Introduction
Moody ruins, spectacular desert landscape and a friendly cup of tea. Bible stories, lost cities, Lawrence of Arabia - Jordan has romantic associations up to its eyeballs. It's a country that ought to be awash with tourists, but the Middle East's bad reputation has kept them away in droves. Don't be fooled: Jordan is, on the whole, peaceful.
More than that, it's one of the most welcoming, hospitable countries in the world. Where else could you leave your belongings on the street for hours at a time, and find them there when you get back? Where else do total strangers with nothing to sell invite you into their homes?
Geography
Jordan is bounded to the north by Syria, to the northeast by Iraq, to the east and south by Saudi Arabia and to the west by Israel. It has three distinct geographic zones: the fertile Jordan Valley, which runs down the western side of the country; the East Bank plateau, where most of the main towns are; and the East Bank, a desert which stretches east into Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Jordan is a smallish country shaped like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. An apocryphal story holds that the lumpy eastern border was created by Winston Churchill after a very liquid lunch.
Destination Facts
Capital: Amman
King: Abdullah bin Al-Hussein (Abdullah II)
Prime Minister: Adnan Badran
Government: Constitutional monarchy
Time zone: GMT +2
Area: 89206
Population: 5460000
People: 98% Arab (60% Palestinian, many refugees), Circassians, Chechens, Armenians, Bedouins
Languages: 92% Sunni Muslim, 4% Shiite Muslim, 4% Christian
Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JD)
Major industries: Minerals, petroleum refining, tourism and agriculture
Major Trading Partners: India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, European Union, United States, Iraq
Daylight Saving: From late March to late October
Country Dialing Code: 962
Getting There
The best time to visit Jordan is in spring or autumn, when you can dodge the baking sun of summer and the freezing winds of winter. Although winter can be bitterly cold in most of the country, the Red Sea area and Aqaba are still very pleasant. If you're planning to travel through the rest of the Middle East, try heading north into Turkey around spring, or south into Egypt by autumn. The tourist authorities usually plan festivals (such as the Jerash Festival) for the summer period. The month of Ramadan is a time when visitors should not eat, drink or smoke in public during the day so it's a tricky time to visit. Eid al-Fitr, the great celebration at the end of Ramadan, is a fun time to visit but it's best to bunker down for a few days because public transport is heavily booked and hotel rooms are sometimes hard to find, especially in Aqaba.Note also that most of the excellent ecotourism projects operated in Jordan's Dana, Wadi Mujib and Ajlun nature reserves only operate between April and October.
Getting there and away
Amman has an international airport, with flights from Beirut, Cairo, Damascus and further afield. Departure tax is 5.00 for foreign travellers departing by land, air or sea. Buses travel between Amman and Damascus (about four hours unless there is considerable delay at the border), Baghdad (14 hours), Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh (about 24 hours). There are indirect buses to Jerusalem; for Eilat you'll need to hire a taxi from Aquaba (5.00). You can also catch service taxis from Jordan to Syria and Iraq, or a train from Amman to Damascus (Monday and Thursday). A ferry/bus service runs from Amman to Cairo, or you can get a fast boat between Aqaba and Nuweiba in Sinai.
Getting around
The only domestic air route is between Amman and Aqaba. JETT bus company runs from Amman to Aqaba, the King Hussein Bridge, Petra and Hammamat Ma'in. Private buses run from Amman to Irbid and Aqaba. Minibuses travel between the smaller towns on an irregular service - usually they leave when they're full. Service taxis cover much the same routes. They're more expensive than minibuses, but a lot faster.
