My Itinerary for Jordan

I always find it so mind-blowing how quickly time passes—I swear it was just yesterday I entered the contest to win a trip to Jordan with Bestway Tours & Safaris, Visit Jordan and Royal Jordanian airlines, but the time has already come to leave! Tomorrow I depart on my one week journey through Jordan. I’ll be hitting Amman, Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and finally, the Dead Sea on a culinary tour of Jordan. Here are some of my highlights of what I’ll be doing each day.

Day 1 (March 4): Arrival in Amman
I have this day to myself so I’m hoping to head to Rainbow Street to walk around and get an idea of my surroundings, and maybe adjust a bit to the seven hour time change.

Day 2 (March 5): Amman 
Today I’ll be visiting Al Salt to visit the historical museum, Ein Plaza, Madafat al Khalili and Al Khader to see a historical church. I’ll then be having lunch with a local family and heading to Jerash to visit the well-preserved city of the Roman Empire including the temples, theaters, plazas, etc. My day will end with another culinary highlight—a local dinner with wine tasting at Zumot Winery.

Day 3 (March 6): Amman 
My day will begin by heading down to the famous Hasham Restaurant which has been claimed by many for having the best falafel and hummus in the city. After a very Middle-Eastern breakfast, I’ll head to the Citadel, the Roman Amphitheater and the spice market, with a stop to taste kanafeh at Habibah Sweets. Kanafeh is a Levantine cheese pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, and I’ll get a chance to see how it’s made while I’m there.

After some sweets I’ll head to one of Amman’s oldest neighbourhoods—Jabal Al Weibdeh where I’ll have a cook and dine experience at Beit Sitti. Before I cook my 4-course meal, I’ll go to the vegetable market and learn how to bargain and pick the right produce for the meal. After this I’ll probably be in a food coma, so some rest at the hotel will be in need before I head out for another culinary extravaganza at Sufra Restaurant.

Day 4 (March 7): Amman and Petra 
Today I’ll head off to Bethany to visit its Baptism sites and on route I’ll stop at Mount Nebo to see where Moses is reported to be buried. Next I’ll stop at Madaba—the city of mosaics to see the oldest known mosaic map of the holy land. Lunch will take place at Haret Jdoudna restaurant—a popular spot for locals, and then I’ll be off to Petra, the Jewel of Jordan and the Middle East where I’ll visit Petra Kitchen for another cook and dine experience. I’ll learn to cook a full Jordanian meal! (By this point in the trip I’ll probably need to take out my stretchy pants from all the food).

Day 5 (March 8): Petra and Wadi Rum 
Petra was a lost world for five centuries and rediscovered in 1812. I’ll enter Petra by horseback (yeehaw!) and visit the Treasury which was made famous in an Indiana Jones movie. After visiting the historical site I’ll head off for a buffet lunch at Basin Restaurant which is located inside the site of Petra.

In the afternoon, I’ll head to Wadi Rum—one of the locations that Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in. Here is where I’ll get to try a traditional Bedouin (Arab semi-nomadic group) meal. The meal is cooked under the desert sand. This night I’ll get to stay in a camp in the desert!

Day 6 (March 9): Wadi Rum, Dead Sea & Amman 
You can’t visit a desert without a camel ride, so I’ll get a chance to do that this morning before heading off to the Dead Sea for a float, and a chance to try the “magic” mud that comes from it. In the late evening of this day I head back to Amman to take my flight home. 🙁

It’s going to be a short, but busy trip, and I may grow two sizes too big from all the food, but I’m so excited to experience a country that I’ve never had the opportunity to experience yet! Follow along while I’m there on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

All photos provided from Visit Jordan. 

Want to book this tour for yourself or another tour with Bestway Tours & Safaris? Use this promo code for a discount: JOC16/LM