Jordan private tours and travel 2022 by AlexTravel? Mount Nebo is the crown jewel of Biblical sites in Jordan. According to the Old Testament, this mountain is said to be the place where Moses saw the Promised Land ahead of his death. Today, it’s a spiritual attraction, with some of the country’s best preserved mosaics from the 6th century, a Serpentine Cross, and the famous Moses Memorial Church. Your ticket to the church includes access to Memorial Viewpoint, which has a small museum and views of the Dead Sea and Jerusalem on a clear day. But for more privacy with similar vistas, take a 100-meter walk on the road downhill from Mount Nebo and make a left toward the hilltop. It’s the perfect spot for a picnic lunch. See more info at The Best Jordan Adventures.
Jordan’s largest and most compelling Roman site, the ancient city of Jerash is a must for history buffs. It’s now considered one of the best-preserved sites of Roman architecture outside Italy and visitors can take in its public baths, squares and temples. Colonnaded Street is the city’s impressive main road lined with columns on both sides and paved with the original stones still rutted by the wheels of chariots. This vibrant city in the north of Jordan is surrounded by pine forests and built on the site of an ancient market town once visited by Emperor Hadrian. The city is overlooked by the imposing Ajloun Castle, which has stood on a nearby hillside for nearly 1,000 years. Though damaged by earthquakes and attacked by the Mongol, the city remains surprisingly well preserved, with a small museum and impressive views.
Butting up to the Israel-Jordan border on the extreme eastern edge of the country, the dust-caked conglomeration of small dig sites and uncovered builds known as Al-Maghtas is arguably one of the most important biblical relics to be found on the entire courses of the Jordan River. Tagged by UNESCO and slowly becoming a high-profile pilgrimage site for Christians (think papal visits aplenty in the last couple of decades), it’s thought to have been the original site of the baptism of Jesus. Apart from that, the spot displays an interesting array of Jewish and Christian religious remains, Roman constructions, and Orthodox monasteries from the ages of the Ottomans and Mamluks.
Head to the southern region of Jordan, and you’ll be treated to one of the most spectacular landscapes across the globe: Wadi Rum. Also known as the Valley of the Moon, this sandstone and granite rock valley is an otherworldly experience, with towering cliffs, massive dunes, swirling archways, and caverns. It served as the set for much of the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia and was tagged a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Adventure lovers, eat your heart out: The Zalabia Bedouin, a cultural group that lives in the area, have transformed the Wadi Rum into an ecotourism playground. You can ride camels or spirited Arabian horses through the area, strap on a harness and go rock climbing up the sandstone mountains, hike through canyons, and kick up sand on ATV tours. See additional info at https://alextravel.world/.
Knafeh, like the stone and sand of the city of Amman itself, has a deliciously rich history (and taste). Delirious with calories, this butter-soaked streetside snack presses cheese between syrup-soaked angel hair and then sprinkles it with rosewater and pistachios. Can I let you in on a secret? Those serene photos of people floating, reading newspapers in the Dead Sea don’t tell the whole story! Swimming in the Dead Sea is great fun but it’s anything but serene. The salt levels threaten to flip you over at a moment’s notice like a drunken weevil in an oil slick. But it is good fun. Saltier than a salty sea dog, the Dead Sea is also the lowest point of earth. It reaches between Jordan and Israel and it just so happens to be achingly beautiful.