Visa:
All foreigners need a visa to enter Jordan. You can get a single-entry visa at the airport or at most border crossings when you arrive, or from consulates in your country. Visas are valid for three months from the date you enter the country but you must register at a police station within one month of arrival. Don't forget to register or you'll be liable to pay a fine of 1.5 for every unregistered day. Avoid registering at Wadi Musa, which is notorious for its red tape. Note that visas of any sort are not available at King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, so don't come this way unless you already have a visa. Multiple-entry visas are not issued on arrival anywhere, and must be obtained in advance. One quirk in the system is that if you arrive in Jordan on a single-entry visa via any border except King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, you can then cross into Israel and the Palestinian Territories via the King Hussein Bridge crossing and then return to Jordan the same way without needing a multiple-entry visa or another single-entry visa. The cost for all nationalities is 10.00 (single entry visa). Keep your passport on you whenever you're near the Israeli border, as there are lots of military checkpoints. Visitors arriving from Aquaba can request a free visa (Aquaba is a special economic zone). The ASEZ visa is valid for one month and there is no need to register with the police. ASEZ visa holders staying longer than one month can only extend the visa in Aquaba. If that sounds like too much of a hassle, you can always get a normal visa in Aquaba for the regular cost. ASEZ visa holders do not pay departure tax.
Weather
Jordan's climate varies dramatically from one end of the country to the other. The Jordan Valley can be incredibly hot in summer, around 40 ° C (104 ° F), while Amman and Petra occasionally get snow in winter. The Plateau area is usually warm and dry, fluctuating between the low 20 ° Cs (low 70 ° Fs) and high 30 ° Cs (high 90 ° Fs), while the desert suffers extremes of temperature - baking dry heat interspersed with freezing winds from central Asia.
Events
Not surprisingly, Jordanian holidays and festivals are mostly Islamic. The big one is Ramadan, a month where everyone fasts between sunup and sunset to conform to the fourth pillar of Islam. If you're in Jordan at this time, be sensitive to the fact that most of the people around you are fasting. Ramadan ends with a huge feast, Eid al-Fitr, where everyone prays together, visits friends, gives presents and lives it up. Eid al-Adah, held around February (though the month changes almost every year), is the other big feast of the year, and marks the time when Muslims should make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Non-religious holidays include Independence Day on 25 May.
Warning
Borders with Israel and Iraq are obvious potential trouble spots. Some travellers have been tempted to use Jordan as an easy route into Iraq - not a good idea.
Moody ruins, spectacular desert landscape and a friendly cup of tea. Bible stories, lost cities, Lawrence of Arabia - Jordan has romantic associations up to its eyeballs. It's a country that ought to be awash with tourists, but the Middle East's bad reputation has kept them away in droves. Don't be fooled: Jordan is, on the whole, peaceful.
More than that, it's one of the most welcoming, hospitable countries in the world. Where else could you leave your belongings on the street for hours at a time, and find them there when you get back? Where else do total strangers with nothing to sell invite you into their homes?
Jordan is bounded to the north by Syria, to the northeast by Iraq, to the east and south by Saudi Arabia and to the west by Israel. It has three distinct geographic zones: the fertile Jordan Valley, which runs down the western side of the country; the East Bank plateau, where most of the main towns are; and the East Bank, a desert which stretches east into Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Jordan is a smallish country shaped like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. An apocryphal story holds that the lumpy eastern border was created by Winston Churchill after a very liquid lunch.
Capital: Amman
King: Abdullah bin Al-Hussein (Abdullah II)
Prime Minister: Adnan Badran
Government: Constitutional monarchy
Time zone: GMT +2
Area: 89206
Population: 5460000
People: 98% Arab (60% Palestinian, many refugees), Circassians, Chechens, Armenians, Bedouins
Languages: 92% Sunni Muslim, 4% Shiite Muslim, 4% Christian
Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JD)
Major industries: Minerals, petroleum refining, tourism and agriculture
Major Trading Partners: India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, European Union, United States, Iraq
Daylight Saving: From late March to late October
Country Dialing Code: 962
The best time to visit Jordan is in spring or autumn, when you can dodge the baking sun of summer and the freezing winds of winter. Although winter can be bitterly cold in most of the country, the Red Sea area and Aqaba are still very pleasant. If you're planning to travel through the rest of the Middle East, try heading north into Turkey around spring, or south into Egypt by autumn. The tourist authorities usually plan festivals (such as the Jerash Festival) for the summer period. The month of Ramadan is a time when visitors should not eat, drink or smoke in public during the day so it's a tricky time to visit. Eid al-Fitr, the great celebration at the end of Ramadan, is a fun time to visit but it's best to bunker down for a few days because public transport is heavily booked and hotel rooms are sometimes hard to find, especially in Aqaba.Note also that most of the excellent ecotourism projects operated in Jordan's Dana, Wadi Mujib and Ajlun nature reserves only operate between April and October.
