8 Day Jordan Vacation Package — Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea

After the long flight from Australia, your journey begins gently — a smooth welcome and time to settle in.

• Met on arrival at Queen Alia International Airport, with assistance through customs and immigration
• Private transfer to your Amman hotel and check-in
• Rest of the day at leisure to recover; your guide confirms tomorrow's pick-up time

Overnight: Amman ·
Meals: None

Step straight into Jordan's ancient world at one of the best-preserved Roman cities anywhere, then a crusader-era castle in the hills.

• Jerash — the 'Pompeii of the East', exploring the colonnaded Cardo, the South Theatre, the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Artemis and the Nymphaeum, plus 14 Byzantine-era churches with fine mosaics
• Ajloun — the 12th-century Arab castle of Saladin, Qalaat al Rabad, one of the finest examples of military architecture
• Return drive to your Amman hotel

Overnight: Amman ·
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ·

Visits: Jerash and Ajloun

Get to know the capital, where a modern blue-domed mosque, Roman ruins and a lively downtown sit side by side.

• King Abdullah Mosque — completed in 1989 as a memorial by the late King Hussein to his grandfather; its blue dome holds up to 7,000 worshippers
• Amman Citadel — 132 metres above the city centre, with the ruins of the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad Palace
• Roman Amphitheatre — dating from the early second century AD
• Wander downtown Amman's markets and city centre before returning to your hotel

Overnight: Amman ·
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ·
Visits: King Abdullah Mosque, Amman Citadel, Roman Amphitheatre

Travel the 5,000-year-old King's Highway, one of the Holy Land's most memorable drives, with two remarkable stops before reaching Petra.

• Madaba — the 'City of Mosaics', home to the vivid sixth-century Byzantine mosaic map of Jerusalem in the Greek Orthodox Church of St George
• Mount Nebo — Jordan's most revered site, the memorial of Moses and presumed place of his death and burial, where Byzantine Christians built a church later expanded into a vast complex
• Continue to Petra for check-in and overnight

Overnight: Petra ·

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ·

Visits: Madaba and Mt Nebo

The day you've flown around the world for — walking the Siq until the Treasury emerges from the rock, then a whole lost city beyond it.

• Enter the 'rose-red' city on foot and by horseback through the Siq, a winding canyon road
• Arrive at the Treasury, Petra's most beautiful monument, carved straight from the mountainside
• Discover soaring temples, elaborate royal tombs, a theatre, burial chambers and ancient water channels
• Afternoon at leisure to explore further or relax at your hotel
• Optional: Petra by Night — the rock city lit by more than 1,000 candles as the aura of the ancient Nabataean trading empire comes to life

Overnight: Petra ·

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ·

Visits: Petra ·
Optional: Petra by Night, US$45 per person (Sunday to Thursday)

A quieter Nabataean site in the morning, then the landscape changes completely as you head into the desert of Lawrence of Arabia.

• Little Petra (Siq Al-Barid) — an important feature of Beida, where the Nabataean king once hosted the Feast of Drink; see a cave with the remains of a grape-vine fresco (evidence Beida was a wine-producing area) and the sophisticated irrigation system of channels, rock-carved reservoirs and dams
• Drive to Wadi Rum — a moonscape of ancient river beds, wind-sculpted mountains, vast desert vistas and smooth, pastel-coloured sands, where long-skirted legionnaires offer cardamom-spiced coffee at the 'Beau Geste' outpost
• 2-hour 4WD jeep tour through this oasis, home to the film Lawrence of Arabia — a truly out-of-this-world experience
• Overnight at a Wadi Rum camp, with dinner included

Overnight: Wadi Rum camp ·

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner ·

Visits: Little Petra, 4WD drive in Wadi Rum

One last look at the desert before the trip's most surreal experience — floating effortlessly at the lowest point on earth.

• Morning taking in more of Wadi Rum's ancient river beds, wind-sculpted mountains, vast desert vistas and pastel-coloured sands
• Continue to the Dead Sea, check in to your hotel and enjoy a group lunch
• Set between Jordan and Israel, this salty marvel sits around 430 metres below sea level, at the lowest point on earth
• With salt levels around four times those of most oceans — plus renowned curative and therapeutic minerals — you'll float effortlessly
• Rest of the day at leisure to enjoy the Dead Sea however you like

Overnight: Dead Sea ·

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch ·

Visits: Dead Sea

An easy final morning before your onward journey home.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Private transfer from the Dead Sea to Queen Alia International Airport for departure

Meals: Breakfast