Insight Guides Jordan (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

Description

Inspiring your next adventure
Insight Guides: all you need to inspire every step of your journey.
Jordan combines the best qualities of the region - legendary hospitality, breathtaking landscapes - with unique attractions of its own, from unspoilt Red Sea reefs to stunning monuments of ancient civilisations. Be inspired to visit this beautiful country with our updated edition of IG Jordan.
· Over 330 pages of insider knowledge from local experts
· In-depth on history and culture, from Bedouin life to Jordanian food, wildlife and crafts
· Enjoy special features on topics such as the royal family, the Dead Sea and Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
· Includes innovative extras that are unique in the market - all Insight Guidesto countries and regions come with a free eBook and app that's regularly updated with new hotel, bar, restaurant, shop and local event listings
· Invaluable maps, travel tips and practical information ensure effortless planning
· Inspirational colour photography throughout
· Inventive design makes for an engaging reading experience
About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps aswell as picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Sujets

• Guide book
• Insight Guides
• Petra
• Jordan
• Amman

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 février 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786713964
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Jordan, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Jordan. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Jordan are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Jordan. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.
© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Jordan’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: Welcome to Jordan
The Jordanians
Decisive Dates
An Ancient Land
The Crusades
Mamlukes and Ottomans
The Arab Revolt
Lawrence of Arabia
Enter the Hashemites
Modern Jordan
The Bedouin Way of Life
The Palestinians
The Craft Tradition
Insight: Building on the Past
Jordanian Food
Wildlife
Outdoor Activities
The Arabian Horse
Artists’ Impressions
Introduction: Places
Amman
Insight: Café Society in Amman
Al-salt and Environs
Jarash and the North
The Jordan Valley
The King’s Highway
Petra
Wadi Rum
Insight: The Bedouin Inheritance
Al-’aqabah
Insight: The Red Sea – A World Apart
East to the Badia
Transport
A–Z
Language
Further Reading


Jordan’s Top 10 Attractions



Top Attraction 1



Wadi Rum. Lying a few kilometres south off the Desert Highway (Al-tariq al-sahrawi), this stunning landscape of soaring cliffs, pinnacles and desert dunes has inspired many travellers, including Lawrence of Arabia who made it famous. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 2



Jarash. Jarash in northern Jordan is one of the best-preserved and most evocative Roman towns in the world. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 3



The Dead Sea. Bobbing like a cork in the viscous waters of the Dead Sea is a must-do activity. Round the experience off with a massage or beauty treatment using Dead Sea mud in one of the luxury spa hotels. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 4



Dana Biosphere Reserve. Lying in western-central Jordan, Dana is Jordan’s largest, most diverse nature reserve. Hiking one of the beautiful trails makes a great break from the cities or Roman ruin trail. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 5



Ma’daba. Attractive and tranquil, Ma’daba contains one of the great treasures of the early Christian period: the Ma’daba Map. The earliest-known map of the Holy Land, it’s just one of myriad ancient mosaics that litter the town. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 6



Al-’aqabah. Jordan’s only outlet to the sea is a springboard for diving and snorkelling among the Red Sea coral reefs. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 7



The Desert Castles. East of Amman lies a string of Ummayad strongholds that served as pleasure palaces and hunting lodges. Don’t miss the stunning frescoes at the Unesco World Heritage Site of Qusayr ’amrah. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 8



Petra. The famous rose-red, rock-cut city of the Nabataeans, hidden in a valley in southern Jordan, is a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the Middle East’s must-sees. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 9



Umm qays. In Jordan’s far north lie the impressive and atmospheric Roman ruins of Umm qays. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 10



Al-karak Castle. As impressive for its vast walls and sturdy defences as its colourful and bloody history, Al-karak is one of the most fascinating crusader castles along the King’s Highway. For more information, click here .
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Editor’s Choice






Lot’s Sanctuary.
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Best biblical sites

Jabal nibu (Mount Nebo) . Identified as the site where Moses died and ascended to Heaven, Jabal nibu is marked by a Byzantine basilica. Also here is Ain Moussa, the so-called Spring of Moses. For more information, click here .
Sanctuary of Lot. A cave in the side of a hill near the Lisan Peninsula is where Lot and his daughters reputedly took refuge after the destruction of Sodom. For more information, click here .
The River Jordan. Bithani-beyond-the-Jordan, just north of the Dead Sea, is now widely regarded as the site of the baptism of Jesus. For more information, click here .
Mukawir. The wind-swept and haunting ruins of Mukawir are said to be the site where Salome performed her dance in exchange for the head of John the Baptist. For more information, click here .
Tel Mar Ilias. According to the Bible, this was where the Prophet Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot driven by horses of fire. For more information, click here .
Umm qays. This was Roman Gadara, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus is reputed to have performed the miracle of the Gadarene swine. For more information, click here .



View over Wadi al-mujib from the King’s Highway.
Yadid Levy/Apa Publications


Best landscapes

Wadi Rum. For sheer scale and spectacle, it’s hard to beat the extraordinary Wadi Rum, described by T. E. Lawrence as “vast, echoing and godlike”. For more information, click here .
Dana Biosphere Reserve. The 15th-century stone village of Dana is a springboard for treks through beautiful valleys and rocky desert. Look out for the ibex around Rummana Campsite. For more information, click here .
‘Ajlun Forest Reserve. North of ‘Ajlun Castle is a rolling landscape of juniper, oak, pistachio and strawberry tree forests, and, in spring, carpets of wild flowers. For more information, click here .
Wadi al-mujib. For spectacular vistas, drive along this valley as it plunges down some 900 metres (3,000ft). Better still, walk amid waterfalls and gorges in the Wadi al-mujib Nature Reserve. For more information, click here .
Petra. Take the Petra By Night Tour and see the tombs, monuments and cliffs lit up by the moon from above and thousands of candles from below. It’s magical. For more information, click here .


Top archaeological sites

Petra. The 1st-century, rock-cut tombs and temples of the Nabataeans are beautifully crafted and remarkably well preserved. For more information, click here .
Jarash. This once prosperous and powerful Roman city formed one of the principle cities of the Decapolis. Its highlights include mighty temples and the column-lined Cardo (Shari‘ kardu or main street). For more information, click here .
Pella. Nestling in the verdant Jordan Valley, Pella boasts not just Byzantine churches and early Islamic structures, but Bronze and Iron Age settlements and dolmens too.