Things To Do In Amman

Things to do in Amman

Amman is built across a series of hills, jabals, with the old downtown in the valley at their centre, and is the most relaxed capital in the region.

Climb to the Citadel, on the highest hill, for the columns of the Temple of Hercules, the Umayyad Palace and the best views over the city. Below it, the Roman Theatre, carved into the hillside in the second century, seats six thousand; climb to the top row. The Jordan Museum displays fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 'Ain Ghazal statues, among the oldest human figures ever made, about nine thousand years old.

Walk downtown's souqs, from the gold souq to the spice and vegetable markets, and eat falafel at Hashem, a downtown institution, and kunafa, warm cheese pastry, from Habibah. The blue-domed King Abdullah I Mosque welcomes visitors outside prayer times, with robes provided.

In the evening, Rainbow Street, in Jabal Amman, fills with people in its cafés, bars and rooftops.

Jerash, about forty minutes north, is one of the best-preserved Roman cities anywhere, with colonnaded streets, theatres and a hippodrome. The Dead Sea, Madaba's mosaic map and Mount Nebo are all within an hour.