Petra

The rose-red city, half as old as time. Nabataean, then Roman. The Treasury, the Monastery, the Siq, the theatre — all carved from living rock. This is one of the world's greatest archaeological sites. Bring a special bottle.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand in the Throne Room Where Salome Danced History · Price: low

   Where: Machaerus fortress (Mukawir), 75km southwest of Amman, 32km southwest of Madaba. GPS: 31.567°N, 35.624°E. From the visitor center, follow the path winding up to the citadel summit — 30 minutes of moderate climbing.

   What: In 2021, Hungarian archaeologist Gyozo Voros finally identified the apsidal throne niche — a semicircular alcove with a raised platform and stairs — inside the 7,000-square-foot royal courtyard. This is where Herod Antipas sat. The dance happened in this courtyard. The severed head of John the Baptist was carried out of here on a platter. Stand at the edge of the niche and look up: you're seeing what Herod saw — the entire court arranged before him, the Dead Sea glittering 1,100 meters below, and somewhere in the lower city beneath your feet, a dungeon with a 50-foot cistern where the Baptist had been held. The Romans came here too. In 72 AD, after Jerusalem fell, Jewish rebels seized Machaerus. Lucilius Bassus marched Legio X Fretensis here and captured rebel commander Eleazar. He dragged Eleazar to the walls in chains and threatened crucifixion. The garrison surrendered on the spot to save his life. The Romans let them leave. Then tore every stone down — except these foundations, which 2,000 years later are still waiting.

   How: Open 8am–6pm daily. Entry 1.5 JD (~$2 USD). Jordan Pass holders enter free. Allow 1.5–2 hours including the climb. Early morning in summer — the ascent is brutal in afternoon heat. October–April ideal.

   Backup: If the trail is closed for restoration, the views from the base and lower ruins are still extraordinary. The hillside village of Mukawir has a small café for coffee before or after.

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2. 2 Float at the Lowest Point on Earth Adventure · Free

   Where: Herodus (Zara) Spring — a free public beach on the Dead Sea's eastern shore. GPS: 31.601°N, 35.562°E (approx 12km south of the main resort strip, north of Wadi Mujib). Alternatively: Salt Beach near Wadi Mujib, GPS 31.398°N, 35.548°E — completely free, no infrastructure, raw salt formations.

   What: You are 430 meters below sea level — the lowest terrestrial point on Earth. The air around you has 4.8% more oxygen than at sea level (this is a medically confirmed fact, published in PubMed). Your lungs may notice it before your brain does. Now walk into water with 34.2% salinity — ten times saltier than any ocean. Lean back. Your feet float up immediately. You cannot sink. You bob at the surface like a cork, reading a newspaper if you like, arms stretched wide. This is not a party trick: your body becomes physically incapable of submerging. The shore around you is coated in salt crystals that have been building since the Dead Sea started dying. It is shrinking by more than a meter every year — 45 meters in the last 50 years. The Jordan River once poured 1.3 billion cubic meters annually into this sea. Now it delivers 100 million, most of it agricultural runoff. Old resort hotels from the 1970s now stand hundreds of feet from the waterline. The sinkholes appearing on the Israeli shore — over 6,000 of them, up from 40 in the 1990s — are what happens when the freshwater springs that used to flow under salt crust are suddenly exposed. You are floating in something that is slowly disappearing.

   How: Free access. Bring water shoes — salt crystals are sharp. A small natural spring provides rinse water at Herodus. Do NOT get this water in your eyes or open cuts. Paid option: Amman Beach (31.699°N, 35.581°E), entry ~20 JD (~$28), includes pool, mud, showers — useful for families or if you want facilities.

   Backup: If Herodus is crowded, continue south to the Wadi Mujib area Salt Beach — more dramatic salt formations, zero infrastructure, pure experience.

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3. 3 Climb the 300 Steps to Where Lot Drank Wine History · Price: low

   Where: Lot's Cave (Deir 'Ain 'Abata / Sanctuary of Agios Lot), near the town of as-Safi on the southeastern Dead Sea shore. GPS: approximately 31.13°N, 35.57°E. Enter via the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth on the Dead Sea Highway — it opened in 2012 and displays excavation finds. Then climb 300 steps up the steep hillside to the ruins.

