Jordan

The rose-red capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, carved directly from the sandstone cliffs of southern Jordan and at its height connecting spice trade routes from Arabia to the Mediterranean, Petra is one of the world's most extraordinary and romantic archaeological sites. The kilometre-long Siq gorge narrows to three metres wide before opening to the sight of the Treasury's carved facade — one of the great architectural reveals in travel.

A vast valley of rose-red sandstone mountains, ancient rock inscriptions, and sculpted arches rising from a desert floor of compacted sand, Wadi Rum was described by T.E. Lawrence as 'vast, echoing, and godlike.' A night in a private Bedouin camp — camel rides at dusk, stargazing from the desert floor, a traditional zarb meal cooked underground — is the quintessential Jordan experience.

The lowest point on the surface of the earth at 430 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is a hypersaline lake so dense it is physically impossible to sink in it — visitors float effortlessly in the mineral-rich water whose therapeutic properties have attracted visitors since the time of Cleopatra. The minerals in the water and the black mud of the lake floor have been used for cosmetic and medical purposes for thousands of years.

One of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world, Jerash's colonnaded streets, triumphal arches, hippodrome, temples, and theatres cover a site that was inhabited from the Bronze Age and reached its peak in the 2nd century AD. The city's ancient stones are so complete and so undisturbed that a visit here rivals anything Pompeii or Rome can offer in terms of legibility.

Perched on a hilltop above the Jordanian capital, the Amman Citadel contains the ruins of structures spanning 7,000 years of continuous occupation — including the Iron Age Temple of Hercules with its colossal marble hand, the Byzantine Church, and the Umayyad Palace. The view from the citadel across the white limestone city of Amman and its seven hills is one of the Middle East's finest urban panoramas.

Often called the Grand Canyon of Jordan, Wadi Mujib's dramatic limestone canyon cuts through the highlands to the Dead Sea shoreline in a river valley of extraordinary scale. The reserve runs adventure activities including canyoneering routes that require swimming through waterfalls and scrambling over polished rock — a completely unexpected experience in a country most visitors imagine as purely desert.