Tastes of Jordan, Classic Gastronomy Tour

Hotels & restaurants

HOTELS

House Boutique Suites – Amman
This luxury boutique hotel is situated at the heart of Amman, within walking distance from the hustle and bustle of the city, from shopping streets to government centres. It offers a variety of spacious and comfortable suites that are equipped to cater to your needs ranging from studios to the opulent Royal Suite that boasts a lounge with access to a private balcony, fully equipped kitchen and three bedrooms. Other amenities include an outdoor pool and a poolside bar, plus a lounge, a fitness room and a convenience store.

Hayat Zaman – Petra
On the city outskirts, this relaxed hotel is set in complex of stone buildings featuring exposed stone bricks, with the simply furnished rooms offer modern amenities and sitting areas, The suites offer living rooms with balconies or terraces and mountain or pool views. There’s a relaxed restaurant that gives an ‘Arabian’ atmosphere to dining serving rich local cuisine prepared with seasonal ingredients. Other amenities include a hammam, an outdoor pool and fitness centre.

Wadi Rum Sun City Camp
In the red-rock desert of Wadi Rum, this quirky complex of ‘Martian’ domes and Bedouin tents provides an unforgettable desert experience, although ‘tents’ hardly describers this luxurious accommodation accurately. The simply furnished Bedouin tents with rock-formation views provide en suite bathrooms, fans and terraces; family tents have 2nd bedrooms, sofa beds and shaded terraces. The geodesic (Martian) domes add air-conditioning and minibars.

Dining at Sun City Camp is an experience in itself. The chefs hand pick the freshest of ingredients to take you on a journey through the culinary heritage of Wadi Rum. Each night they offer “Zarb” a traditional dish known in the region and a Sun City Camp special. Whole lamb, chicken, rice and vegetables are slow cooked under the desert ground for hours, offering a rich, tender, and smoky flavour.

Daimeh Restaurant – Amman
It is an eatery experience at the heart of Jordanian and Mediterranean cooking, offering fresh and locally sourced produce that celebrates the timeless traditions of food. The social dining experience supports the community women of Al Karma Kitchen, empowering female chefs who rely on home cooking for a living.

Hashem Restaurant – Amman
a legendary eatery, more than 50 years old, is so popular with locals and visitors that there is stiff competition for tables, many of which overflow into the alleyway. You will have falafel, hummus, fuul (fava bean paste), and glasses of scalding hot mint tea. After that, you will have Konafa / soft white cheese topped with pastry.

Places & attractions

PLACES YOU VISIT

Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan and a fascinating city of contrasts – a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley where today almost half of Jordan’s population live. Visiting highlights include the fascinating Roman Theatre and Nymphaeum, the Folklore Museum and the enchanting Citadel which has stood since the ancient times of the Ammonites. The oldest part of Amman is the old Gold Souq with its many bazaars which provides almost endless choices for dining, shopping and souvenir hunting.

As Salt
This is an ancient salt trading city and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. Built on three hills, with unique yellow sandstone it is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem and its significance as an Ottoman Empire trading hub is reflected in its Ottoman architecture. The early-20th-century Abu Jaber mansion, now the Historic Old Salt Museum, has Italian frescoed ceilings. An Ottoman mosque overlooks Hammam Street with its food market. The Archaeological Museum focuses on finds from the Chalcolithic era (4500–3300 B.C.) to the 16th century.

Eastern Desert Castles
Most Umayyad, or “desert castles”, are scattered over the semi-arid regions of north-eastern Jordan and date from the seventh century. Notable examples include Al Kharraneh Castle, Amra Castle (a UNESCO World Heritage site), and Al Azraq Castle where Lawrence of Arabia lived and wrote part of his book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”.

Jerash
The ancient Roman city, including the paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains, and city walls. Um Qais, previously known as Gadara, is a city renowned as the site of the famous miracle of the Gadarene swine, a cultural centre in its time, and the home to several classical poets and philosophers.

Madaba
A city best known for the famous 6th century Mosaic map of Jerusalem & Holy Land he Madaba Mosaic Map covers the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which is located northwest of the city. Other mosaic masterpieces can be found in the Church of the Virgin and the Apostles and in the Archaeological Museum, while Madaba’s extensive archaeological Park and Museum complex encompasses the remains of several Byzantine churches and the Hyppolytus Hall, part of a 6th century mansion. The Madaba Institute For Mosaic Art and Restoration is the only project of its kind in the Middle East, where artisans are trained in the art of making repairing and restoring mosaics.

Petra
Without doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction the Red Rose city of Petra is one of the 7 world wonders and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1 kilometre in length, is an experience in itself. The site is massive and has hundreds of elaborated rock-cut tombs, Roman-style theatres, temples, sacrificial altars and colonnaded streets. Al-Khazneh (Treasury) is a particularly awe-inspiring experience. A massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink, rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabatean king.

Umm Qais
Once the thriving Roman city of Gadara, today the area is home to magnificent ruins which draw thousands of visitors each year. From its hilltop location, Umm Qais is a perfect destination for absorbing the picturesque views of the Jordan Valley. There are many Roman sites at Umm Qais including two ancient theatres and a series of tombs, along with reminders of the Ottoman Empire including a village that was populated until the early 1980’s.

Wadi Rum
The Wadi Rum Desert has been inhabited since prehistoric times, a recently excavated site to the south indicates settlement at least as early as 4500 BC. At the centre of Wadi Rum village is the Desert Police fort, built in 1932, but the village remained nothing more than a cluster of tents until the 1980s. Famed for its link to TE Lawrence “Lawrence of Arabia” and Prince Feisal bin Al-Hussein, who made it his base during the Arab Revolts of 1917-1918. In 1962, the seven Academy Award winning film “Lawrence of Arabia” really put Wadi Rum “on the map”. Its village and surrounding areas, including Lawrence’s Spring, Khazali Canyon, the Nabatean Temple, Lawrence’s House and the Mushroom Stone were all featured. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011, it is now .one of Jordan’s outstanding tourist attractions.

General tour information

Jordan is home to more than 100,000 archaeological, religious and tourist sites with a history dating back over 20,000 years, although modern day Jordan has only existed since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1921. The population is almost entirely Arabic and apart from indigenous Jordanians, the country is also home to Iraqi, Palestinian and Syrian refugees who have brought much of their culture with them. There is also a very large Bedouin population who continue their nomadic existence in the Eastern Desert.

Cuisine
Jordanian cuisine has the traditional style that has developed through centuries of social and political change. Herbs, garlic, spices, onion, tomato sauce and lemon are typical flavours found in the Jordanian food and the recipes can vary from being extremely hot and spicy to mild. There are a wide variety of techniques used in Jordanian cuisine ranging from baking, sautéing and grilling to the stuffing of vegetables (courgettes, capsicum, eggplants, etc.) Also common in Jordanian cuisine is roasting or preparing foods with special sauces. Meat is an important component of Jordanian cuisine. The most common types of meat in Jordan are lamb, beef, chicken and, sometimes goat and camel meat, depending on who is preparing the food. Rice plays an important role and is commonly served as a side dish to main meals, but there are also plenty of one-pot rice dishes such as Maqloubah, a casserole made of layers of rice, vegetables and meat. After cooking, the pot is flipped upside-down onto the plate when served, hence the name maqluba which translates literally as “upside-down”.