The Advanced Program

Day 1 : Amman

Arrive at Queen Alia International airport, meet & assist with visa formalities by Jordan Holidays representative and transfer to the hotel.

 

Overnight in Amman.

 

 

Day 2 : Amman - Jerash - Ajloun

Breakfast and transfer to visit the impressive Greco-Roman city of Jerash one of the best preserved provincial Roman cities in the world with fortification walls, temples, baths, colonnaded streets, theatres, shops and sophisticated water works. The city remains the live evidence of urban civilization spanning over a period of 9000 years including Hellenistic, Drive back to Amman and tour the city including a visit to the Citadel, Roman Theatre and Jordan archaeological museum. End your tour at The Souk, in downtown Jordan a typical middle eastern market where you can buy almost anything ranging from jewellery made of gold and silver, coffee pot charms, handicrafts etc.

 

73 km north of Amman, and a short journey northwest from Jerash, through a beautiful pine-forest and olive groves, brings you to the town of Ajloun, where Hadrian stayed over the winter of 129-30 AD, and built himself an arch well outside the town, leaving unbonded its sides for future city walls to come out to meet it.

 

Here you will find the Castle of Ajloun or Qalaat Errabadh (Arabic for "Hilltop Castle"), from which there is a splendid view westwards into the Jordan Valley. It looks like a Crusader fortress, but it was built by Muslims in 1184-85 as a military fort and buffer to protect the region from invading Crusader forces. It was built on the orders of the local governor, Ezz Eddin Osama bin Munqethe, a nephew of the Ayyubid leader Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi (Saladin), as a direct retort to the new Latin castle of Belvoir (Kawkab El-Hawa) on the opposite side of the valley between the Tiberias and Besan, and as a base to develop and control the iron mines of Ajloun.

 

Return to the hotel and overnight in Amman.

 

Day 3 : Madaba - Mount Nebo - Kerak - Petra

Breakfast and depart for a journey south of Amman to visit the Biblical city of Madaba. Once a Moabite frontier town that continued to remain inhabited during the Nabatean and Roman periods. Visit to the most famous landmark of the town, The Greek Orthodox Church where the 6th century mosaic map of Palestine has been preserved in its original form. With 2 million pieces of colored stones and a full 25 x 5 meters in its original state – most of which can be still seen today. The map depicts hills, valleys, villages and towns as far as the Nile Delta.

 

Next visit Mt Nebo where Mosses is believed to be buried. It is the most revered holy site in Jordan and a place of pilgrimage for Christians. Next visit Karak, an ancient Crusader stronghold, Karak sits 900m above sea level and lies inside the walls of the old city. The city today is home to around 170,000 people and continues to boast a number of restored 19th century Ottoman buildings, restaurants, places to stay etc. The Karak Castle dominates the history of the place undoubtedly, which is a dark maze of stone-vaulted halls and endless passageways.

 

Drive onwards to Petra, one of the new seven wonders of world and stay overnight.

 

Day 4 : Petra

Breakfast and dedicate the full day exploring the magnificent, mysterious, rock-carved red rose city of Petra or sometimes known as “The Lost City” (9 B.C. to 40 A .D.) On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabatean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A .D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataea has provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modeled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture. 

 

The seven-kilometer walk can also be covered in the Nabatean fashion on a “Horses back”. Return to the hotel and overnight.

 

Day 5 : Baptism Site - Dead Sea

Breakfast and drive north towards the Dead Sea, en route visit the Stunning archaeological discoveries between Jordan River and Tell al-Kharrar have identified this area as Biblical “Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan” where John was living when he baptized Christ. St. Elijah's Hill is now the focal point of the Baptism site and is covered with remains of a Byzantine monastery with churches, large baptism pool s and water storage systems. Later in the afternoon, arrive at the Dead Sea Resort and day at leisure to enjoy the unique waters of the Dead Sea.

 

The leading attraction at the Dead Sea is the hot, soothing super - salty seawater, which is four times saltier than normal seawater. This unusually salty, buoyant and mineral - rich water has attracted visitors since ancient times, all of whom have floated effortlessly on their backs while soaking up the water's healthy minerals along with the gently defused rays of the Jordanian sun. Overnight in the Dead Sea.

 

Day 6 : Dead Sea - Amman

Day at leisure until departure to Airport.

 

CONTACT JORDAN HOLIDAYS

OUR ADDRESS

Mecca St., Building #164

947589 Amman 11194 Jordan

CALL US

+962 6 551 6251

+962 79 52 666 33

EMAIL US

info@jordan-holidays.com