Last Updated: May 11, 2026
After several years of European adventure — the Baltic coast, Switzerland, a remarkable river cruise from Amsterdam to Romania — Jordan felt like a genuine leap into a different world altogether. This wasn’t just a new country; it was a different civilization, a different calendar of history, a different orientation entirely. We flew from San Diego to London Heathrow, then onward to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, landing in the early hours of the morning with the desert air already carrying something distinctive. After years on the road in North America and across Europe, we were ready for it.
Arriving in Amman: The St. Regis
We transferred directly from the airport to the St. Regis Amman, arriving at 1:30 in the morning. The hotel is every bit the five-star property its name promises — marble, flowers, impeccable service at an hour when most staff would be sleepwalking through their shifts. A few hours of sleep, then up early for breakfast and straight into Jordan. No lingering. There was too much to see.
Amman: The City of Seven Hills
Amman is built across seven hills — jebels, in Arabic — and has been continuously inhabited since around 7500 BC, making it one of the oldest cities on earth. Known in antiquity as Rabbath Ammon, it was the capital of the Ammonite kingdom, its streets layered with millennia of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman history stacked one on top of another. Today it’s a city of over four million, a commercial hub for manufacturing, textiles and technology. Its distinctive white limestone buildings cascade down hillsides in a skyline unlike anywhere else we’ve seen. Vibrant street markets and excellent coffee shops sit within a short walk of ruins that predate every country most travelers have ever visited.
The markets — souks — are sensory overload in the best possible way. Spices in quantities you’ve never imagined, silver jewelry, textiles, street food, the noise of commerce conducted in several languages simultaneously. We wandered for hours.
Seven Travelers, One Mercedes
Jordan was a pre-cruise excursion before our trip to Egypt. Our touring group numbered just seven — a small, fortunate number for a full-size Mercedes coach. There was room to spread out, to move between windows for better views, to actually hear the guide without straining. Small-group touring changes the entire experience, and Jordan rewarded it.
Jerash: Rome’s Best-Preserved City Outside Italy
Forty-eight kilometers north of Amman, Jerash stopped us cold. Nothing in any photograph prepares you for the scale of it — colonnaded streets stretching into the distance, an oval plaza the size of a city block, a hippodrome where 15,000 Romans once watched chariot races. This is one of the best-preserved Roman cities on earth, and unlike the Forum in Rome or the ruins at Pompeii, it receives a fraction of the visitors those sites do. We had stretches of it nearly to ourselves.
Known in antiquity as Gerasa, Jerash was a city of the Decapolis — the league of ten Hellenistic cities that served as trade and cultural anchors along the eastern Roman frontier. Its position on the ancient King’s Highway, the Bronze Age route linking the Red Sea to Damascus, made it a commercial powerhouse: grains, spices, pearls, goods from Persia, India, and Nabataean Petra all passed through here. The city traces its origins to around 7500 BC at nearby Neolithic sites, but emerged as a proper urban center circa 175 BC under Seleucid King Antiochus IV, later passing through Hasmonean, then Roman hands by 63 BC under Pompey.
Jerash reached its peak under Emperor Trajan — his reign from 98 to 117 AD triggered an extraordinary building campaign. New roads enhanced trade and the wealth that followed funded monumental architecture that has survived nearly two millennia of earthquakes, invasions and abandonment. The city’s population at its height blended Greeks, Romans, Jews, Syrians, and Nabataeans — a cosmopolitan mix reflected in its multilingual inscriptions and referenced in the New Testament as the “region of the Gerasenes.”
The Oval Plaza
The Oval Plaza is the first thing that takes your breath away — a sweeping elliptical forum ringed by an unbroken colonnade of 56 Ionic columns, the paving stones still bearing the wheel ruts of Roman carts. No other Roman city has preserved an oval plaza of this scale. Standing at its center, you feel both small and enormously fortunate to be there.
The Cardo Maximus
From the Oval Plaza, the Cardo Maximus runs north — the main colonnaded street of the city, flanked by hundreds of columns still standing at full height, the original stone roadway intact beneath your feet. Walking it is as close as you can get to walking a living Roman city. The scale of ambition it represents — and the quality of construction that kept it standing through earthquakes that leveled other great cities — is staggering.
The Hippodrome
The Hippodrome seated up to 15,000 spectators for chariot races — the Roman world’s equivalent of a major sports arena. The oval track is still largely intact, its dimensions giving you a visceral sense of the speed and danger involved. Today it occasionally hosts re-enactments, and even standing there empty, it’s easy to imagine the noise and the crowd.
