Today you travel to Petra along the King’s Highway, and discover that the journey can become the destination. You’ll stop off to see the spectacular Byzantine and Umayyad Mosaics, and the 6th century map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, at Madaba. Then it’s on to the Moses memorial atop Mount Nebo – with eye-stretching views over the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River – before stopping again at the Crusader Fort of Karak.
Your hotel stands at the gateway to Petra, so it’s the ideal base for exploring. Over the next few days you’ll have the option of candlelit tours of the ancient city, and by day you’ll visit the magnificent monuments carved into the sheer cliff faces some 2000 years ago. You’ll see the gorge known as the Siq and Al-Khaznek, originally carved as a royal tomb, whilst private tours will take you to Little Petra, still a great commercial centre, as well as Wadi Rum, justly called the Valley of the Moon. It’s an unearthly, untouched place with a history that includes the exploits of Prince Faisal Bin Hussein and Lawrence of Arabia during the First World War. You also have the option to stay out overnight at Wadi Rum in a romantic, eco-friendly, tented camp and experience the desert in the manner of the Bedouins.
Stay: Three nights in a standard room at the Movenpick Petra.