Amman tours and excursions

All of the luxury hotels and a number of the budget and backpacker haunts have links with travel agents and can arrange guided tours of Amman by private car or group tours by bus. This also applies to cultural tours to historic sites like Jerash, the desert castles, Jesus Christ's baptism site and Petra, and diving trips to the Red Sea. Good operators include Abercrombie & Kent Jordan and Jordan Circle Tours.

There is no shortage of sights around the capital. Famed for its mosaic map of the Middle East, Maddaba is a short drive from Amman, as is Mount Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land before dying and being buried in an unmarked grave. Another short drive away is Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where Jesus was baptised by John. North of Amman, the remains of the Roman Decapolis cities of Jerash and Umm Quais are worth visiting while the desert castles of the Eastern Desert (including Lawrence of Arabia's headquarters at Azraq) can be seen on a day's drive. Brochures with more information are available online from the Jordan Tourism Board.