Jordan holidays

Jordan is the most-traveller-friendly country in the Middle East — a stable, English-speaking, infrastructure-rich destination with three world-class headline experiences: Petra (the rose-red Nabatean city carved into sandstone, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, requiring 2-3 days to do justice); Wadi Rum desert (Lawrence of Arabia's "Valley of the Moon", with Bedouin camp overnights and 4x4 expeditions through canyon-and-dune landscapes); and the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth at -430m below sea level, the famous floating-in-mineral-water experience). Add Jerash (one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities anywhere), the Madaba mosaic map, Mount Nebo (Moses' view of the Promised Land), and the Red Sea diving at Aqaba, and Jordan rewards 8-12 day trips.

The classic Jordan trip: Amman arrival (2 nights — citadel, downtown souq, jubilation of the Roman amphitheatre) → Jerash Roman ruins day-trip → Madaba and Mount Nebo (1 night) → Dead Sea (1-2 nights at the Movenpick, Kempinski or Hilton) → King's Highway via Kerak Crusader castle and Dana Biosphere Reserve (1 night at the Feynan Ecolodge or Dana Guesthouse) → Petra (2-3 nights — the Siq entrance walk, the Treasury, the High Place of Sacrifice trek, the Monastery hike, the Petra by Night candle-lit experience) → Wadi Rum (1-2 nights in a Bedouin camp — sunset over the dunes, stargazing, 4x4 desert expedition) → optional Aqaba Red Sea finish (2 nights for diving).