Jordan, Day 1 – Amman

Amman is the capital of Jordan, and is a natural first stop when visiting this country. A compact city center with bustling streets and lots of life sprinkled with lots of attractions, restaurants and shopping. In Amman they also have one of Jordan’s very few shopping malls. It’s a modern city with a long historic heritage that the Jordanians are proud of.

After landing at the Queen Alia International Airport we wanted to test out our Jordan-passes, which promised to include payment for visa fees if you stay more than four days. To my supprise this actually worked! And what a heartful welcome by the security officers as well! From the airport to Amman city Center it’s possible to drive Uber and local variants thereof, but we opted for the beige airport taxis which costed 22,50 JDN.

The hotel we selected was the Jordan Tower Hotel, located dead center of Amman, to an affordable price. The hotel was just next to the Roman Theatre, a 30 minute walk from the Amman Citadel, the Grand Husseini Mosque and the souks.

First we started our visit in the Hashemite Plaza which is a square that attracts locals, tourists and touts trying to sell souvernirs, toys balloons or what not. The Hashemite Plaza is an excellent starting location as you will have access to the Roman Coloumned Street, The Roman Theatre and the Odeon from the square. Once again the Jordan pass came in handy as all the entrance fees are taken care of here

From the Hashemite Plaza we opted to walk up the The Citadel, which is a 20 minute uphill walk. The Citadel is another tourist favourite, as it has a lot of attractions on the same place. The Citadel is basically a Roman archeological site from way back when, partially restored and partially not. The Herculaneum, or temple of Hercules with it’s surroundings was explored along the newer Umayyad area with mosques and remnants of houses from the caliphat succeeding the Romans. There are also a couple of museums that didnt cater to our interests, but probably worth a visit if you’re interested in Jordanian history.

We found that the Citadel was an excellent place to enjoy the sunset as well. A beautiful sunset over the Jordanian capital initiated the night life – as we experienced that the Jordanians are extremely good at. We walked down to the city again and visited a somewhat legend in Amman, the Hashem restaurant. They have been serving falaffel since the 50es and are still going strong.