Amman Day Trips: Jerash Roman City, Ajloun Castle, the Dead Sea Float, and the Madaba Mosaic Map
The Amman day trip route covers Jerash as the most completely preserved single Roman provincial city in the Middle East, Ajloun Castle as the most dramatically positioned single Ayyubid fortress in Jordan, the Dead Sea as the lowest point on earth, and the Madaba Byzantine mosaic map.
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Jerash: The Most Complete Roman City in the Middle East
Jerash (ancient Gerasa, 50 kilometers north of Amman, 45 minutes by bus), the most completely preserved single Roman provincial city in the Middle East (after Pompeii, the most visited single ancient Roman city outside Italy) with the Oval Forum (the most unusual single Roman elliptical plaza in existence), the Colonnaded Cardo Maximus, the South Theatre (the most frequently used single ancient theatre in Jordan for the annual Jerash Festival), and the Temple of Artemis, is the most architecturally complete single Roman outside-Italy visit.
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Ajloun Castle: The Ayyubid Mountain Fortress
Ajloun Castle (Qalat ar-Rabadh, 70 kilometers northwest of Amman), built by the Ayyubid general Izz al-Din Usama in 1184 to defend against the Crusader castle of Belvoir on the opposite side of the Jordan River in the most dramatically confrontational single ancient military standoff visible from one single hilltop, is the most completely preserved single Ayyubid fortress in Jordan and the most panoramically positioned single medieval castle in the Jordanian highlands.
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Dead Sea: The Lowest Point on Earth
The Dead Sea (430 meters below sea level, the lowest single point on the earth surface, 50 kilometers west of Amman via the most dramatically descending single Jordan road through the Wadi Seer), where the 33% salt concentration (the most saline single large water body in the world) makes human buoyancy the most physically certain single swimming certainty and the black mineral mud the most internationally marketed single natural beauty treatment in the Middle East, is the most universally enjoyable single Jordan day activity regardless of age or fitness.
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Madaba: The Byzantine Mosaic Map City
Madaba (30 kilometers south of Amman), famous for the Madaba Mosaic Map (560 AD, the most ancient single surviving map of the Holy Land in mosaic form, the most archaeologically precise single ancient geographical representation of Jerusalem and Palestine visible in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George), is the most educationally significant single Byzantine heritage site in Jordan and the most historically important single ancient map in the Middle East.
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Mount Nebo: The Moses Memorial
Mount Nebo (15 kilometers northwest of Madaba), the hilltop from which Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death (the most biblically significant single viewpoint in Jordan according to both the Jewish and the Christian traditions), is a pilgrimage site for the most internationally diverse single religious visitor population in Jordan with the Franciscan monastery, the Byzantine mosaic collection, and the most panoramically complete single view of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Jerusalem hills.
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Wadi Rum by Day Trip: The Desert from Amman
The Wadi Rum day trip from Amman (310 kilometers south, 3.5 hours by the JETT bus to Aqaba then the shared taxi to Wadi Rum), while the most logistically demanding single Amman day trip, provides the most dramatically different single landscape experience from the urban Amman hills with the most completely desert-character single Jordan landscape and the most internationally recognized single Jordan film location (Lawrence of Arabia, The Martian, Rogue One) visible in the most panoramically awe-inspiring single Jordanian desert day.
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More in Amman
Amman's Food & Culture: Mansaf by Hand, Palestinian Knafeh & Rome's Best Ruins at Jerash
Amman's Living Culture: Syrian Restaurants, Wild Jordan Café & a Diplomatic Crossroads
Amman Essential: The Citadel with the Temple of Hercules, the Roman Theatre, the Umayyad Palace, Rainbow Street, and the Downtown Medley of Ancient and Modern Jordan
Amman History: The Ammonite Rabbath Ammon, the Hellenistic Philadelphia, the Roman Gerasa, the Byzantine City, the Umayyad Capital, and the Modern Jordanian Capital