   What: Genesis 19:31: 'Our father is old and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine...' After Sodom burned, Lot and his daughters fled to this cave. The daughters made him drunk. Twice. From those unions came Moab and Ammon. Byzantine Christians in the 5th century built a monastery here — knowing the full story — and paved it with mosaic floors. When you reach the chancel, look at the central image: grape vines wrapping the entire border, a stylized chalice in the center. Underneath it, in Greek: TELOS KALON. 'Good End.' The monks chose their symbolism deliberately. The site appears on the 6th-century Madaba Mosaic Map — the same map you may have seen 50km north at exp-jo-rome-004 — labeled as the Sanctuary of Saint Lot. The cave itself is a 2m by 2.5m room. It was paved with marble. Someone, 1,500 years ago, thought this small cavity was sacred enough for marble floors. The view from the top: industrial salt pans to the north, the Dead Sea silver below, the Israeli cliffs on the far shore.

   How: Allow 1.5–2 hours including the museum and the climb. Entry fee typically 2–3 JD (verify at museum). Hours approximately 8am–5pm — confirm locally as this site has variable opening. The 300-step climb is strenuous in heat.

   Backup: If the upper ruins are closed for restoration, the museum at the base is worthwhile alone — it holds mosaic fragments, pottery, and the story of the excavation.

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4. 4 Taste the Wine That Cleopatra Monopolized Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: Any of the major Dead Sea resort hotel restaurants — Hilton Dead Sea, Dead Sea Marriott, Movenpick Dead Sea, Crowne Plaza Dead Sea — all stock Saint George wine, Jordan's national vintage. The Hilton's Sky Bar overlooks the water. The Movenpick's Al Hana Lounge faces the sunset. Either works.

   What: Jordan has two wineries. That's the entire national wine industry. Saint George — made by Zumot Winery in Amman — was founded in 1954 and is the first Jordanian wine ever listed in Hachette's 1000 Wines of the World. The grapes grow in Madaba, in the clay-limestone soils 630 meters above sea level — the same Madaba you may have visited 50km north. Now you're drinking those grapes 430 meters BELOW sea level, next to the sea that was once Cleopatra's private cosmetics supply chain. In 36 BC, Marc Antony gave Cleopatra the Dead Sea. The whole thing. She was using its bitumen for mummification trade and its minerals for beauty products. She leased it back to the Nabataean king for 200 talents. The water you floated in today was the foundation of ancient Egypt's luxury economy. Ask for the Saint George Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz. A glass runs 8–15 JD (~$11–21) at resort restaurants. Organic, the only 100% organic winery in Jordan. Pair with mezze — hummus, mutabal, and the lamb kofta if they have it.

   How: No reservation needed for a drink at the hotel bars. Sunset timing at the Dead Sea is dramatic — arrive 30 minutes before for the light on the water. If you're on a budget, buy a bottle from a Madaba or Amman liquor store (3–15 JD) and drink it on the shore at Herodus Spring.

   Backup: Jordan River wines (Haddad Winery) are the only alternative — the other of Jordan's two producers. The Saint George reds are generally superior and the story is richer.

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5. 5 Watch the Dead Sea's Waterline Mark Its Own Grave Adventure · Free · Optional

   Where: Walk the shoreline south of the main resort area, toward Wadi Mujib. GPS starting point: 31.47°N, 35.55°E (approx). The old waterline markers — orange poles, sometimes concrete posts — stand visibly inland from where the water now is.

   What: The Dead Sea has dropped 45 meters in 50 years. You can see it. Not in historical photos — you can see it right now, on the ground in front of you. The salt formations building up on the exposed former seafloor look like alien terrain: salt mushrooms, salt chimneys, white crusts glittering in the sun. Hotel foundations from the 1970s stand hundreds of feet above and behind the current shore. Walk toward the water from the road and count the meters you're walking on what used to be seabed. The Jordan River — which once poured 1.3 billion cubic meters per year into this sea — now delivers 100 million, most of it sewage and agricultural runoff. Upstream agriculture diverted 92% of its flow. The sinkholes forming along the shore (6,000+ documented, nearly none existed in the 1980s) are what happens when the freshwater springs that flow underground suddenly lose the seawater pressure above them. The ground collapses. There are 1,000+ sinkholes on the Jordan side alone. Stand here, at the lowest point on Earth, and watch it go lower. If current rates hold, the Dead Sea will drop another 50 meters by 2070. The shoreline you're standing on may be dry land before your children are old.

   How: Free. Best in late afternoon when the salt formations catch golden light. Safe to walk on firm salt crust — avoid areas with sinkhole warning signs. Bring water: it's brutally hot in summer.

   Backup: The Panorama Restaurant (on the cliffs above the Dead Sea, GPS approx 31.78°N, 35.56°E) offers the aerial view — you can see the shrinkage from above, where the salt-white former seabed is visible as a pale ring around the current dark water.

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