Jordan Journey – Petra, Wadi Rum & The Hejaz Railway

Today is devoted to discovering Amman, a capital whose character is shaped by striking contrasts – one of the Middle East’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, yet also a dynamic modern centre spread across a series of hills and valleys. Layers of Amman’s past are still visible in everyday life, from classical ruins and early Islamic remains to bustling markets and contemporary neighbourhoods.

Your day will start with a visit to Citadel Hill (Jabal al-Qal’a), the historic high point of the city and the site of ancient settlement over many centuries. From here, the broad views across Amman help place the city’s geography in context, while the remains on the hill speak to Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods. Continue to the Roman Theatre, one of Amman’s most recognisable landmarks, built into the hillside in the 2nd century and a vivid reminder of the city’s Roman identity as Philadelphia.

Your day also includes lunch and time in the souk, with the chance to experience the energy of downtown Amman and, conditions permitting, a visit to the livestock market for a glimpse of the city’s commercial rhythms beyond the usual visitor trail. Next, we’ll enjoy a visit to the Jordan Museum for a valuable introduction to the country’s wider story, linking Jordan’s archaeological heritage with the civilisations that have crossed and shaped this landscape. 

There is also an optional visit to the Royal Automobile Museum, a fascinating collection that traces Jordan’s modern history through vehicles associated with the Hashemite royal family, from early motor cars to official state vehicles and sporting models. It offers an unexpected and engaging perspective on the country’s 20th-century development and royal life.

After returning to the hotel in the late afternoon, your evening is at leisure. 

Overnight: InterContinental Amman, Amman (B, L)

This morning after breakfast, we’ll board our private coach and take an excursion to Jerash, one of Jordan’s most impressive archaeological sites. 

Often called the “Pompeii of the Middle East”, it’s widely regarded as one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world, and presents evidence of human settlement dating back over 6,500 years from Neolithic times. However, its golden age was during the Roman period after General Pompey conquered it in 63 BC, when it flourished as a major trading hub under Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic rule until largely destroyed by an earthquake in 749 AD. Buried under sand for centuries, it was rediscovered in the 19th century and has been extensively excavated/restored since then.

A visit here feels like stepping back 2,000 years into a functioning Roman city. Unlike many ruins that feel fragmented, Jerash is sprawling, cohesive, and immersive – paved streets, public squares, temples, theatres, baths, fountains, and gates all in remarkable condition. 

On arrival, you’ll enjoy a guided tour through the heart of the site. Walk the colonnaded street, the grand axis of the city, where the worn paving stones still bear traces of carts and centuries of use. Visit the Roman Forum, famed for its unusual oval form and elegant ring of columns, a striking ceremonial space designed to impress. Continue to the Hippodrome, once used for chariot racing and public entertainments, and ascend to the Temple of Zeus, dramatically set above the ruins and offering a fine perspective over Jerash’s streets, plazas and theatres.

What makes Jerash so compelling is not only its monumental architecture, but the way it reveals the structure of daily life in a Roman frontier city, from sacred precincts and public gathering places to the ordered streets that connected them. 

Return to Amman later in the afternoon, where the rest of the day and your evening will be at leisure. 

Overnight: InterContinental Amman, Amman (B, L)

After breakfast and checking out, we’ll begin the day with a privately chartered train for a journey south on the main line from Amman to Al Jizah, enjoying lunch on board – conditions permitting, we should be under steam the whole way! This is a memorable experience not only for rail enthusiasts, but for anyone interested in the changing landscapes beyond the capital, as the city gives way to open plains and desert horizons. At Al Jizah, we’ll transfer to our private coach and continue to Wadi Musa, the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Petra. 

After checking into our hotel just a stone’s throw from the entrance to the Petra site, we’ll have time to relax before strolling to the nearby unique Nabatean Cave Bar, often billed as the oldest bar in the world, for dinner. It’s literally built inside a 2,000-year-old Nabataean tomb carved directly into the rose-red sandstone rock, just like the famous facades in Petra itself – a fitting prelude to the days ahead. 

For those that would like a sneak peak, there is the opportunity to attend Petra by Night to see it lit by candlelight. We’ll have access to the convenient buggies to get you into Petra, saving yourself for the beautiful walk the next day. 

