Umm Fruth rock bridge

A hilltop site layering Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad remains, including the Temple of Hercules and the Umayyad palace dome.

A 6,000-seat 2nd-century theatre cut into the hillside in downtown Amman, still used for performances.

A smaller Nabataean caravan stop north of Petra with carved dining halls and a painted ceiling, free to enter.

A protected stretch of shore-accessible reef south of the city, with dive centres along the coast road.

Wadi Rum is a protected desert of sandstone and granite mountains rising from red sand, inhabited by Bedouin communities who run the camps and jeep tours. Nights in a desert camp with clear skies are the point as much as the landscape itself. Scrambling routes and rock climbing are available for those who want more than a jeep tour.

The Dead Sea shore is the lowest land on earth at over 400 m below sea level, with water salty enough to float in unaided and mineral mud used across the resort spas. Most visits are a half-day stop between Amman and Petra. The water level is falling measurably each year.