Amman

The Citadel hill is the oldest continuously occupied site in Amman — Bronze Age remains (c. 2000 BCE), Iron Age city of Rabbath-Ammon, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad layers all visible in sequence. The most visible standing structures are the Roman Temple of Hercules (2nd century CE, with two massive column drums and a hand of Hercules carved in white marble), the Umayyad Palace (8th century, including a domed audience hall with a cruciform floor plan), and the Byzantine church (6th century, of which mosaic fragments survive). The Jordan Archaeological Museum at the top of the Citadel has a small but good collection including the 'Ain Ghazal statues (c. 6500 BCE — the oldest large-scale human sculptures ever found, discovered in Amman during road construction in 1985). The hill has unobstructed views over Downtown Amman and across the Roman Theatre below.

The Roman Theatre at the foot of the Citadel hill is the most visible Roman monument in Amman — a well-preserved 2nd-century theatre seating 6,000, still used for occasional performances. The theatre is flanked by two small museums (the Jordan Folklore Museum and the Jordan Museum of Popular Traditions, both worth 30 minutes). Downtown Amman (Al-Balad) spreads out from the theatre through a dense network of streets selling everything from spices and textiles to mobile phones and plastic goods — it is the most traditionally Arab part of the city and considerably cheaper than west Amman. The covered market (Al-Suq) off Al-Hashimi Street has fresh produce, cheese, olives, and dried fruit. The restored Ottoman-era Abu Darwish Mosque (1961, built in alternating bands of black and white stone) is visible from most of Downtown.

Rainbow Street in Jebel Amman — one of the original seven hills, about 15 minutes' walk from Downtown — is the city's most pleasant street for cafes, restaurants, bookshops, and independent retail. The stone houses along the street date mostly from the 1920s–1940s, built by Palestinian Christian families who settled in Amman after the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921. Several have been converted into restaurants and galleries without losing their original character. Nearby, Darat al-Funun (a contemporary art centre in a 1920s stone villa with a Byzantine-era archaeological terrace garden) is one of the best small art spaces in the Arab world — admission free. The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Jabal al-Weibdeh shows Jordanian and regional art in a purpose-built gallery.

Amman has become one of the best cities for eating in the Arab world, combining traditional Jordanian food with a sophisticated restaurant scene that reflects the city's position as a hub for professionals from across the region. For traditional food: mansaf (Jordan's national dish — lamb slow-cooked in fermented dried yoghurt, served over rice with flatbread and almonds) is best eaten standing up at a traditional restaurant near Downtown. Falafel and hummus at Al-Quds or Hashem restaurants near the Roman Theatre are the city's most legendary budget meals. For contemporary cooking: Jabal Amman and the Abdali district have a range of restaurants covering Lebanese, Palestinian, Italian, and fusion cuisines. The coffee culture has exploded in the last decade — independent speciality coffee shops in Abdoun, Sweifieh, and Jabal al-Weibdeh rival the best in the region.

Amman's central position makes it the natural base for several essential Jordan excursions. Jerash — 50 km north, 45 minutes by road — is the best-preserved Roman provincial city outside Italy. The Dead Sea — 60 km west, 1 hour — is an easy half-day, with several resort beach clubs on the Jordanian shore allowing day use; the sea itself, and As-Salt's UNESCO old town nearby, sit within Balqa. The Desert Castles of eastern Jordan are 90 minutes by car east of Amman and work well as a morning or afternoon circuit.