27th Dec. Once you arrive into Amman you'll be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to spend at leisure. Overnight - Amman

Amman - Jerash - Umm Qais - Amman. Today we tour Jerash, arguably the world’s best-preserved Roman provincial city with whisper-perfect acoustics in the South Theater, chariot-wheel marks in the paving stones of the Cardo and an exciting chariot race in the 2,000-year-old Hippodrome. Drive on to Umm Qais (Biblical Gadara) to visit a dramatic black-basalt Roman Decapolis city featuring great views over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. Later on we return to Amman Overnight - Amman (B)

Amman - Mt Nebo - Umm ar Rasas - Petra. After a quick visit to the Citadel and Archaeological Museum, we’ll walk through the bustling local souk to enjoy typical Jordanian street treats of felafal and hummous at the country’s most popular local street stand. As the pictures on the wall will prove, the unglamorous food stand was a great favorite of the late King Hussein!

Leaving Amman, we’ll stop first at Mt. Nebo, the site from which Moses saw the Promised Land. The amazing panorama includes the Jordan River Valley, Dead Sea, Jericho and the spires and domes of the Mt. of Olives and Bethlehem on the Judean hills just across the wide valley. Your next port of call will be one of Jordan’s World Heritage Sites at Um ar-Rasas, once an important stop on the busy caravan routes. The impressive mosaic floor of the St. Stephen Church features medallions commemorating all the early Christian pilgrimage sites of the region, and the extensive ruins also include one of the area’s earliest Stylite towers, where a Byzantine hermit lived atop the tower and preached to the pilgrimage visitors.

You’ll make a late afternoon stop at the Shobak Crusader Castle (Mont Real) en route to Petra for the night. Overnight - Petra (B)

Begin the day with a walk through the mysterious mile-long Siq, the narrow gorge with towering sandstone walls which leads into the ancient capital city of the Nabatean trading empire. Explore the Khazneh (the temple of Indiana Jones fame), Theater, Colonnaded Street and Museum. After lunch, climb to ad-Deir (the Monastery), Petra’s largest carved façade. Want to learn how to cook Middle Eastern food? Consider opting for our Petra Kitchen bolt-on tonight! Overnight - Petra (B)

Petra - Wadi Rum. This morning we have the opportunity to join our guide for a return to Petra along the “secret way” of al-Madras, with visits to the High Place of Sacrifice and Wadi Farasa. Mid-day stop in the Wadi Musa souk to pick up shawarma sandwiches or fruit and veggie snacks from the local produce souk before making the scenic drive to Wadi Rum. We make a late afternoon Jeep tour of this moonscape desert terrain, arriving to our remote camp site deep in the heart of the Wadi Rum Protected Area.

See out the old year at a Bedouin party featuring folkloric dancing, Bedouin musicians, hands-on demonstrations of traditional Bedouin coffee and bread making, fireworks and more….along with a lavish buffet dinner and champagne toast at midnight. Overnight - Wadi Rum (B, D)

Wadi Rum - Karak - Dead Sea - Madaba. Happy New Year!!!!! After breakfast at the campsite on day 6 we head north along the Desert Highway. We make a drive through the busy market town of Karak under the towering shadows of the Karak Crusader Castle, descending some 1300 meters to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on the earth’s surface. More than 500 meters below sea level, the mineral-rich Dead Sea is the world’s original health and beauty spa. Bob in the waters and slap on some of the famous black Dead Sea mud to give your skin an invigorating boost. After the experience, we’ll enjoy a buffet lunch before heading up to Madaba, home to the world’s largest collection of ancient mosaics. We’ll have a lavish Jordanian feast at Haret Jdoudna, the restaurant in Madaba’s city center offering the best of Jordanian cuisine in a setting created from some of the city’s traditional 19th-century homes.

In the early morning of day 7 we’ll discover that Madaba’s population is approximately an equal mix of Christians and Muslims—evident when the early morning calls to prayer from the mosques are overlaid by bells from the Christian churches. Spend the day exploring this busy market town, with visits to the Madaba Archaeological Park (Herodian through Byzantine mosaics, including two complete church floors and a civic dining hall floor preserved at the affiliated Madaba School for Mosaic Art, established under the patronage of Queen Noor al-Hussein in 1994), and the famous 6th Century map of the Holy Land displayed in the Orthodox St. George Church. Biblical archaeologists have discovered several important ancient sites, including Jerusalem’s Cardo and the Bethany Baptismal Site, following clues found in this noteworthy work of mosaic art. Madaba’s city center is full of shops and cafes where you can hang out with the local people and wind up your tour in a relaxing fashion. Overnight - Madaba (B:2, D:1)

3rd Jan. Madaba - Amman Airport. Hotel check-out and included onward departure transfer to Amman's Queen Alia airport. (B)