Things to see in the eastern desert

Qusayr Amra

Look up at the zodiac dome in the caldarium and the hunting scenes in the main hall.

Qasr Kharana

Explore the 60-odd rooms around the courtyard, then climb to the roof.

Qasr al-Azraq

The basalt gate, Lawrence's room and the small mosque in the courtyard.

Azraq Wetland and Shaumari

Boardwalk and bird hides at the wetland; oryx safari at Shaumari (RSCN fees apply: JTB lists JD 8 and JD 5 + tax for foreigners as of November 2026).

Umm el-Jimal

Wander among two- and three-storey basalt houses, churches and a barracks with corbelled stone roofs.

Suggested order

Going anticlockwise — Hallabat, Azraq, Amra, Kharana — puts lunch in Azraq and leaves the light of late afternoon for Kharana. In summer, start very early; there is little shade at any of the sites.

Azraq town

Azraq, at the crossroads of the highways to Iraq and Saudi Arabia, is a long-standing trading town with Druze and Chechen communities. Simple restaurants on the main road serve grills and mezze; it is the only good lunch stop on the loop.

Qasr Mushatta

Close to Queen Alia Airport, the unfinished Umayyad palace of Mushatta is best known for its carved facade, much of which was given to Germany in 1903 and now belongs to Berlin's Museum of Islamic Art (Pergamon Museum). What remains is a striking brick-and-stone ruin, easy to visit on the way to or from the airport.

Photography and etiquette

Flash photography is not allowed inside Qusayr Amra to protect the frescoes. Be respectful at the small mosque inside Qasr al-Azraq, and avoid climbing on unstable walls at Kharana and Hallabat.

Inside Qusayr Amra

Qusayr Amra looks unremarkable from outside — a low limestone building with three barrel vaults and small domes. Inside, almost every surface is painted. The audience hall shows hunting scenes, musicians, dancers, craftsmen at work and a famous panel of six rulers, often interpreted as kings the Umayyads had defeated or claimed to surpass. In the bathhouse rooms, the domed hot room (caldarium) carries one of the oldest surviving depictions of the night sky on a hemisphere, with constellations and signs of the zodiac. Restoration over recent decades has cleaned many paintings, so colours that were once dark with soot are now vivid.

Allow time for your eyes to adjust in the dim light; a small torch without flash helps. The nearby well and the remains of the water-lifting system show how the bath was supplied.

Birds and wildlife at Azraq

The Azraq oasis was once a vast wetland. Groundwater pumping for Amman dried most of it in the late 20th century, and RSCN has restored part of the marsh, with a boardwalk, reed beds and hides. In spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) migrating birds — waders, herons, raptors and songbirds — stop here on the Rift Valley flyway. At Shaumari, a short drive south, RSCN breeds Arabian oryx, which once disappeared from the wild, alongside gazelles and onagers; safaris run in the reserve vehicles when available.

Azraq Wetland Reserve

Established 1978; Jordan's first Ramsar wetland (RSCN)

Shaumari Wildlife Reserve

Fenced from 1975; Arabian oryx breeding (RSCN)

Best months

March–May, September–November

A full-day loop, hour by hour