Overnight: Movenpick Petra, Petra (B, L, D)

Today is devoted to Petra, Jordan’s most important archaeological site and one of the greatest historic cities of the ancient world and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Carved into rose-red sandstone by the Nabataeans and flourishing as a caravan capital between Arabia, Egypt and the Levant, Petra controlled key trade routes and became a sophisticated desert city of monuments, tombs, temples and water engineering. UNESCO describes it as a Nabataean caravan-city at a major crossroads, half-built and half-carved into the rock, where eastern traditions and Hellenistic influences meet – a masterpiece of rock-cut architecture, engineering, and mystery that feels like stepping into a lost world.

A full day and a good level of fitness is required to appreciate Petra properly. The site is vast, and the experience is built around walking through it, not simply arriving at a single monument. The 2km approach through the Siq, the dramatic narrow gorge leading into the city, is an essential part of the visit and one of the reasons Petra has such an impact. The dramatic reveal of The Treasury, a 40m-high facade carved into the rock around the 1st century AD, from the Siq is an unforgettable experience – especially at sunrise when the light hits the pink stone.

Other must-sees are the Street of Facades and Royal Tombs – rows of elaborate tomb entrances carved high into the cliffs, plus grander ones like the Urn Tomb, Silk Tomb, and Corinthian Tomb with sweeping views; the 2nd-century Roman-style amphitheater seating up to 8,000, carved directly into the rock; and The Monastery (Ad-Deir), Petra’s second-most famous site, and larger than the Treasury at 45m high and 50m wide. Reaching it requires a steep 800-step hike but it’s worth every step and an experience that will stay with you forever. We’ll enjoy lunch at one of the Bedouin-style restaurants on the site. 

You should be prepared for a long day on foot over uneven stone paths, with some gradients, many steps and extended distances between major monuments. It’s very manageable at a steady pace, with regular stops, but it’s important to approach the day as a rewarding archaeological immersion rather than a short sightseeing stop. 

Dinner tonight is at leisure. You can relax in the hotel or enjoy one of the nearby local restaurants serving Jordanian specialities like Mansaf (lamb with fermented yogurt sauce), Maqluba (upside-down chicken, rice and vegetable pot), and the beloved cheese pastry dessert, Knafeh. 

Overnight: Movenpick Petra, Petra (B, L)

Today is free for you to use your 2-day pass and further explore Petra at your own pace, allowing time to return to favourite monuments or to discover quieter corners of this vast Nabataean city – an ideal opportunity to spend more time revisiting the Siq and Treasury in the softer morning light and exploring the Street of Facades, the theatre and the colonnaded city with greater depth. After a day of walking yesterday, you might like to grab a ride on one of the electric buggies that will take you down through The Siq to The Treasury.

Those wishing for a gentler day may like to visit the on-site Petra Museum located across the road from our hotel – an excellent modern museum near the visitor centre that helps place the site in context through artefacts, interpretation and displays on Nabataean life, trade and water engineering. 

Later in the afternoon, we’ll regroup and make the short journey to Little Petra for dinner, where the quieter Nabataean site of  offers a fitting companion to the grandeur of Petra itself, and a chance to reflect on the scale and ingenuity of this remarkable civilisation.

Overnight: Movenpick Petra, Petra (B, D)

This morning after breakfast and check out, our private coach will take us further south to Wadi Rum, the evocative and extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage protected desert landscape of Jordan – the land of Lawrence of Arabia. On the way, we’ll take a unique train ride on the Al Hejaz line, a rare opportunity to experience a railway that is deeply tied to the history of the region and to the romance of desert travel.

Following a light lunch, we’ll continue deeper into the desert known as the “Valley of the Moon” and transfer to 4×4 vehicles at Wadi Rum Village located at the entrance to the protected desert area for an excursion through its valleys, sandstone formations and sweeping dunes en route to our accommodation. This desert wilderness, shaped by wind and time, is renowned for its monumental rock landscapes, shifting colours and silence. The drive offers an introduction to the terrain that has long supported Bedouin life, with opportunities to appreciate both the grandeur and subtlety of this remarkable environment. Many movies have been shot here, including “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Dune”, “The Martian”, and some of the “Star Wars” films – you may recognise some of the landscape. 

