Dead Sea Holiday Planner. Tailor-made Holidays to Dead Sea in Jordan

Day 1: Amman

Welcome to Jordan! You will be met off the plane by an airport representative and fast tracked through immigration and customs. Our representative will be in arrivals area to greet you and assist with the transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax.

Day 2: Amman - Dana N.R.

Today the sightseeing includes Lot's Cave and Karak crusader castle. We then head on to Dana Nature Reserve and check into the hotel.

Day 3: Dana N.R. - Petra

Enjoy a leisurely 4 hour walk in the Dana National Park with your RSCN guide. After lunch back at the guesthouse, we drive to visit Shobak Crusader Castle before heading to Petra to visit Siq al Barid (Little Petra), the northern Nabatean customs point outside the bounds of the city of Petra. This evening, why not add on our Petra by Night excursion and see the site lit up by thousands of candles - truly stunning! See the Enhance your Holiday page for details.

Day 4: Petra

Welcome to the Rose City! Access to the city on our guided exploration is through the famous narrow, deep siq. The rocks then give way to the most amazing site – the fantastically impressive Treasury. We’ll explore the ancient Nabatean tombs and the Roman rock-carved streets lined with temples, royal tombs, staircases, arched gates and public buildings. This evening, if you fancy it, try your hand at cooking, Jordanian style - add on our Petra Kitchen bolt-on. See the Enhance your Holiday page for details.

Day 5: Petra

Today you will return to Petra. You will enter by al Madras, with visits to the High Place of Sacrifice, Wadi Farasa, Great Temple and the Royal Tombs. Petra is endless and based on your preferences, your guide will show you many amazing highlights within the city. The more intrepid can ascend to Ad Deir, better known as the monastery.

The size of a jeep compared to the size of Jebels in Wadi Rum

Day 6: Petra - Aqaba

After breakfast, we are off to Wadi Rum for a full-day jeep tour with lunch on the moonscape terrain T. E. Lawrence rightly described as "vast, echoing and God-like." Later this afternoon we continue onto the Red Sea Resort of Aqaba.

Day 7: Aqaba

Today you will have a free day in Aqaba to sit back and relax, enjoying the sunshine, sand and sea. Here you can opt to go snorkelling or diving to view the amazing array of aquatic life in the reefs directly off the beach.

Day 8: Aqaba - Dead Sea

Drive along Wadi Araba road to tour the newly excavated Maqdas Baptismal Site. Biblical archaeologists, working from clues from the Madaba mosaic map, believe this to be the spot where John the Baptist lived, and where Jesus was baptised in the waters of the Jordan River. The extensive water channels, cisterns and baptismal fonts suggest that this is where the earliest Christian pilgrims believed the Baptism took place. The walk past "Elijah's well" to the St. John church on the banks of the Jordan is a pleasure in itself, as you follow the winding trail through marshes of high reeds and tamarisk trees. Driving from Aqaba to Bethany takes 3 hours, visit to Bethany is 2 hours, and then the transfer to the Dead Sea hotel takes 30 minutes.

Day 9: Dead Sea

Today's sightseeing starts with a drive to Qallat ar-Rabadh, Ajlun's Crusader-era Saracen Castle. Journey through the Jordan Valley and up into the Dibeen National Forest to Pella, which was one of the Decapolis trading cities. It is magnificently set in a fold of hills that rise from the Jordan Valley. Known in Arabic as Tabaqat Fahl, Pella is one of the most ancient sites in Jordan and a favourite of archaeologists being exceptionally rich in antiquities. Some recent finds 2km north even date to Paleolithic times, around 100,000 years ago.