The specific Amman argument: Jordan’s capital is the Middle Eastern city that the Petra visitor passes through and that the 48-hour visitor discovers as the city with the Roman Theatre in the valley below the Ottoman houses above the Byzantine mosaics below the Islamic Umayyad Palace that is all visible from the Citadel in the morning light as the specific layered humanity that the Middle East gives and that no other region produces in the same concentrated form. The Citadel at dawn, the Rainbow Street at noon, and the Hashem restaurant at midnight — the specific Amman that the transit visitor misses.
Reading time: 7 minutes | Last updated: 2026
Before You Arrive
Getting there: Fly London-Amman (Royal Jordanian direct, 5 hours; also EasyJet and Wizz Air). UK citizens: Jordan visa on arrival — JD 40 / £40.82, or the Jordan Pass (the combined visa + entry to 40+ attractions including Petra at JD 70-80 / £71.43-81.63, the correct purchase for the visitor staying 3+ days and visiting Petra).
Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JD). 1 GBP ≈ 0.98 JD (the Dinar is close to parity with Sterling in 2025).
Where to stay: Downtown (the Balad — walking distance to the Roman Theatre, the Hashem restaurant, the souq): JD 15-30 / £15.31-30.61/night budget, JD 40-80 / £40.82-81.63/night mid-range. Rainbow Street area for the restaurants and the specific Amman character.
DAY 1
6:30am — The Citadel at Dawn
The Amman Citadel (Jabal al-Qala’a — the hill in the centre of the city, the Umayyad Palace (8th century CE), the Temple of Hercules (2nd century CE, the 1,800-year-old hand visible at the base of the remaining column), and the Byzantine church foundations visible in the same plateau):
At 6:30am: the Citadel in the first light, the Amman city visible in the valley below (the 13 hills of the city visible from the Citadel hill), the calls to prayer audible from the minarets below.
Entry: JD 3.5 / £3.57 (or included in the Jordan Pass).
10am — The Jordan Museum
The Jordan Museum (the national museum near the 4th Circle — the Dead Sea Scrolls facsimiles (the Copper Scroll from the Qumran caves, the most significant single Qumran document), the Ain Ghazal statues (the 9,000-year-old plaster statues, among the oldest human figurines ever found), and the Nabataean collection):
Entry: JD 2 / £2.04.
1pm — The Hummus at Hashem
The Hashem Restaurant (the Downtown Amman restaurant, established 1952 — the hummus, the ful medames, the falafel, the shakshouka, the specific Downtown Amman lunch that the Jordanian government ministers and the taxi driver eat at the same plastic table):
The hummus bi tahini at Hashem: JD 1.5-2.5 / £1.53-2.55. The falafel (the deep-fried chickpea and herb fritter, the freshly made Hashem version visible from the street): JD 0.5 / £0.51 each.
The specific Hashem instruction: the restaurant has no English menu and no written menu. Point at what the adjacent table is eating. This is the correct approach.
4pm — The Roman Theatre
The Roman Theatre (the 2nd-century CE theatre for 6,000 spectators, the theatre built into the hillside below the Citadel — the theatre still acoustically functional, the clap at the centre of the stage visible as the specific ancient acoustic engineering):
Entry: JD 3 / £3.06 (or Jordan Pass).
7pm — The Rainbow Street
The Rainbow Street (the 1st Circle neighbourhood street — the specific Amman evening: the kanafeh shop (the Habibah — the knafeh nabulsieh, the specific Nablus-style knafeh with the akkawi cheese, the shredded wheat, the rosewater syrup, the specific Levantine sweet): JD 1-2 / £1.02-2.04 per portion.
DAY 2
8am — The Dead Sea (day trip)
The Dead Sea (55km west of Amman — the lowest point on Earth at 430 metres below sea level, the salt concentration at 34.2% giving the buoyancy that makes swimming feel wrong and floating feel effortless):
The public beach (the Amman Beach resort, the cheapest accessible option at JD 20 / £20.41 day pass including the changing rooms and the shower): the specific Dead Sea flotation at the lowest elevation on the planet.
2pm — The Darat al-Funun Gallery
The Darat al-Funun (the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation arts complex in the Jebel el-Weibdeh neighbourhood — the 1920s archaeological villa converted to the contemporary Arab art gallery, the garden visible from the gallery terrace, the specific Amman art scene):
Free.
5pm — The Overnight Bus to Petra (if extending)
The JETT bus from Abdali station to Wadi Musa (Petra) — JD 10 / £10.20, 3 hours. The correct extension from the Amman 48 hours to the full Jordan circuit.
What It Costs (2 Days)
| Category | Budget | Mid-Range |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan Pass (visa + sites) | £71 | £81 |
| 2 nights accommodation | £30-62 | £82-163 |
| Food (2 days) | £8-20 | £20-55 |
| Transport (taxi/Uber) | £10-20 | £10-20 |
| Dead Sea day pass | £20 | £20 |
| Total (excluding flights) | £139-193 | £213-339 |
