January 2025
The first article about the details of the cycling trip around Jordan is online, so the time has come for the next one: what to see in Jordan? Three things probably immediately come to mind: Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea — and rightly so. But Jordan has so much more than this, even though these three alone are already enormous for a country that is not that big. In this article, I will list some of the most interesting and spectacular places we saw on our one-month cycling trip. Assuming you won’t be on a bicycle fighting the elevations, you’ll have a blast visiting all the ancient and natural sites of Jordan.
Each point here follows our real itinerary; there is no ranking order, especially considering that getting to each one of these places was hard and demanding, so we cherish every stop. Also, to avoid tiring you with long texts, I will mention separately practical recommendations for each spot, but there won’t be many.
Amman
The capital of the country, which we partly visited in 2020, is a very interesting city, especially if you don’t have much experience with Arab countries. One of my strongest memories of Amman was its Jordan Museum, which stayed with me for the last five years before coming back. This time, we dedicated our visit to seeing the sites we couldn’t visit because of Covid: the Roman Theatre Amman and spending time in Webdeh. There was also an unexpected development: I contacted a virtual acquaintance I knew from Twitter, who has been living in Jordan for the past 10 years, and Asya completely took us under her wing. Personal anecdotes, explanations, tips, and a food tour — it was amazing. The cherry on top was a huge feast in Al-Kitkat with her friends — a place every local knows but that somehow doesn’t have many foreign visitors. Actually, there was another highlight: being invited to a home dinner by a new acquaintance — his mom made fantastic food, and overall, meeting Jordanians with a long and aristocratic lineage was something we weren’t expecting to experience. This greatly improved the beginning of our trip, which had started poorly (difficult travel + Airbnb confusion), and gave an enormous boost to the troop’s morale.
– Al-Kitkat
– Shams El Balad
– Chapters
Jerash
Jerash is one of the most popular one-day trip destinations from Amman and is primarily famous for its Greco-Roman ancient site, which is one of the best preserved in the world. I admit — it’s very impressive, and the only site I could compare it to in terms of size and condition was Pompeii. I regret not visiting it with a guide, but spending several hours walking through the city was already very fulfilling. The only downside was the souvenir vendors, who were somewhat insistent about making us try on the keffiyeh, but that’s something to be expected. Make sure to pack comfortable shoes, bring water, and prepare to soak in some antiquity!
Ajloun
Together with Salt, Ajloun is the least bicycle-friendly town that comes to mind when I need to point to one, so I feel a touch of animosity toward it. However, if it is just a point on your itinerary, you will more easily appreciate its main highlight — Ajloun Castle. It is a 12th-century Islamic fortress whose primary goal was defense against the Crusaders — it was strange (in a good way) to experience this part of history from “the other side” (being Europeans, one of us from France). Besides, Ajloun Castle’s strategic location allows an amazing overview of the surrounding landscapes, including Israel and Palestine depending on weather conditions. Even if the castle isn’t particularly big, it took us almost as long to visit it as the whole Jerash site.
Umm Qais
What are your expectations about Jordan? Because for us, these green hills came as a huge surprise back in 2020, and even now, looking through the photos, I find it difficult to match these sceneries with the mediatized image of yellow-ochre, dromedary-filled Jordan.
There were several very nice stretches of cycling during this month, but I recall this area with particular fondness (even though it came with a lot of sweat…).
Umm Qais is another vast ancient site, built partly from black basalt — I had never seen a Roman theater or columns in black! At Umm Qais, alongside the ancient ruins of Gadara, there is also a later Ottoman-era village built directly on top of the classical ruins. These 19th-century houses, constructed from the same dark basalt stone, are part of the preserved site, forming an additional historical layer. It happened that the owner of our Airbnb was also the curator of the museum and used to live in the village before it relocated in the 20th century for preservation purposes — Ibrahim showed us everything through firsthand stories while serving us one tea after another.
In Umm Qais, Xavier had a true epiphany — the view over the Golan Heights, the sense of antiquity of this beautiful place — it was probably the first moment since the beginning of the trip when we could finally breathe deeply and fully embrace the adventure.
🛏️ – Gedara B&B
Jordan Valley
We were both really looking forward to discovering the Jordan Valley — this fertile paradise — but things didn’t work out the way we had hoped. Although it was as picturesque as expected, the current political tension in the Middle East made it difficult to fully enjoy this part of the landscape. This is not said with an undertone of “a stupid war spoiled our holidays,” not at all — it’s simply a statement: the area was under close military surveillance, with multiple roads closed and regular checkpoints (especially along the road following the King Abdullah Canal, which would be perfect for cycling in other circumstances). In the end, exhausted by document checks every kilometer — no exaggeration — we were forced to return to the main road.
The change in climate was surprising — after the cool “mountain” air, we found ourselves in fertile humidity. Even though the area is impressive and the road is flat for a change, this stretch was much less enjoyable than expected. I described the difficulties in the main article, but in short: it felt polluted, smelly, and sad. The orchard part was quickly over, and it became just a regular, monotonous road with a lot of honking and CO₂ in our faces. On the bright side, while we were riding, people handed us oranges from their cars — I felt like Harry Potter chasing Snitches.
