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Private Desert Castles Tour: Explore Jordan's Umayyad Heritage with Optional Azraq Wetland Visit

4.2

19 Ratings

Amman

Discover Jordan's Umayyad heritage on a private desert castles tour. Explore Amra Castle, Kharana Castle, and Al-Azraq Castle, with optional Azraq wetland visit.

Duration: 4 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Amman - After pick up from your central Amman by private, air-conditioned vehicle, relax as you journey out of the city and into the desert plains of eastern Jordan. Drive with your friendly informative English-Speaking Driver who doubles up as your guide to experience the fascinating Desert Castles. The region is speckled with 7th and 8th century castles, many within a 15-minute drive of each other, that were originally built by the Caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty as rural retreats and hunting lodges. Hear tales about this powerful dynasty, the first Muslim rulers of the Arab kingdom, including fascinating snippets about their extravagance and debauchery. As you travel, feel free to tell your driver if there’s a castle you want to see more of or another castle you’d like to visit, at your own expense. Your tour is private, so the itinerary can be tailored to suit your interests.

What's Included

English-Speaking Driver
Hotel pick up and drop off
Additional Guide available
Entry to Al Azraq Wetland Reserve & Marsh Trail
On board WI-FI
Private Transfer in a new air-conditioned vehicle
Entrance to historic castles

What's Not Included

All type of meals, unless option with lunch selected (Vegetarian meal by request)
All type of beverages
All type of gratuities (Tips to the Driver) – Recommended
Personal Expenses
Anything else not mentioned

Additional Information

Discover three of Jordan’s famous Desert Castles in this trip from Amman. With your informative private English-Speaking Driver, learn about these fabled castles, built by the Umayyad rulers during the 7th and 8th centuries as you visit each one in the desert plains of eastern Jordan. Explore UNESCO-listed Amra Castle (Quseir’ Amra), famous for its 8th century fresco of hedonistic scenes before continuing to the Kharana Castle (Qasr Al - Kharanah) and the atmospheric Al - Azraq Castle (Qasr Al - Azraq), the latter used as military based by T.E. Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia during World War I. Upgrade your tour with a Guide. You can also add the Azraq wetland visit. Return to your hotel.

Confirmation will be received at the time of booking.
Airport Pick-up and Drop-off by request.
Contact your local operator (office phone number, emergency mobile number – out of office hours, or email address) a day before to reconfirm pick-up arrangements provided in your voucher.
For Jordan Pass holders that purchased tour activity with entrance fees, please inform us to reimburse the entrance fees in destination.
Tour activity is provided in English. For other languages by request.
Clients with mobility issues, please contact us.
Strollers and car seats for infants, please contact us.
Most local tourist restaurants in Jordan do not serve alcohol, if you do not want a dry restaurant that does not serve alcohol, please contact us.
For Arab and G.C.C. nationals, please book Jordan Pass option; visits without entrance fees included, as reduced entrance fees apply. It is better for Arab and G.C.C. passport holders to pay directly in destination their entrance fees.
Clients are advised to bring hats, sun screen, and comfortable walking shoes.

Location

Amman

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.2

(19 Ratings)

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Dennis_m

Mar 28, 2024

Great tour, great guide - Hassan Alqurnih from Zaid Tours was an enthusiastic tour guide. Not only was he knowledgeable about the three sites but he wanted to make sure we saw every nook and cranny. The long drive to the sites from Amman provided a constant commentary about everything we asked. Considering it was Ramadan and he couldn't drink anything, we were impressed with his endurance and his great sense of humor.

Review provided by Viator

Rhiannon_g

Jan 9, 2024

definitely recommend - Amazing sites and the driver was great - punctual, friendly, and helpful when we needed it but otherwise let us explore on our own (we booked the non-guided option because we already knew a lot about the sites).

Review provided by Viator

Travel-berg77

Dec 5, 2022

Excellent Trip to Three Castles - Azraq was an excellent driver and easy to talk with during the trip. He gave us all the time we needed to explore each Castle. This was a do it on your own trip so Azraq was not required to be a guide but he was happy to tell us what he knew about each castle.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Sutwil

Sep 21, 2022

Excellent Tour with Hassan - Eastern Jordan - Having a full day tour with Hassan was a real treat on my first day in beautiful Jordan (East Jordan - Desert Castles and Azraq Wetlands). He is very knowledgeable, kind, patient, receptive to questions, trustworthy and open to itinerary customization. His English is excellent and he knows his country extensively. I am very glad Zaid Tours paired me with Hassan for my first and second full day tours. I look forward to recommending him to friends for their future tours.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cynthia

Apr 12, 2018

If I knew earlier, I would have... - If I knew earlier, I would have booked all of my tours through Zaid Tours. Hasan was an excellent driver/tour buddy.

Review provided by Viator

Kent_b

Jan 4, 2024

Three archeological sites in Eastern Jordan in a few hours - For an additional charge, I was picked up at my hotel in Madaba rather than from Amman, which was nice. The driver (Amer?) was friendly and interesting to talk with, but frankly not a great (i.e. attentive) driver by Western standards. Anyway, the sites, particular Qusayr 'Amra with its amazing frescoes, were interesting. I did not hire a guide at Qasr al-Azraq, which was a mistake as there is no information available at the site and I had to find out about it online afterwards. Recommended if you want less than a full day tour (I was back before 2 PM) and have already seen Jerash and Umm Qais.

Review provided by Viator

Shashitha

Nov 22, 2022

Pleasant experience - No guide is provided. It is transport only but the driver, Basel, was knowledgeable in the area and made the trip a pleasant experience.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Wraithlin

Sep 15, 2019

A hidden gem - We booked the desert castle tour on a whim and we were delighted that we did so. The driver and tour guide were professional and arrived on time, and talked to us about the region throughout the trip. The desert castles are fantastically well preserved and each has an amazing history attached. The full day trip has plenty of driving, as do all trips in Jordan, but nothing to strenuous and we enjoys a very nice lunch in a local restaurant. In terms of information, the sites have visitor plaques that provide significant details if you don't mind reading yourself, or the tour guide narrated to us as we walked the sites. At each site there is usually a tea tent where you have the opportunity to buy souvenirs, but this is standard anywhere outside of Amman base on our experience and the locals were genuinely friendly and relaxed. The trip is closer to 6 hours than 4 hours unless you rush the site visits.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cynthiabrown1

Oct 30, 2017

I added a City Tour to this Desert... - I added a City Tour to this Desert Castle Tour and was glad I did. Upon getting picked up by the driver, I informed him I had to be back at the hotel by 3:15 or at the latest 3:30 I had obtained a late checkout approval from the hotel until 4:30 in order to shower and prepare for my flight home.. It would have been helpful for the driver to inform me/us of the amount of time he suggested at each stop in order to meet that limitation because by the end of the tours we didn't return to the hotel until 4:15! Additionally, the driver had car problems engine died twice en route. Although stressful at the end of the tours, I did really like the Citadel, Roman Amphitheater, and the three castles, particularly the castles.

Review provided by Viator

Sharondian_l