The South Theater
The South Theater could seat 3,000 and hosted plays, music, poetry readings and public speeches. Wealthy local patrons funded sections and had their names carved into dedicatory inscriptions that survive today. The acoustics remain excellent — demonstrated periodically in modern performances that the ancient architects would have expected.
Byzantine rule from the 4th century layered over a dozen churches onto the Roman foundations, some with mosaic floors still partially intact. Then came the Sassanid invasion of 614 AD, the Muslim conquest of 636 AD, Seljuk raids, the Crusaders, the Mamluks — each wave adding another chapter to the city’s story before earthquakes in 749 and 1071 AD did the most lasting structural damage. By the 13th century Jerash lay buried. Nineteenth-century excavations began uncovering it, and the work continues today.
Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative
Our day ended at the Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative, set in a village about 30 kilometers west of Amman in a valley that feels a world away from the city. The cooperative was established to provide rural Jordanian women with income and skills through traditional crafts — weaving, papermaking, ceramics and soap making. Women from the village work here, producing goods that carry real cultural knowledge and are sold to visitors and through fair-trade outlets. Because Michael does ceramics at home, they showed him their glazes, slip casts and pottery work area.
We had a delicious lunch here, surrounded by the work being produced and the quiet pride of the women making it. It was a grounding end to a day otherwise spent among ancient Roman grandeur — a reminder that the living culture of Jordan is as worth your attention as its ruins. The handmade soap and woven textiles we brought home remain some of our favorite souvenirs from the entire trip.
Visitor Information
Amman: Jordan’s capital is served by Queen Alia International Airport, located approximately 35 kilometres south of the city centre. Most major international carriers connect through London, Frankfurt, or Dubai. The downtown area — Al-Balad — is where you’ll find the main souks, the Roman Theater, and the Citadel (Jabal al-Qal’a), which overlooks the city and houses a small but excellent archaeological museum. Amman is very walkable within neighbourhoods but hilly between them — taxis and rideshares (Uber and Careem both operate in the city) are practical for getting between areas. The city is considered one of the safest capitals in the Middle East.
Jerash: Located 48 kilometres north of Amman, approximately one hour by car. The site is typically open daily from around 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM in winter and until 6:00 PM in summer. Admission is included in the Jordan Pass (highly recommended — see below). Without the Jordan Pass, check the current entrance fee at the gate as prices have changed periodically. The archaeological site is large — sturdy footwear is essential. Allow a minimum of three hours; four or more for a thorough visit.
Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative: Located approximately 30 kilometres west of Amman in the Wadi al-Seer valley, roughly 45 minutes by car. The cooperative is open to visitors and welcomes those interested in watching the craft production and purchasing handmade goods. Call or check current hours before visiting as they can vary. A visit pairs naturally with Jerash — Jerash in the morning, cooperative in the afternoon — making a satisfying full-day itinerary.
The Jordan Pass: The Jordan Pass is a pre-purchase tourist card that covers the visa fee on arrival and includes entry to over 40 attractions across Jordan, including Jerash, Petra, and the Dana Biosphere Reserve. For most international visitors, it represents excellent value — the savings on the visa fee alone often cover a significant portion of the pass cost. It must be purchased online before arriving in Jordan and activated at the airport on entry. We strongly recommend it for anyone planning to visit more than one or two sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Jerash considered better preserved than other Roman sites?
Several factors contributed to Jerash’s remarkable preservation. First, the city was gradually abandoned over centuries rather than destroyed suddenly — meaning its structures were left standing rather than deliberately demolished. Second, it was eventually buried under accumulated earth and silt, which protected the lower portions of buildings from weathering and looting. Third, the region’s dry climate is far gentler on stone than northern European or coastal conditions. Finally, the city was off major trade and military routes for much of the medieval period, reducing disturbance. The combination of burial, climate, and relative obscurity preserved what earthquakes hadn’t toppled.
How long should you spend at Jerash?
A minimum of three hours is needed to see the major monuments — the Oval Plaza, Cardo Maximus, Hippodrome, South Theater, and the Temple of Artemis. Four hours allows you to explore more thoroughly, visit the North Theater, and walk the site’s quieter northern sections where crowds are thinner. If you are visiting with a knowledgeable guide, plan for the longer end — good contextual storytelling takes time and rewards patience. Jerash is not a site to rush.
What is the Oval Plaza at Jerash and what makes it unique?