As-Salt
If you look on the map, you will see that As-Salt is very close to Amman, but for us it had already been a good week into the trip, and it felt like a very faraway place — especially after so much physical effort to get there. Salt is located on hills, which adds to its charm, as does its rich Ottoman architectural heritage and harmonious religious mix. Although today Christians make up only around 2–4% of the population of Jordan, Salt (together with Madaba below) remains one of the cities with a significant Christian community.
We spent two nights in a beautiful B&B, visited the Abu Jaber House, and had a fantastic gastronomic experience at Al Gherbal Restaurant. As-Salt is easily visited from Amman, and even locals like coming here to rest from the hectic capital — at one point, it was even considered a potential capital of Jordan. Today, its historic center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We enjoyed our time there, even if the weather wasn’t always on our side. Besides, the idea of the ride to the Dead Sea — which meant sliding down for dozens of kilometers — definitely contributed to appreciating our stay.
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The Dead Sea
Unlike previous stops, the Dead Sea needs no introduction — everybody learns at school about the lowest point on Earth (around 430 meters below sea level), as well as the ecological challenges it faces today.
Visiting such places is always a bit strange and involves making choices — do we want to be part of the problem by staying in one of the many resort hotels in this fragile environment?
We settled on two nights at a Hilton hotel — it’s funny how it sometimes feels like a one-night stand: partly guilt, partly indulgence, for a short moment of pleasure (at least in Hilton, it was pleasure — less guaranteed in the other case).
There are free or more budget-friendly options, but we didn’t hesitate much — Hilton had been booked during our 2020 attempt, and it felt like unfinished business. Besides, as January is a low-season month, prices were lower, there were fewer visitors, and most of them were locals. We fully enjoyed floating in the waters of the Dead Sea and, overall, had a wonderful time.
As if there hadn’t been enough cycling, the next day, without bags (light as a feather!), we cycled to the Dead Sea Panoramic Complex — a small but informative exhibition about the Dead Sea. There is also a restaurant with decent prices for the area. Recommended.
Two things to note about the Dead Sea: it’s not exactly a spectacular place visually. Its value lies more in its geographical uniqueness, natural properties, and scientific interest, rather than dramatic scenery. If you are interested in geology, biology, or ecology, it’s a fascinating place to experience; there are also several spots with waterfalls (but we didn’t have a chance to see any of them) otherwise, there is a chance you might find it underwhelming. Also, the surrounding infrastructure is not always appealing — a long road under the heat, some camels for tourists, abandoned constructions, broken fences, and, as elsewhere in Jordan, quite a lot of litter. The second point: be prepared for higher prices — it’s expected, but still worth noting.
Mount Nebo
Just like the road to the Dead Sea, which had the pleasant certainty of going downhill for around 50 km, the road to Madaba was just as certainly going to be a serious physical challenge. In hindsight, I am very proud of this accomplishment, and looking back at the photos, I’m amazed by the beauty of the landscapes. However, in the moment, it was extremely hard — no way to soften that.
After hours of effort, we made it to Mount Nebo.
Mount Nebo is an important pilgrimage site: according to biblical tradition, it is the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death. On very clear days, the view extends across the Jordan Valley toward Jericho and even Jerusalem. As someone who went through religious schooling, despite being atheist, I still found it quite moving. We visited the Memorial Church of Moses and saw its Byzantine mosaics — one of many we would see over the next two days.
I would love to add something more spiritual or informative about this place, but traveling by bicycle creates a very different mindset — we were mostly relieved to finally rest. After so many ruins and sites, their emotional impact became less intense, and the same goes for the landscapes, however beautiful they were. That said, we did have an unexpected and pleasant encounter with an archbishop of Baghdad, who spoke perfect French and was eager to hear about our journey. This is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Mount Nebo.
Madaba
The last stop in this northern part of Jordan was Madaba. Just like As-Salt, Madaba made a very positive impression from the start — the hotel host’s welcome was outstanding, and the town’s atmosphere turned out to be very soothing. Litres of pomegrenate juice also made their contribution!
Madaba is another center of the Christian community in Jordan, with several ancient and magnificent churches, but the most remarkable thing about the city is its mosaic tradition, which has been active since the Byzantine era.
Mosaics are everywhere — by chance, we stumbled upon a mosaic school and were able to witness firsthand the impressive process of mosaic-making. Naturally, leaving without buying one of the students’ works was impossible — I’m looking at the gazelle made by Nour hanging on the wall as I write these lines. As carrying a mosaic wasn’t an option for two more months of cycling, it was safely sent back to Europe together with the warm clothes and sketchbooks we clearly wouldn’t fill.
The highlight of Madaba is the famous Madaba Map, located in the Church of Saint George — a 6th-century mosaic representing the oldest known map of the Holy Land.
Madaba marked the first half of the Jordan adventure. No more cold days, no more green hills — since the Dead Sea, we had entered a more yellowish-ochre Jordan, with much warmer temperatures. Although this division is more mental than anything else, it still felt like a clear halfway point — half of the trip, half of the country.
Stay tuned, as the article about the south of Jordan, with its most striking highlights, is on its way.
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