Archaeological Jordan Tour with Wadi Rum and Dead Sea
On this guided historical and cultural tour of Jordan for over 50s travellers, you can visit Petra, fantastic Roman remains, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea and and the mosaics of Madaba. In addition to visiting some of the country’s best-known sites, you will be joined by an expert historian tour manager to help you get the most from your holiday. Spend a day at the extraordinary ancient city of Petra – a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its breathtaking buildings carved out of the rock face. Visit the protected area of Wadi Rum, famous for its rock carvings, art and inscriptions, and stay overnight in a ‘martian’ tent. See the 6th century mosaic map of the Holy Land in Madaba, the ‘City of Mosaics’, and visit the site where archaeologists now believe Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist.
During your tour provides you will stay at three different hotels in the capital of Amman, Petra, and on the shores of the extraordinary Dead Sea, plus spend a night in the state-of-the-art ‘martian’ tents in the extraordinary desert landscape of Wadi Rum.
Your Tour Includes
TRAVEL
Return flights and transfers
Included travel insurance
ACCOMMODATION
8 nights in hotels
Hotel porterage
Expert Host
EXPERIENCES
Tour Manager
Tour of Amman citadel
Visit to Jerash
Tour three of the desert castles
Visit Mount Nebo, Madaba and Kerak
Guided full-day tour of Petra
Visit to Wadi Rum with overnight stay in the Martian tents on site
Visit to Lot’s Cave
Visit to Bethany
Experience the Dead Sea independently
FOOD & DRINK
Hosted welcome drinks reception
13 meals: 8 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners
Day 1 UK-Amman
Fly to Amman, arriving in the evening. Transfer to the 4-star Al Qasr Metropole Hotel (3Q) for a three-night stay.
Day 2 Amman and Jerash
Tour the city of Amman, visiting the Citadel – site of ancient Rabbath-Ammon and home to the remains of the 8th century Ummayad Palace with its impressive buildings, substantial gateway, audience hall, chambers and and colonnaded street. Next, continue to the magnificent Roman Theatre nearby – a remnant of ancient Philadelphia. Once housing up to 6,000 spectators the theatre was built during the second century AD and is still in use today. Afterwards, travel to Jerash – an ancient city occupied by the Romans from 63AD. Its fine Roman sites includes a Forum, two theatres, a hippodrome and the ‘Street of Columns’.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Lunch
Day 3 Umm Al-Jimal and Desert Castles
Head north to Amm El-Jimal with its remains of some 150 Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic buildings.
Afterwards, look forward to visiting the remains of three Desert Castles. The imposing Qasr el-Kharaneh castle was constructed in 711AD, but is believed to have been built on an earlier, possibly Roman site. Qasr Amra castle was originally probably built as a bath house around the same time, but is of particular note by virtue of its interior frescos portraying life at that time. Finally, the Azraq castle of Qala’at al-Azraq is known for its association with TE Lawrence – immortalised in the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 4 Mount Nebo-Madaba-Kerak-Petra
Travel to Mount Nebo, where Moses glimpsed the Holy Land and is believed to be buried. After enjoying fine views over Jordan continue to Madaba, the ‘City of Mosaics’, with its fine selection of Byzantine mosaics. See the 6th-century map of the Holy Land and Jerusalem that once contained some two million pieces. The town is also home to other impressive mosaics including a 6th century mosaic dedicated to the twelve apostles in the Church of the Apostles.
Next you’ll continue to Kerak to see the restored crusader fortress. Building of this impressive castle began around 1140 and included barracks, kitchens, a Crusader church, prison and more.
After your visit, travel to Petra, where you stay two nights at the 5-star Movenpick Petra Resort Hotel (4Q) in 2021 or the 4-star Petra Guest House
managed by Crown Plaza (3Q) in 2022.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Dinner
Day 5 Petra
Enjoy a full-day walking tour around Petra, one of the world’s archaeological treasures, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This extraordinary ancient city carved out of the rock was built by the Nabatean people between 800 BC and 200 AD in a canyon entered through a narrow gorge. Virtually abandoned by the 7th century, Petra was ‘lost’ ‘until 1812, when it was rediscovered. Discover some of Petra’s monuments and buildings which include a theatre, royal tombs, colonnaded street and the astonishing Treasury. This evening look forward to a lecture at your hotel on ‘Nabatean Life’ when you can learn more about the people who created this unique city.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Dinner
Day 6 Petra-Wadi Rum
Drive to Wadi Rum – a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site, known as ‘Moon Valley’ by virtue of its extraordinary desert landscape which includes gorges, cliffs, caverns and more. It’s also home to some 25,000 prehistoric rock carvings and 20,000 inscriptions, plus archaeological evidence that points to the area having been inhabited for some 12,000 years.
Take in the atmosphere and vistas of this impressive landscape, as you stay overnight in a ‘Martian tent’ at the Sun City Camp (3Q) in the desert. Designed as a dome, these comfortable tents with their multiple windows offer the opportunity to enjoy star-gazing from the comfort of your bed! Sun City Camp lies in the heart of Wadi Rum with far reaching views of its unique landscape.
Meals Included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner
Day 7 Bethany – Dead Sea
Depart from your camp and drive to the Jordan Valley where you will visit Lot’s Cave at Mount Sodom where Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt. The Mount is composed chiefly of salts and dotted with caves, one of which is believed to be where Lot and his family sheltered as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Next continue to Bethany where excavations which started in 1996 have uncovered remains of what are believed to be baptismal pools and churches, plus a Byzantine Church and Basilica, and a ‘cave church’. Modern-day archaeologists and scholars now consider these to be the sites where John the Baptist lived and baptised, and where Jesus was baptised.
Afterwards, continue to the Dead Sea where you will stay for two nights at the 5-star Movenpick Dead Sea Resort and Spa (4Q) in 2021 and the 5-star Dead Sea Crowne Plaza Resort (4Q) in 2022. The Dead Sea is landlocked and its evaporating waters leave a rich legacy of salts and minerals. The high salinity of the waters makes swimming extremely difficult, but watch out for people ‘floating’ on the water!
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 8 Dead Sea
Today is at leisure to enjoy the Dead Sea. At 400 metres below sea level it is the earth’s lowest point on dry land and has a high concentration of salts, making it possible to float.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 9 Dead Sea-Amman-UK
Travel to Amman airport for your return flight and VIP door-to-door travel service.
Meals Included: Breakfast
