Jordan is the Middle Eastern country most Western travellers approach with the least expectation and leave with the most enthusiasm. It is small (roughly the size of Indiana), almost entirely desert, with very few natural resources — and it contains some of the most extraordinary human history, archaeological sites, and landscape experiences anywhere on Earth.
Petra — The Rose-Red City
No image does Petra justice. The experience of walking the 1.2km Siq — a narrow sandstone canyon barely wide enough for two people to pass — and then emerging into the full facade of Al-Khazneh (the Treasury), 43 metres of carved rock face glowing pink-orange in morning light, is one of those genuinely overwhelming moments that world travel occasionally delivers. The Treasury is the most photographed building in Jordan and possibly the most recognisable archaeological structure after the Giza pyramids. It is also one facade of a city that covers 264 square kilometres — the majority of which has never been fully excavated. What tourists see (the Siq, the Treasury, the Street of Facades, the Great Temple, the Monastery) represents perhaps 15% of a Nabataean metropolis that at its height in the 1st century BC was one of the most important trade cities in the ancient world, controlling the incense and spice routes between Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean.
Wadi Rum — Mars on Earth
Wadi Rum, Jordan's protected desert wilderness reserve, is a landscape of such extreme grandiosity — red sand dunes between rose-coloured granite mountains, arches, and canyons carved by millions of years of wind — that it has been the filming location for The Martian, Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Dune. Bedouin-run camps offer overnight stays in traditional goat-hair tents or (increasingly) transparent dome tents for stargazing. The night sky in Wadi Rum is one of the darkest and most star-dense regularly accessible to tourists anywhere in the world. A minimum of two days is needed; most visitors wish they'd planned for three.
The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea — at 430 metres below sea level, the lowest point on Earth's surface — needs no elaborate description. You float. The water is 34% saline (ten times the ocean); human bodies are simply too buoyant to sink. The experience is genuinely strange and funny and unlike anything else you will do on a trip. The mineral-rich black mud from the Dead Sea floor is applied liberally by most visitors for dubious but enjoyable skincare reasons. The Jordanian side of the Dead Sea is less developed and more authentic than the Israeli side; access roads on the Jordanian shore offer dramatic views across the water to the West Bank hills.
Amman — The Most Underrated Capital in the Arab World
Amman is a city of seven hills (now expanded to well over twenty), built over a series of ancient citadels, Byzantine churches, Roman theatres, and Ottoman stone houses that create an archaeology of continuous habitation extending back 10,000 years. The city today is cosmopolitan, safe, and unexpectedly stylish — the Rainbow Street neighbourhood in Jabal Amman is lined with art galleries, independent bookshops, and restaurants serving food from across the Arab world. The Amman Citadel on Jebel al-Qal'a commands views over the entire city and contains Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad ruins in casual proximity. The city's café culture is strong; a pot of loose-leaf tea with fresh mint in a jabal-top café overlooking the tangled white city below you is one of the very best cheap pleasures the Middle East has to offer.
Practical Notes
Safety: Jordan consistently ranks among the safest countries in the Middle East for tourists and has been politically stable for decades. The country receives over a million Syrian refugees and has developed significant humanitarian infrastructure, which also means visitor facilities and logistics are more developed than the country's size would suggest. The Jordan Pass (from around $70) covers Petra entry and the tourist visa on arrival — essential, given that Petra entry alone costs $50–90 per person.