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Tourist
Information |
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To
plan your trip, here are some of the
practical details you should know
about Jordan: |
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Entry
Visa to Jordan
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Most
of the nationalities (especially
European and Northern American) can
obtain the
visa upon arrival in Amman
Airport. Visa's can be obtained in
advance from Jordanian
Consulates and Embassies. |
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Hotels
and Rest Houses |
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Jordan
is well equipped with 5*,4*,3* hotels
throughout the country. Hotel and
restaurants prices are
controlled by the Ministry of Tourism
and the Ministry of Supply.
Government Rest Houses with
sleeping and dinning facilities are
located at
all the key
tourist sites
throughout
Jordan. 5* Hotels are operated by
local groups and well known
International chains such us
Intercontinental Hotel, Four Seasons,
Marriott Hotel,
Crowne Plaza, etc. |
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Food
and Drinks |
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Eating
well and heartily is part of the
Jordanian tradition, and there are
many fine
restaurants that offer a wide
selection of authentic Arabic food at
reasonable prices,
such
as Kan Zaman Village Restaurant
and Reem El Bawadi Restaurant. Dishes
to try:
The
national dish, Mansaf, a whole stewed
lamb with cooked yogurt sauce served
on a bed
of rice and bread,
Musakan
chicken with onions, olive oil and
pine seeds cooked in an oven
on a think load of Arabic bread,
Maqlouba, a meat or fish and vegetable
stew served with
rice, and of course the basic
shish
kebab. Other Restaurants with
different international
cuisines can also be found in
the cities like Chinese and Italian
Restaurants. Coffee is
concentrated and black, unless
you ask for Nescafe (the
general term
for instant), usually
flavoured with cardamom. Tea is
even more popular, served without milk
but usually with
mint and sugar is optional. Local and
International beer, wine and spirits
are available
throughout
the country. The local alcoholic
drink that is popular with Arabic
dishes is Arak,
nice
flavoured liquor that is mixed
with water and ice. |
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Climate |
You’ll
enjoy the mildest weather in autumn
and especially the spring, when wild
flowers are
in bloom. Summer is long, from
May to early October and intensely hot
and dry, though
evenings are cooler. Rain falls
from November to March in the North,
but Aqaba on the Red
Sea is a warm and sunny winter
resort. Winter is an ideal time for
Aqaba – Mellow days
and warm seawater. Winter can be cold
especially in Amman and in the east,
temperatures
in Amman average 5 C (46 F), in
Aqaba 16 C (61 F). Summer temperatures
in Amman
average 30 C (77 F), in Aqaba 35
C (90 F). |
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Clothing |
You
won’t need much formal wear, though
in general Arab custom expects you to
dress
more conservatively than you
might back home, especially if your
visits include a mosque.
Pack a sun-hat and add a sweater
for cool evenings even in summer,
raincoat in the winter.
Good Walking shoes are vital and
easy to-kick off sandals or moccasin
for the mosques
where women need to wear a
headscarf.Include insect repellent and
sun block |
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Money |
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The
national unit of currency is the
Jordanian Dinar (JOD) with 1,000 fils
to the dinar,
bank-notes from ½ to 50 dinars,
Jordanians also calculate in Piaster
(10 fils = 1 piaster). In
addition to the big hotels, many
major shops and restaurants in Amman,
Aqaba and Petra
will accept credit cards. Smaller
establishments request Jordanian
currency.
Traveller’s
cheques are best purchased in US
dollars or pounds sterling.
Exchange rates: Jordanian
Dinars per US dollar - 0.71 (2003) |
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Tipping |
Most
hotels and restaurants include a
service charge in their bill, in which
case it is not
obligatory to tip waiters, but
you can always add a little extra. If
service charge is not
included waiters should be
tipped around 10% of the bill. |
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Electricity
and Water |
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The
electrical system is based on 220 AC
Volt, 50 Cycles, and requires rounded
two round
pins/prong wall plug. Visitors
from North America will need a
transformers / adapter which
can be provided by most hotels.
All hotels have their own
filtering water system and their water
is considered safe to drink.
Also bottled water is cheap and
readily available. |
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Shopping |
Jordanian
Handcrafts represent a tradition of
skilled workmanship and folk art that
dates
back many thousands of years.
The most common Jordanian craft items
include Madaba
rugs, curved olivewood, mother of
pearl, cross stitch embroidery,
Palestine poetry,
Hebron
glass, silver
jewellery, carved
stone animals, Bedouin
jewellery
and
artefacts, old swords
and turn of the century rifles,
sheepskin and leather
goods and
coloured
sand bottles.
A
walk through a downtown souq will
bring you in touch with hundreds of
smell every day
items that you may wish to take home as a
souvenir of your visit to Jordan. |
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Time
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| Plus
two hours from GMT. Seven hours ahead
of US eastern standard time.
