front of you. Wear real shoes, the site is far bigger than the one photo everyone knows. Petra by Night runs on selected evenings, check before you book.
≈ 4 hrs
Wadi Rum
Red sand, black mountains and no light pollution. Sleep in a Bedouin camp, eat zarb cooked under the ground, and see more stars than you thought were up there.
≈ 4 hrs · or 1 hr by air
Aqaba & The Red Sea
Jordan’s only coastline, and the reason to keep going once you are already at Wadi Rum. The two sit about an hour apart, so the desert and the sea fit into the same weekend. The reef starts a few metres off the beach, close enough to snorkel without a boat, and the wrecks further out are what the divers come down for. It stays warm through the winter, when Amman does not. Drive it in four hours, or fly it in under one and keep the day.
After Dark
The Night
Amman starts late and finishes later. Rooftops while there is still light, the hill once there is not, and downtown for whatever is left of it.
Rooftops
Abdali and Sweifieh have the highest ones. Sunset is the hour.
Jabal Al Weibdeh
Small bars, galleries and stairwells, on the hill above downtown. Where the night goes once the rooftops empty.
The 3am Plate
Downtown does not close. Shawarma, hummus and a chair on the pavement until it gets light.