The Oval Plaza is an elliptical public forum ringed by 56 Ionic columns, with the original paving stones still in place — some still bearing the wheel ruts of Roman carts. What makes it unique is both its scale and its shape: no other ancient Roman city has preserved an oval civic plaza of comparable size and completeness. It served as the main public gathering space and as a ceremonial transition point between the city’s entrance and the Cardo Maximus. Standing at its center is one of those rare travel moments where the photographs you have seen fail to prepare you for the reality.
What is the Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative?
The Iraq al-Amir Women’s Cooperative is a social enterprise established to provide economic independence and skills training to women in a rural Jordanian village approximately 30 kilometres west of Amman. Women from the community produce traditional crafts including handwoven textiles, hand-formed ceramics, natural soap, and paper products. Their work preserves traditional Jordanian craft knowledge while generating income for the women and their families. Goods are sold directly to visitors and through fair-trade networks. A visit offers a genuinely meaningful contrast to the grand ancient sites nearby — living culture alongside the historical record.
Is Amman worth spending time in, or is it just a transit point for Petra?
Amman is worth spending at least two days in — and many visitors who rush through it for Petra later wish they had stayed longer. The Citadel offers one of the best viewpoints in any Middle Eastern capital, the Roman Theater in the city centre is extraordinarily well preserved, and the downtown souk is among the most authentic and vibrant markets in the region. The food scene is excellent, the coffee culture is thriving, and the mix of ancient and modern — ruins within walking distance of contemporary restaurants and galleries — is unlike anywhere else we’ve been. Treat Amman as a destination in its own right, not merely a gateway.
How do you get from Amman to Jerash?
The most practical option for visitors is a private car or guided tour, which takes approximately one hour from central Amman and allows flexible timing at the site. Public minibuses run from the North Bus Station (Tabarbour) in Amman to Jerash — a cheaper option that takes slightly longer and involves less flexibility. For most international visitors, booking a half-day or full-day tour that includes Jerash (and optionally the Iraq al-Amir cooperative) through a reputable operator provides the best value in terms of time, context, and convenience.
What is the Jordan Pass and is it worth buying?
The Jordan Pass is a pre-purchase tourist card that covers the Jordanian visa fee on arrival and includes entry to over 40 tourist sites across the country, including Jerash, Petra (with multiple days of access), Wadi Rum, and many others. For most international visitors arriving by air, it represents clear financial value — the visa fee alone covers a significant portion of the pass cost, and the site admissions included would easily exceed the pass price for anyone visiting more than a handful of locations. It must be purchased online before travel at the Jordan Tourism Board website, and it is activated at the airport on arrival. It is genuinely one of the best travel passes available anywhere in the Middle East.
Practical Tips for Visiting Amman and Jerash
Buy the Jordan Pass before you leave home. This is the single most important practical tip for any Jordan trip. It eliminates the visa fee at arrival, covers Jerash, covers Petra (the country’s top attraction), and includes dozens of other sites. It must be purchased before arriving in Jordan. Visit the official Jordan Tourism Board website, choose the pass that matches how many days you want in Petra, and download it to your phone before flying. It will save you both money and time.
Combine Jerash and the Iraq al-Amir cooperative on the same day. The two sites complement each other beautifully — one is about grandeur and antiquity, the other about living tradition and community. Jerash in the morning (arriving by 9:00 AM), cooperative in the early afternoon works well as a logical full-day itinerary from Amman. The cooperative often includes lunch, which makes the transition natural and unhurried.
Hire a licensed guide at Jerash. The site is enormous and visually spectacular even without context — but with a knowledgeable guide explaining the Decapolis trade network, the religious changes from Roman to Byzantine to Islamic use, and the story behind specific structures, it becomes extraordinary. A good Egyptologist-trained or archaeology-background guide hired through a reputable operator is worth every dinar.
Walk the Cardo Maximus from the Oval Plaza northward. The Oval Plaza serves as a natural starting point and orientates you with the city’s layout. Walking the Cardo north takes you progressively deeper into the site, past the Nymphaeum, the Temple of Artemis (one of the most dramatic structures at Jerash), and into the quieter northern sections that most visitors never reach. The experience improves the further you walk.
Ask to see the workshop at the Iraq al-Amir cooperative. The showroom is lovely, but the real experience is in the back — watching women at the looms, at the pottery wheel, cutting soap. Michael’s background in ceramics meant the potters showed us their glazes, slip-casting moulds, and kiln setup in detail that most visitors don’t see. Express genuine interest and curiosity, and the artisans will often respond with warmth and depth that transforms a shopping stop into a real cultural exchange.
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