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Business
Hours |
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Friday
and Saturday are the weekly holidays.
Government offices and most business
are
closed.
Banks are open from Sunday to
Thursday from 08h30-15h00.
Business Offices are open from
08h30-13h30 and from 15h30-18h30.
Government offices are open only
from 08h30-14h00
Shopping Hours are flexible,
most shops open from 09h30 till 22h00 |
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Holidays |
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Several
national holidays are observed on the
same day every year:
New Year Day (January 1)
King Abdullah Birthday (January
30)
Labour Day (May 1)
Independence Day (May 25)
King Abdullah accession to
thrown (June 9)
The Late King Hussein Birthday
Anniversary (November 14)
Christmas Day (December
25)
Several Islamic religious
holidays are observed by their precise
dates vary by about two
weeks every year in line with
the Islamic calendar that is used to
determine religious
holidays.
Muslim New Year
Prophets Birthday
Eid Al Fiter
Eid
Al Adha |
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Medical
Services |
Medical
services are excellent in Jordan
larger cities and towns. Most doctors
are bilingual
in Arabic and English. All
hotels have a doctor on call,
embassies can also suggest a
doctor or a hospital. |
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Useful
Numbers |
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Police:
192
First Aid Ambulance: 193
Fire Service: 191
Traffic Police: 190
Operator: 1212
International Queen Alia
Airport: (+962-9) 4453200
Tourist Emergency: 800-22228 |
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Geography |
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Location |
| Middle
East, northwest of Saudi Arabia
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Border
Countires |
| Iraq
181 km, Israel 238 km, Saudi Arabia
744 km, Syria 375 km, West Bank 97 km
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Elevation
extremes
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lowest
point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m
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Natural
resources
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| phosphates,
potash, shale oil
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| >>
People |
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Population |
| 5,460,265
(July 2003 est.)
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Ethnic
groups |
| Arab
98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1% |
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Religions
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Sunni
Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority
Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and
Roman
Catholics, Syrian Orthodox,
Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox,
and Protestant
denominations), other 2%
(several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze
populations) (2001 est.) |
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Languages |
| Arabic
(official), English widely understood
among upper and middle classes |
| >>
Government |
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Country
name |
conventional
long form: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
conventional short form: Jordan
local short form: Al Urdun
local long form: Al Mamlakah al
Urduniyah al Hashimiyah |
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Government
type |
| constitutional
monarchy |
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Capital |
| Amman |
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Major
Cities
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| Ajlun,
Aqaba,
Kerak, Zarqa, Irbid,
Jerash,
Ma'an, Madaba, Mafraq |
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Transportation |
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Infrastructure |
Travel
within Jordan is efficient. A good
road system is constantly being
expanded and
upgraded. Jordan's road signs
are marked in English and Arabic, and
there are petrol
stations and rest houses at
regular intervals through out the
country.
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Transportation |
Taxies
(yellow cap with green stamp) are
easily available on the road, or they
can be
arranged for by asking the
hotel. Rent a Car offices are also
available at the Airport and in
Amman, international companies
like Europcar and
Hertz or local rent
a car companies.
Daily bus service and Hejaz
Railway trains connect Amman with
Damascus. Taxi service is
also available between Amman and
Damascus and Amman and Beirut. |
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Ports |
Aqaba
port, in south of Jordan on the Red
Sea. Daily ferry boat connects Aqaba
with
Nuweibaa port and Sharm El
Sheikh in Egypt. Private boats are
also available for excursion
to
Pharaon Island in Egypt.
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Airports |
International
and charter flights fly into Amman’s
Queen Alia International Airport, and
Aqaba King
Hussein Airport.
Local flights fly into Amman Marka
Civil Airport. The three
Airports provide banking,
car-hire and tourist information,
office services in addition to
duty-free shop, restaurant and
snack bar facilities. The national
carrier Royal Jordanian
Airlines links Amman with many
of the capitals in Europe, Far East
and the Arab world, and
operates wide body jets to New
York, Chicago and Detroit. Many other
international air
carriers operate regularly to
Amman. |
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Communication |
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Telephone |
| Excellent
direct telephone, fax and telex
communication is available
internationally. |
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Newspapers |
Arabic
and English
Newspapers, as well as
foreign publications, are available at
many
news stands. |
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Mailing |
| Postage
stamps can be purchased at hotels and
post offices. |
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Television |
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Jordan
television broadcast in English and
French on channel one, there is also
Channel 2
the sport channel, and Channel 3
the movie channel presenting English
and French movies.
Programs are listed daily in the
Jordan Times.
CNN,
BBC, TV5 and other Satellite channels
are available in most of the hotels
with cable. |
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Radio |
Jordan
has
four radio channels on the FM
wave, 96.3 the English Channel, 99.00
the
Arabic Channel, 90.0 the French
channel and 104.10 Fann FM the music
channel. |
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