Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Jerash was a suprise - a huge sprawling Roman city that bettered Pompeii I think. Petra was equally awe inspiring in size and quantity of rock chiselled buildings. Floating in the Dead Sea covered in mud was unbelievable and although snorkeling in the Red Sea was great, the views of the port not so.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Zuhair was informative, helpful and added in extras such as seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and Little Petra. He took us to good restaurants of varying price ranges (note some were more cafes/diners or street side eating places but equally as good). He was always concerned for the welfare of the group and our happiness and couldnt really be faulted. He guided us to restaurants in the evening (unlike a previous review) and was always willing to accomodate any needs.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Food can be cheaper than in the guide notes (anything from 2JD to 20JD). Lunches however were anything from 12-3pm(or non existant due to the distances travelled and availability of places) so take snacks (or rolls from the hotel breakfast buffet) to stave off hunger. Use mosquito repellant at the Dead Sea - I forgot and suffered for it!Nights and mornings are a bit chilly (in Oct) eg 13c so do take a fleece. NB: The 4x4 drive into the desert is at Desi, not Wadi Rum (if reading a guide book) but does not detract from the overall fun experience and amazing views of mountains eroded like dripping candles.

Suggestions

This is a good trip, made fun by the group members and informative tour guide. A few tweaks to the itinery would improve it further as one night at the Dead Sea and in Aqaba didnt feel enough to enjoy the surroundings, nor the quick visit to Madaba. The quality of the hotels was good (fair for the 5 nights in Amman/2 in Petra, excellent at the Dead Sea and good in Aqaba) and overall good value for money.

Most Inspirational Moment

 My personal highlights were meeting such wonderful people, snorkelling in the Red Sea, floating in the Dead Sea (and enjoying the luxury of the hotel) Petra at night, Bethany beyond the Jordan and sleeping outside in Wadi Rum. The perfect holiday with diverse and exciting adventures. It was inspirational to meet and connect with Jordanian people. People must continue to visit Jordan because it is a beautiful and fascinating country. I always felt safe and welcome.  

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and charmed the group with stories and historical information at just the right level. The guide would often stop to collect interesting food for us, including on one occasion lemon leaves picked from a tree which we had in a refreshing tea. The guide bent over backwards to ensure that everyone’s holiday was perfect and added extra trips and excursions at short notice.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pack hiking boots.

Suggestions

Go - you will have a wonderful time!

Most Inspirational Moment

Petra was just awe inspiring. Spending two days there was fantastic as you got to go off the tourist trail to some of the less well visited parts of the site. However, the most inspiring aspect, was not seeing the Treasury for the first time, but getting up the climb to see the Monastery at the top, which I think is equally stunning, and with fewer people.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Zuhair was very passionate about his country and people which was great. He really made an effort to improve the itinerary from the base itineray from Exodus, including a trip to the see the new National Museum of Jordan, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are now located, a trip to see tha Baptism Site on the banks of the River Jordan, and a night in the camp in Wadi Rum, rather than a quick drive by. I think these certainly added to my enjoyment of the tour. The only downside was that he did abandon us when not on the tour, so we had to sort out our own evening entertainment.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Definitely take your own guide book as you will find yourself having to find your own locations for eating in the evening in Amman, the hotel is nice, but just a typical Westernised hotel quite far out from town. It will also help with some of the background to the larger archaeological sites like Jerash and Petra. Check the itinerary before you go as well, the extra trips our guide had arranged really made a difference to the tour, i.e the National Museum of Jordan to see the new location for the Dead Sea Scrolls, the baptism site on the River Jordan and the extra night in the desert, rather than 3 nights in the Petra Hotel.Be prepared for a bit of walking in Petra, it is not recommended to use the horses, camels or mules as the owners can be quite aggressive when it comes to payment, walking is certainly manageable as long as you have a reasonable level of fitness.When changing money, don't be palmed off with an 50 notes. Nobody in Jordan seems to have any change, even in the Amman hotel, amazingly.  Aqaba is seriously hot, (well in June anyway). It was almost unbearable and felt about 10 degrees hotter than anywhere else in Jordan.  Also you won't be able to to go on the snorkelling boat trip unless there are enough of you on the trip, we didn't have enough so a few people had to make do with snorkelling off one of the private beaches.

Suggestions

I really felt that this was a good trip, and with a few minor improvements could be a fantastic awe inspiring trip. Definitely go for it, the Jordanian people are really friendly and the sites are actually quite quiet and not the tourist traps I feared.

Most Inspirational Moment

In Petra we had a delightful walk above the siq for a view down onto the treasury.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our guide was not really interested in sharing his country, it was just a day job for him. I guess this is what happens when so many people travel the same route.

Advice for Potential Travellers

You may be taken to many tourist reaturants for extended lunches. See if you can get a picnic ahead of time and take the lunchtime to explore instead.

