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The view from the walls of Ajloun Castle over wooded hills and a valley, Jordan

Sample journey · 6–8 days

The Jordan beyond Petra: Roman cities, green hills and desert castles

Amman, Umm Qais, Pella, Ajloun, Umm el-Jimal, Azraq & Qusayr Amra

Photo: Own Enezat / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Almost every journey through Jordan heads south, to Petra, Wadi Rum and the Red Sea. This one goes north and east, where both landscape and history are entirely different. In the north the hills are green, carpeted with red anemones in spring, and among the olive groves stand the ruins of the Decapolis, a league of ten Greek and Roman cities: Gadara, today Umm Qais, looking out over the Sea of Galilee, and Pella, lived in without a break for thousands of years. In the Ajloun hills there are forests of oak and strawberry trees, and a castle built to resist the Crusaders.

Then the road drops into the eastern desert: Umm el-Jimal, a whole town of black basalt, the Azraq oasis with its wetland and a fort where T. E. Lawrence spent a winter, and the Umayyad desert castles, among them Qusayr Amra with some of the earliest surviving frescoes of the Islamic era. The journey is short and suits those who have already been to Jordan or love it for its history: with a driver and guide, and stays that are simple but welcoming, a village guesthouse, a cabin in a nature reserve and a hotel in the oasis.

The route

The journey

  1. Amman
  2. Umm Qais (Gadara)
  3. Pella
  4. Ajloun forest & castle
  5. Umm el-Jimal
  6. Azraq
  7. Qusayr Amra & Qasr Kharana
  8. Amman
  1. The domed building of the Umayyad palace on Amman's Citadel, with the city's houses beyond

    01Days 1–2 · Amman

    A citadel above the seven hills

    A first night in Amman, and in the morning the Citadel hill, with the whole city of white houses spread below. Here, among the columns of the Roman Temple of Hercules and the remains of a Byzantine church, stands the domed entrance hall of the Umayyad palace, a good introduction, since at the end of this journey you'll meet the same dynasty's desert castles. Below is the Roman theatre, and in the old-town lanes, falafel, knafeh and tea with sage. With a guide, we talk about what lies ahead: why there are so many Greek and Roman cities in the north, who the Umayyads were and how caravans used the desert routes for thousands of years. In the afternoon we drive north, about an hour and a half to the hills of Irbid.

  2. A red anemone in a spring field near Irbid, northern Jordan

    02Days 2–4 · Umm Qais & Pella

    A black theatre above the lake

    Two nights in the north at a guesthouse near Umm Qais. Ancient Gadara stands on the edge of a ridge: a black basalt theatre, a colonnaded street and Ottoman-era village houses of the same stone. From the hill there's a view you won't find anywhere else in Jordan: the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights and the Yarmouk gorge. Sunset here is the quietest hour of the journey. The next day we drop into the Jordan Valley to Pella, inhabited from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, so that a Bronze Age temple, Roman baths and Byzantine churches are layered on a single hill. In spring red anemones scatter the fields around, and lunch with a view over the valley, with local fish or olives, is unhurried. In the evening, back to the hills.

  3. The stone walls of Ajloun Castle and a valley with a village beneath cloud

    03Days 4–5 · Ajloun

    Oaks, strawberry trees and Saladin's castle

    About an hour south lie the Ajloun hills, Jordan's greenest corner. One night in a cabin in a nature reserve, among oaks, pistachios and strawberry trees with their red, peeling bark. With a local guide we walk one of the trails between villages, from a couple of hours to half a day as you like, stopping at village women's workshops where olive-oil soap is made or biscuits are baked. In the afternoon, Ajloun Castle, built in the late twelfth century by one of Saladin's commanders to guard the roads against the Crusaders: from its walls the whole Jordan Valley lies below, and on a clear day the distant hills beyond. In the evening the reserve is quiet, often with nothing but the wind in the oaks.

  4. 04Days 5–7 · Umm el-Jimal & Azraq

    A black town and an oasis

    About two hours east the landscape changes: the green gives way to flat desert strewn with black basalt. Umm el-Jimal is a town where Nabataeans, Romans, Byzantines and Umayyads lived for more than six centuries; houses, churches and water cisterns are built of the same black stone, and some stand two storeys high. There are few visitors, so you can walk the streets quietly with a guide. Then on to Azraq for two nights in the oasis. In the basalt fort that guarded the desert road, T. E. Lawrence spent the winter of 1917–18. In the Azraq Wetland Reserve, boardwalks lead among reeds and pools where migrating birds stop, especially in spring and winter. Nearby, in the Shaumari reserve, Arabian oryx returned to the wild live on.

  5. Amman's hills and the Roman theatre seen from the Citadel

    05Days 7–8 · Qusayr Amra, Qasr Kharana & Amman

    A caliph's bathhouse in the desert

    On the way back to Amman, two Umayyad desert castles. Qusayr Amra, a small eighth-century bathhouse and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, looks modest from outside, but inside, frescoes cover the walls and ceilings: hunting scenes, musicians, everyday work and a dome painted with constellations, one of the oldest known depictions of the night sky on a dome. With a guide to explain what each scene tells, an hour passes unnoticed. A little further is Qasr Kharana, a massive two-storey building in the middle of an empty plain whose purpose is still debated: caravan stop, meeting place or fort? In the afternoon, about an hour's drive to Amman and a last evening in the city. The next day, the flight home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Sunset at Umm Qais

    A basalt theatre and a view over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.

  2. 02

    The Ajloun woods

    Trails among oaks and villages, and a castle that guarded the roads against the Crusaders.

  3. 03

    Black Umm el-Jimal

    A whole basalt town with hardly another visitor.

  4. 04

    The frescoes of Qusayr Amra

    Hunting, music and a starry dome in a desert bathhouse.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • With Petra and Wadi Rum

    First time in Jordan? After this journey it's natural to continue south along the King's Highway to Petra and Wadi Rum, for about two weeks in all.

  • More on foot

    In the northern hills you can walk for several days from village to village with a local guide, staying in family guesthouses.

  • By season

    In March and April the north is greenest, anemones are in flower and birds fill the Azraq wetland; autumn is warm and clear. In summer the eastern desert is very hot, so we shorten that part then.

  • With Jerash

    Jerash, the grandest of the Decapolis cities, is right next to Ajloun, and half a day there fits easily on the way.

Practical considerations

  • The best times are spring (roughly March to May) and autumn (usually October to November). In winter the northern hills can be cold and wet, and in summer the eastern desert is very hot.
  • Some places lie close to Jordan's borders, so we check the latest travel advice before you go and plan the route accordingly.
  • The journey is planned with a driver and guide: desert roads are empty and many sites have little signage or explanation. Opening hours at museums and archaeological sites change, so we check them before you travel.
  • Modest dress is worn in villages and at holy sites, and we visit homes and village workshops with a local guide and on the hosts' terms.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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