Travel to Amman

Flying to Amman

British Airways and Royal Jordanian Airlines operate direct flights to Amman from the UK. Royal Jordanian Airlines also runs direct flights from the USA. Prices tend to stay consistent all year round, but you can find slightly cheaper flights in winter from October to March.

Flight times

From London - 5 hours; New York - 10 hours 25 minutes; Los Angeles – 17 hours (including stopover); Toronto – 13 hours (including stopover); Sydney – 19 hours 30 minutes (including stopover).

Travel by road

Jordan has a good, expanding road network. Road signs on the highways are in Arabic and English. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. Speed limits are 60kph (38mph) in cities, 80kph (50mph) on country roads and 120kph (75mph) on motorways. A driving licence valid in your country of origin is acceptable, provided you have held it for at least one year. However, an International Driving Permit is recommended. Visitors are not allowed to drive a vehicle with normal Jordanian plates unless they have a Jordanian driving licence.

Emergency breakdown services

Royal Automobile Club of Jordan (tel: +962 6 585 0626).

Routes

Amman is well connected by modern roads to the rest of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian National Territories and Syria. South of Amman, the Desert Highway (Highway 15) is the main artery to the port of Aqaba. It also runs north to the Syrian border, as does Highway 35.

Coaches

Several bus companies, all using air-conditioned modern coaches, run regular services to and from Amman. Jordan Express Tourist Transportation Company (JETT) (tel: +962 6 566 4141; www.jett.com.jo) is one of the main operators.

There are several bus terminals in Amman. The JETT Depot has scheduled services to Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, Riyadh and Jeddah as well as Petra and Aqaba. Wihdat Station near the Middle Circle, 5km (3 miles) south of downtown, covers southern Jordan including Madaba, Petra, Ma'an and Aqaba. There is also Mujamma’a Al Shamal on Jordan Street, which has routes to Al Baqa’a, Jerash, Irbid, Ain Al Basha, and Fheis.

Time to city

From Aqaba – 4 hours; Damascus - 3 hours.

Travel by Rail

Services

Despite plans to develop a 900km (560-mile) national railway, with international links to Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Oman , Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar and the UAE, Jordan current has very little in the way of a rail network. There was a twice weekly service between Damascus and Amman that used ancient rolling stock, but it has been stopped due to the conflict in Syria.

Operators

Hejaz Railway (tel: +962 6 489 5414, www.english.jh-railway.com) runs the local railway.