The city of Amman, Jordan offers a great start to any holiday through the Kingdom of Jordan. With sloping views across The Citadel, exploring the Roman Theatre, and a complex series of markets throughout the city, you’ll find lots to explore within the city limits of Jordan.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Jordan, Israel and France during the end of the pandemic. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Views from The Citadel in Amman, Jordan

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The city of Amman, Jordan is likely the first city you’ll visit if you travel to Jordan. With a population of over four million people, it is the cultural, economic and government hub of the Kingdom of Jordan. Most arrivals and departures to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan arrive through the Queen Alia International Airport located just south of the city of Jordan, making Amman a likely visit on your travels through the region.

Why Visit Amman, Jordan ?

In addition to containing a number of important archaeological sights, the city of Amman, Jordan also contains a number of interesting attractions that are worth a day or two of your travelling time.

Getting to Amman, Jordan:

We were fortunate to have access to a rental car during our time in Jordan. As a result, we self drove ourselves into Amman; specifically to The St Regis Amman hotel from where we had stayed the night earlier at the Memories Aicha Luxury Camp Wadi Rum.

If you don’t have access to a private car, it is also possible to take a taxi from the Queen Alia International Airport Amman to your local accommodation in Amman. From there, you can set out for local sightseeing within Amman City Limits.

We opted not to drive our rental car within Amman itself, leaving it comfortably with the valet at The St Regis Amman. We arranged a taxi through the hotel, which was a higher than likely normal 10 JOD.

The Citadel:

We started off our sightseeing day at The Citadel. The Citadel is located in a central location on top of Jebel Al Qala’a within Amman, Jordan. In order to avoid a long climb up the hill, we arranged for our taxi driver to drop us off at the top of the hill.

The Citadel has been occupied since the Bronze Age and has been walled by a 1,700 meter wall that has been rebuilt many times over the ensuring years. The remains of The Citadel show that it was a fortress and an agora for politics and commerce over the years.

The admissions to the Citadel was covered through purchase of the Jordan Pass. After presenting our Jordan Pass, we were given access to The Citadel.

The hilltop initial reception area involved a period display of the times and evolution of The Citadel was

Views from The Citadel:

The Citadel commands a terrific view across many of the sloping hills of Amman, Jordan. Among some of the most famous city views in the world, the sloping hills of Amman are pretty engaging to look at and marvel in it’s density.

From various points, you can spot various attractions across Amman. It was pretty easy to pick out the Roman Theatre from The Citadel.

The Temple of Hercules:

The Temple of Hercules is among Amman’s most memorable monuments. It is located within the grounds of The Citadel among one of the first attractions you come to after entering. The Temple of Hercules was built during the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180 CE)

Being a distinct landmark, it adds a nice historic feel to the place. Being a ruin site, it served a reminder of why the city of Amman was such an important cross road during the dates of the Roman Empire.

The Umayyad Palace:

The Umayyad Palace is among the few ruins left at the top of The Citadel that are still standing. The Umayaad Palace was built by Arabs dating from 720 CE. The palace was once an elaborate complex of buildings and gardens.

The domed audience hall is among the few remaining buildings remaining on the site. The audience hall was designed to impress visitors arriving to the Umayyad Palace.

There were quite a few ruins left behind the domed audience hall. We had a good time exploring through the valley ways and the various ruins around the top the of The Citadel.

We also locate the Umayyad Cistern. The Umayadd Cistern once supplied water to the whole Citadel complex. While there were steps leading down to the bottom, we didn’t actually climb down into the cistern itself.

As we departed The Citadel, we took a last look at the Temple of Hercules. It’s pretty spectacular to see Roman Columns like this set across a sloping background.

The Citadel is most certainly going to be the highlight of your visit to Amman, Jordan. Make sure that you time your visit right to get the best light to take in all the views.

Calling on the Roman Theatre:

After the Citadel, we headed down on foot towards the Roman Theatre. We navigated through a labyrinth of stairs as we descended down into the city of Amman. I was pretty happy that we didn’t have to climb up these steps, and getting dropped off at the top with a taxi was the right move.

We were able to capture some photographs of the Roman Theatre, which looked ever so elegant against the skyline of Amman, Jordan. The views looked even better the closer that we approached.

The Roman Theatre:

The Roman Theatre was calling us at the bottom of the stairs from The Citadel. The restored Roman Theatre has a capacity of seating one thousand people. The theatre was believed to have been built in the second century during the reign of Antonius Pius (138 – 161 CE).

The Roman Theatre was built on three different tiers with the rulers seated closest to the action. The military often occupied the second tier, followed by the general public in the top third tier.

It was a steep climb up the steps of the Roman Theatre. The spot ended up being a great resting and people watching space, as the sun allowed for some shade to develop across the seats of the Roman Theatre; allowing for a cooler place to hang out.

Calling on the Fruit and Vegetable Souq Markets:

During our walking tour through downtown Amman, Jordan, we located the food markets within the shopping district. The fruit and vegetable souq was located a short walk from the Roman Theatre.

I always appreciate taking a look at the local markets as you can develop a feel of the community and personality of any city. The Amman Fruit and Vegetable Souq was no different. We captured it as it was just getting going for the day. There were some terrific looking produce through the market.

Much like the markets of Vietnam, I would have loved to have spent a lot of time shopping for food within the markets. Today’s market consisted of mostly men setting up their stores, with mostly male customers unlike other markets that we’ve seen throughout the world.

Local Hummus at Hashem Restaurant:

After a full day of walking around, we started to get a little hungry. We headed to the locally famous Hashem Restaurant restaurant.

We located the Hashem Restaurant. It was conveniently located just off Al Malek Faisal St and Al Malek Al Hussein St. There is a bit of competition for tables here, and we ended up outside on the outdoor covered patio.

The Hashem Restaurant has been running for over fifty years and was previously visited by the King of Jordan. It is open twenty four hours a day and is a great place for a quick snack.

We had a simple order of hummus, falafel and naan. It was a great tasty light meal paired with non alcoholic sprites and bottled water.

Another highlight of our day was that I was also able to locate some original Iraqi Dinars. The Iraqi Dinars had an original photograph of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. It made for a neat souvenir for the currency folder back home.

We enjoyed a nice snack before heading back to The St Regis Amman for a comfortable evening. We used Uber as hailed from the nearby Starbucks Wifi a short walk away from the Hashem Restaurant. The ride cost us a more reasonable 3 JOD ($4.25 USD) with tip.

My Thoughts on Visiting Amman:

The city of Amman, Jordan contained a fair amount of sights and definitely worth a day or two on your way in and out of the country of Jordan.

The Citadel marked the most interesting part of the day’s sightseeing. However there were additional things worth seeing in the city, which included the markets, some great hummus restaurants and some interesting souvenirs. If you find yourselves in Amman, make sure you also make time to visit the Hashem Restaurant for a taste of the local hummus.

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If you have visited Amman, Jordan, what sights do you take in on your visit to the city ?

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