Umayyad Desert Castles Tour from Amman: Discover Jordan’s Islamic Art and Rich History

Discover Jordan’s rich history on a half-day tour to the Umayyad Desert Castles from Amman. Explore ancient caravan stations, trade centers, and resort pavilions adorned with beautiful Islamic art and influenced by Persian and Greco-Roman traditions.

Duration: 6 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Quseir Amra - . After about an hour on the road, pull up at UNESCO-listed “Quseir’ Amra”, one of east Jordan’s most famous castles. Once a hunting palace of the Umayyads, this splendidly restored edifice is graced with 8th-century fresco showing decadent scenes of nude women, wine, and parties.
  • Qasr al-Kharrana - Continue to “Qasr Al…
What's Included
  • On-board WiFi
  • Bottled water
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • English speaking Driver
What's Not Included
  • Personal expenses
  • Local guide at site
  • Entry/Admission - Quseir Amra
  • Entry/Admission - Qsar Al-azraq
  • Entry/Admission - Qsar Al-Kharaneh
Additional Information

Embark on a journey through Jordan’s rich past with this half-day expedition to the Umayyad Desert. Explore desert ‘castles’ once functioning as trading hubs, caravan stops, outposts, and elite resort pavilions. Marvel at the enchanting Islamic artistry, mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures within, inspired by Persian and Greco-Roman traditions. Spend an…

Location
Quseir Amra
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(2 Ratings)
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1 star
Mark_k
Sep 20, 2024
Outstanding - Knowledgeable driver and great locations for the tour. Jordan remains my favorite location in the Middle East
Review provided by Viator
Marc_h
Aug 7, 2022
Unearthing the rich history and culture of Jordan - This was a nice adventure for us. The suggested start time for this activity was around 8:00 am although we were just arriving in Amman Jordan by air around 9:30. I had contacted the tour company to ask if we could start a bit later in the day. I realized the company also offered great prices for airport pick-ups from the Amman airport. My email/text exchanges with the company were very cordial and helpful. On the day of our tour we were picked up by Mansour at the airport as arranged, originally we had thought we would drop our bags at our Amman hotel then go in the tour starting around noon. Mansour suggested taking the tour straight from the airport to help beat the high mid-day temperatures (plus hotel check in wasn’t until 2or 3 o’clock anyway. So we stowed our luggage in the car and set off east of Amman to see two of the “desert castles.” We ended up deciding to visit Qasr Amra and Al-Kharaneh which were both located perhaps 40-45 km east of Amman. Both structures were well preserved with Qasr Amra dating from about 700 AD. Our daughter is a Middle East art historian and was blown away by the photos of Qasr Amra we later shared with her. There was another “castle” much further east out in the desert of Jordan but we felt the two places we visited gave us a great feel for at least some of the historical sites in that part of Jordan (separate tours on other days let us see interesting historical sites in the north and south of Jordan). Toward the end of our tour we stopped at a large souvenir shop so the driver could rest, have some coffee (and perhaps receive commissions for some of the items we bought). This was fine with us. Mansour spoke good English and was happy to share his life experiences with us. We eventually arrived at our hotel after spending around half a day with Mansour. We were completely satisfied with our tour (and airport pick-up) and would wholeheartedly recommend it to others interested in ancient historical sites. We had the Go Jordan pass for entry to dozens of sites throughout Jordan but I don’t believe anyone bothered to check our passes at the two sites we visited on this tour. A final comment covering all of our tours and experiences in Jordan: we found the people of Jordan to be some of the warmest, kindest, welcoming people across several dozen countries we have visited around the world. We strongly recommend intrepid tourists to find time to visit to Jordan!
Review provided by Viator
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