Desert Castles Jordan - Tailored Historic Site Tour

Jordan is a beautiful country to visit. There really are so many of the best places that are dotted all across the country from Umm Qais to Aqaba.

Explore our interactive map with top attractions and places to visit and book a day tour to get to the heart of your destination!

Places

Ajloun Al Salt Amman Aqaba Azraq Wetlands Reserve Dana Biosphere Reserve Dead Sea Desert Castles Iraq Al Amir Jerash Kerak Castle Madaba Main Hot Springs Mount Nebo Pella Petra Shaumari Wildlife Reserve Shobak Castle The Baptism Site Umm Qais Wadi Mujib Wadi Rum

Desert Castles

Beautiful examples of both early Islamic art and architecture, stand testament to a fascinating era in the country's rich history.

East from Amman, easily reachable on a roundtour of about 260 km, are a series of desert retreats, built by Umayyad princes in the 8th century, among them astounding palaces, bathhouses and hunting lodges.

Known collectively as the desert castles or desert palaces, they were originally part of a chain stretching from north of Damascus down to Khirbet al-Mafjar, near Ariha (or Jericho). There are various theories about the purpose of the desert palaces, yet the lack of a defensive architectural design suggests that most were built as recreational retreats. Most of the desert castles can be visited over the course of a day in a loop from Amman bypassing Azraq.

List of castles: Umayyad Castles, Qasr Amra (UNESCO site), Qasr Al-Azraq, Qasr Al-Kharana, Qasr Al Hallabat, Qasr Al-Mushatta, Umm Ar- Rasas church (UNESCO site)

What can you Experience in Desert Castles?

Bookable with Tailormade

Desert Castles Tour

Desert Castles
Tailor-made Request
Cultural Activity

Explore

Check full list of experiences

Just Imagine and leave the rest for us to handle.

Tailor-made the dream vacation you have been waiting for!

Blogs

What do tourists like the most about this place?
What are the best places to eat there?
What else you can do there?

Go to our Blog page to get some tips and insights!

Find out more

Virginie Lefèvre

2024-04-22

Perfect Visit of As-Salt City and Iraq Al-Amir Perfect one-day excursion in archeological site Iraq Al-Amir and in the amazing Unesco-listed As-Salt with private local guide. Perfect option to discover the city’s most charming places and taste local food specialities. Nice lunch in guesthouse with lovely Jordanian family. Recommend 100%!

Maria Eugenia J

2024-04-02

Very professional and efficient team. Very polite and collaborative driver. We hired the driver service for our entire trip and from the first moment they were very fast and efficient. They gave us an almost brand new car and the driver was wonderful

Debbie H

2023-12-26

Amazing Jordan and incredible guide. Just finished an absolutely amazing 6 day private tour with Zaman Tours. Our private driver, Sameer, was the absolute best. He spoke excellent English. He wasn’t just a driver but a personal guide during our trip explaining so much about Jordan, history, sights and more. He took us to some of the best restaurants for lunches. He also made sure all our needs were taken care of and modified our tour to meet our changing needs. We can’t recommend him enough. Jordan and all its amazing sights and people were beyond what we ever expected. We went to Amman, Jerash, Dead Sea, Aquba/Red Sea, Wadi Rum, and Petra making many stops along the way As a side note we all felt incredibly safe during our trip. We didn’t notice anything concerning and the Jordan people were very happy and welcoming to US visitors and for that matter all religious backgrounds.

Camille C

2023-10-31

Amazing trip in Jordan ! Booked a trip through les Aventureurs working in partnership with Zaman tours and the experience was incredible, from the program and sites we visited to the organization itsef. Our french speaking guide Khaled was fantastic, he provided us high quality information about the country traditions, the sites we were visited, but also answered all our questions. He ensured to give us a different experience to what we see everywhere for our trip to Jordan which was greatly appreciated! Big thank you to Khaled and the two travel agencies as this was an incredible trip !

Caroline M

2023-10-29

Unforgettable trip Incredible trip to Jordan, a country rich in culture and nature. My only regret is that the trip didn’t last longer! Special mention to our guide Khaled who made this trip unforgettable with his attentiveness, his knowledge, his calm and his unfailing humor.

Silvia P

2023-09-10

Fantastic tour with an Italian speaking guide We received an excellent service and support from zamantours. Our Italian-speaking guide, Abdullah, was outstanding: he gave us precise and comprehensive information about places and culture, he was highly flexible in the program and tireless in his work. He has been a reference for us throughout our trip. Also Yusef, the driver, was kind and flexible. All the personnel were always punctual and professional.

Paula S

2023-07-27

Amazing experience It was a wonderful experience. Petra is an awesome place, breathless sunset at the Wadi Run desert, there are many archeological sites and significant religious places of the Bible.Floating on the Dead Sea was just incredible. Thanks to Ahmed, our tour guide, he's really professional and kind, with a great sense of humor and Samir, excelent and safety driver, both of them are the best advicers in Jordan.

Alberto D

2023-07-01

Best experience in Jordan We enjoyed one week touring Amman, Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. The sites were extraordinary, the guide Fadl very competent and the driver Samir very kind. Hotels were first class, people always very friendly. Food very appreciated.

Deepan P

2023-06-04

1-week trip to Jordan Excellent organization, accomodation, and meals. Our driver Hisham is very knowledgeable, great communication and attitude that made our trip memorable. Hisham is a very safe driver, took us often on interesting side routes, and made extra effort to show as much of Jordan as he could in the time we had. He is punctual, and checked on our accomodations and visits. Hisham cares deeply about Jordan and his guests