Most Inspirational Moment

The most inspirational moment was walking into the candlelit Siq at Petra on a moonlit night. Silent masses of "worshippers" walked the length of the Siq and emerged to see The Treasury in all its glory. An unforgettable moment!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Ali Abed was firstly a gentleman and obviously a well-read guy. Apart from looking after our needs he gave us a good insight into Jordan, his country. He spoke very good English and kept us amused at all times especially on the four hour drive on the last day.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Being an Islamic country some of the hotels we stayed in were "dry" but there were nearby liquor shops if you were desperate for drink!Do beware that the trek to High Places in Petra is not everybody's cup of tea especially if you have no head for heights or have got weak knees. Do read the guide books carefully. 

Suggestions

There is so much to see and do in Jordan I wished that this was a longer trip lasting 21 days or maybe combined with Jerusalem.

Most Inspirational Moment

My personal highlight of the trip was the 2 days in Petra and the walk of the High Places in Petra, with the most amazing view of the Treasury.

Thoughts on Group Leader

The group leader was very friendly, knowledgable and helpfull.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Jordan is a great place to visit and prides itself in being the Switzerland of the Middle East, its a must see.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking though the Siq in Petra and suddenly the Treasury coming into view out of nowhere has to be top of the list along with making it to the top of the steps to see the Monastery. Reading the Jordan Post whilst floating in the Dead Sea, although standing up with the Jordan Post in the Dead Sea less successful! The camel ride, even if the getting up and down is the terrifying!

Thoughts on Group Leader

We had a very knowledgably leader, always making the extra effort to look after the group.

Suggestions

Excellent trip, would recommend Jordan as an unforgettable

Most Inspirational Moment

Petra was amazing in the number of things to see and the area to go off and explore.  This was my fifth 'wonder of the modern world' and was definitely the most 'wondrous' so far.

Thoughts on Group Leader

A principled and interesting person who had our trip well organised and planned out. 

Advice for Potential Travellers

I picked this trip from the many Jordan holidays I looked at because it allowed 2 full days in Petra where others only allowed one or even half a day.  This was definitely a good decision and three days in Petra would have been even better.    Coverage of many things on the itinerary was disappointing. The "full days exploration" of Amman promised in the trip notes turned out to be three hours visiting two sites and then being dropped back at the hotel and told not to go out by ourselves.  They did not take us to see the Dead Sea scrolls as these had been moved form the museum at the site we visited to a different museum in Amman.  At the caves of Iraq al Amir with the aramaic inscriptions we were only given 5 minutes to take photos from the road side and then drove on.  At Um Qais the "fantastic views of The sea of Galilee" were a dusty haze where you could imagine a sea might be.  At "Madaba, 'The City of Mosaics'" only one mosaic was included in the itinerary, though we chose to pay about £2 extra to visit another site.  At Wadi Rum the itinerary said we would "take a four wheel drive vehicle far into the area for an exciting desert adventure".  We were booked a two hour trip that lasted one hour forty minutes including stops next to the Bedouin tourist shops, so we didn't see much more than was visible from the bus on the main road.  There was a strong wind blowing away from shore on the Red Sea so it was only safe to snorkel holding onto a rope from the back of the boat and the only person who tried to swim further had to be rescued.    The "Petra by Night" option consisted of atmospheric walks in and out along the siq by candle light and two solo performances of Bedouin music and was well worth doing.  This only runs about three nights a week so make sure your group leader is on the ball, as ours was, and gets this organised in time.   Little Petra is like 1% of Petra that's then been scaled down, so in hindsight was a waste of time and I would have preferred to spend the time seeing more of the main site.  We were eventually given this tour for free as compensation for the awful hotel in Petra, but it was originally offered for 13JD/US$15.  Since the entrance seemed to be free and it was a ten minute drive up the hill from the town, you could probably see it for a fraction of the price by paying a few JD between 4 people in a taxi.   Most of the tourist restaurants want you to take the fixed meal of a similar salad selection every time followed by a hot dish.  This is typically quite expensive at £10-£12 (before drinks) and gets repetitive, especially if you are vegetarian so only have the salad part.  Try to find places where you can just order what you want form the menu.  Alternatively for snacks try one of the smaller local places.  Most look a bit grubby, but in one place I got two falafel and houmous wraps and a soft drink for under a pound.   Don't miss trying the lemon with fresh mint cold drink which is so delicious I ended up having it with most meals!

Suggestions

The Jordanians seem a very friendly and helpful people.  They were obviously keeping an eye on people and told me when I had wandered off the trail at one point, when they thought I was staying at the high places too late, and when I was missing seeing something good.  People were always happy to give me information whenever I asked even though they were there to sell me something from their stall or get me to go on their boat trip, and when I said thank you always responded with a heartfelt "welcome".  When I asked the stall holder at the high place of sacrifice whether that was the end of the trail she even went bounding over the rocks to show me where to see the best view.  A nice country.