We’ll arrive at our comfortable desert camp in the early evening in time for dinner and storytelling, an atmospheric way to experience the desert after sunset, when the temperature softens and the landscape takes on a different character. 

Overnight: Mazayen Rum Camp, Wadi Rum (B, L, D)

This morning after breakfast and checkout, we’ll return to Wadi Rum Village to meet our coach and commence our journey back north, pausing on the way at Ma’an Railway Station for a visit to the Founding King’s Residence. Closely associated with the early years of modern Jordan and the Arab Revolt period, the station and its surrounding railway buildings offer a meaningful link between the Hejaz line and the political history that shaped the Hashemite kingdom. 

From here, we’ll travel on to Kerak Castle, one of the Levant’s most imposing medieval fortresses. Dramatically positioned above the town, the castle was a major stronghold during the Crusader period and later adapted by successive rulers, reflecting Jordan’s long history as a corridor between Arabia, the Holy Land and the wider eastern Mediterranean. Its massive walls, vaulted chambers and commanding outlook help bring that strategic importance to life. 

The last leg of today’s journey will take us to the Dead Sea, one of the planet’s most extraordinary natural wonders – a landlocked salt lake famous as the lowest point on Earth’s surface at about 430 metres below sea level.

Upon arrival, we’ll check in to our resort hotel and enjoy dinner at the hotel restaurant. 

Overnight: Movenpick Dead Sea Jordan, The Dead Sea (B, L, D)

This morning after breakfast, we’ll travel by private coach the short distance to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, widely recognised as the location where John the Baptist baptised Jesus Christ. Located on the east bank of the Jordan River, this UNESCO World Heritage site holds deep spiritual and historical importance, with archaeological remains including churches, baptismal pools and monastic structures that speak to centuries of devotion and pilgrimage. You’ll have plenty of time here to explore this sacred site.

From here, we’ll continue to Madaba, a historic market town long known for its Christian heritage and remarkable mosaic tradition and home to some of Jordan’s most important Byzantine and Umayyad-era mosaic works, including the celebrated Madaba Map on the floor in the Church of Saint George. Created in the mid-6th century AD, this incredible piece is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in the world, and the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land. 

Keeping with our Christian history theme, we’ll also visit The Moses Memorial Church, built atop nearby Mount Nebo and where, according to the Bible, Moses climbed to view the Promised Land before dying on the site. The original church, built to venerate Moses, dates back to the 4th century AD but fell into ruin in the 16th century. Franciscan archaeologists excavated and preserved it In the 20th century, and it now forms part of an active Franciscan monastery that cares for the site. Inside, the highlight is the incredibly well-preserved Byzantine mosaics from around 530 AD, some of the best in Jordan. There’s also a small Museum on site, but the real draw for many is the panoramic viewpoint from the summit – on clear days, you can see across the Jordan Valley to Jericho, parts of the Dead Sea, and even distant glimpses toward Jerusalem and Bethlehem – the very view Moses had.

Our last stop this morning is a visit to the Queen Noor Foundation mosaic workshop, where traditional mosaic craftsmanship is carried out by people employed as part of the National Handicrafts Development Project, an initiative dedicated to reviving traditional crafts for income generation, especially for women. The incredible work of this foundation adds another perspective to Madaba’s cultural life beyond its archaeological treasures.

We’ll return to the hotel in the early afternoon, in time for lunch at leisure and an afternoon of relaxation – you might like to head down to the private beach, cake yourself in the famous healing mud and float in the Dead Sea – a memorable experience.

Tonight, we’ll gather for a celebratory farewell dinner at a special restaurant. For those booked on an early morning flight tomorrow, late night airport transfers will be arranged.

Overnight: Movenpick Dead Sea Jordan, The Dead Sea (B, D)

Our tour ends after breakfast this morning. Your airport transfer to Amman Airport will be arranged to align with your departure flight time and post-tour nights can be arranged if needed. Many international flights don’t depart Jordan until late in the evening, so you may get to enjoy another full day at the resort! Please let us know if you will require a late checkout.

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