The Aqaba Saraya: the Mamluk-era fort that became a cinema and is now a museum
On the Aqaba seafront, the small Saraya building has been a Mamluk way-station, an Ottoman fort, a 1950s cinema, and a heritage museum — ea…
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Azraq Wetland Reserve: the shrunken oasis at the heart of the eastern desert
Once a year-round wetland that supplied water to a 12,000 km² desert region, Azraq is now a fraction of its former self — but a critical mi…
Shaumari Wildlife Reserve: where Jordan reintroduced the Arabian oryx in 1978
A 22-square-kilometre fenced reserve near Azraq, founded 1975 by the RSCN, where the Arabian oryx, Persian onager, and Somali ostrich were …
Qasr Azraq: the basalt fortress where T.E. Lawrence wintered in 1917
Black basalt walls, a one-tonne stone door that pivots on palm-oil hinges, and the only oasis in 12,000 km² of desert. Lawrence used it as …
Qusayr Amra: the Umayyad bath house with the only fresco zodiac dome surviving from early Islam
Built between 723 and 743 CE in the Eastern Desert by an Umayyad caliph, Qusayr Amra has the most complete surviving early-Islamic frescoes…
Dana Biosphere village: a 500-year-old stone village inside the largest nature reserve in Jordan
On the rim of the Dana valley sits a stone village that has been continuously occupied for 500 years. Below it: 308 km² of nature reserve d…
Bethany Beyond the Jordan: UNESCO baptism site, Byzantine churches, and a river now a stream
Inscribed by UNESCO in 2015 as the eastern-bank baptism site of Jesus, Al-Maghtas now contains five excavated churches, hermit caves, and a…
Shore snorkel at Tala Bay: the easiest way to see the Aqaba reef without a boat
If you don't dive, the same reef wall the divers descend is in 1–3 metres of water at the shoreline. Snorkel gear hire on the beach, no boa…
Aqaba Old Town: the souk, the Saraya cinema, and where to drink Bedouin coffee
Beyond the Aqaba beach hotels is a small but lived-in old town — a daily souk, the Mamluk-era fort on the corniche, and a handful of cafés …
Japanese Garden, Aqaba: the easiest dive site in the Red Sea, with the highest density of fish
Open Water-friendly, accessible from shore at Tala Bay, 5–18 m depth, and the Aqaba reef wall starts a few metres from the entry point. The…
