AMMAN

The city of Amman is a rapidly evolving Middle Eastern hub, a land in which ancient ruins collide harmoniously with modern sensibilities. Though some try to claim this isn’t a picturesque city, you only need to stroll through the Ottoman architecture of buildings like the expansive King Hussein Mosque to prove that sentiment wrong. Travellers who visit the city’s neighbourhood of Al-Balad are privy to Jordan’s progressive and artistic nature, with many streets covered in graffiti and art installations. History buffs can journey to excavation site of the citadel, or stroll the gallery of The Jordan Museum and the Archaeological Museum, a quintessential part of any Amman guide. As expected the city is home to an incredible array of Middle Eastern food, with Kunafa sweet pastries and the lamb dish of mansaf best enjoyed before a local coffee. Here in Amman the coffee shops don’t just sell coffee and food items, with the flavoured tobacco of shisha readily available for smoking in an elaborate hookah. When looking for a place to camp out in Amman Jordan consider the Intercontinental Hotel, it is regarded as the city’s oldest 5-star hotel and offers an oasis of fine-dining, body treatments and plush rooms just a short walk from the centre of the old town. Jordan might be known best for its ancient city of Petra and buoyant salty swims offered by the Dead Sea. But travellers here are now realising the metropolis of Amman is a worthy bucket list inclusion and a vibrant Middle Eastern city worth dedicating a week or two of travels towards.