Amman has an international airport, with flights from Beirut, Cairo, Damascus and further afield. Departure tax is 5.00 for foreign travellers departing by land, air or sea. Buses travel between Amman and Damascus (about four hours unless there is considerable delay at the border), Baghdad (14 hours), Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh (about 24 hours). There are indirect buses to Jerusalem; for Eilat you'll need to hire a taxi from Aquaba (5.00). You can also catch service taxis from Jordan to Syria and Iraq, or a train from Amman to Damascus (Monday and Thursday). A ferry/bus service runs from Amman to Cairo, or you can get a fast boat between Aqaba and Nuweiba in Sinai.
The only domestic air route is between Amman and Aqaba. JETT bus company runs from Amman to Aqaba, the King Hussein Bridge, Petra and Hammamat Ma'in. Private buses run from Amman to Irbid and Aqaba. Minibuses travel between the smaller towns on an irregular service - usually they leave when they're full. Service taxis cover much the same routes. They're more expensive than minibuses, but a lot faster.
All foreigners need a visa to enter Jordan. You can get a single-entry visa at the airport or at most border crossings when you arrive, or from consulates in your country. Visas are valid for three months from the date you enter the country but you must register at a police station within one month of arrival. Don't forget to register or you'll be liable to pay a fine of 1.5 for every unregistered day. Avoid registering at Wadi Musa, which is notorious for its red tape. Note that visas of any sort are not available at King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, so don't come this way unless you already have a visa. Multiple-entry visas are not issued on arrival anywhere, and must be obtained in advance. One quirk in the system is that if you arrive in Jordan on a single-entry visa via any border except King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, you can then cross into Israel and the Palestinian Territories via the King Hussein Bridge crossing and then return to Jordan the same way without needing a multiple-entry visa or another single-entry visa. The cost for all nationalities is 10.00 (single entry visa). Keep your passport on you whenever you're near the Israeli border, as there are lots of military checkpoints. Visitors arriving from Aquaba can request a free visa (Aquaba is a special economic zone). The ASEZ visa is valid for one month and there is no need to register with the police. ASEZ visa holders staying longer than one month can only extend the visa in Aquaba. If that sounds like too much of a hassle, you can always get a normal visa in Aquaba for the regular cost. ASEZ visa holders do not pay departure tax.
Jordan's climate varies dramatically from one end of the country to the other. The Jordan Valley can be incredibly hot in summer, around 40 ° C (104 ° F), while Amman and Petra occasionally get snow in winter. The Plateau area is usually warm and dry, fluctuating between the low 20 ° Cs (low 70 ° Fs) and high 30 ° Cs (high 90 ° Fs), while the desert suffers extremes of temperature - baking dry heat interspersed with freezing winds from central Asia.
Not surprisingly, Jordanian holidays and festivals are mostly Islamic. The big one is Ramadan, a month where everyone fasts between sunup and sunset to conform to the fourth pillar of Islam. If you're in Jordan at this time, be sensitive to the fact that most of the people around you are fasting. Ramadan ends with a huge feast, Eid al-Fitr, where everyone prays together, visits friends, gives presents and lives it up. Eid al-Adah, held around February (though the month changes almost every year), is the other big feast of the year, and marks the time when Muslims should make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Non-religious holidays include Independence Day on 25 May.
Borders with Israel and Iraq are obvious potential trouble spots. Some travellers have been tempted to use Jordan as an easy route into Iraq - not a good idea.
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