Northern Jordan is one of the most overlooked regions in the country. While the south draws the global attention — Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba — the north holds a concentration of Roman, Byzantine, medieval and early Islamic monuments that rival anything in the Mediterranean world. Three of these sites make a natural circuit: Jerash, Ajloun Castle and Umm Qais. Together they are sometimes called the Treasures of the North, though you will not find that label on any road sign — it is the honest description of what they offer.
This is a full-day commitment from Amman. Leave early, prioritize well, and you will return in the evening having covered a Roman colonial city, a medieval Islamic castle and an ancient Hellenistic-Roman city perched above the Sea of Galilee.
The three sites
Jerash: the Roman spectacular
Jerash — ancient Gerasa — is the starting point for the day because it is the largest site and deserves the most time. Located 50 km north of Amman and 45–55 minutes by road, it is one of the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world. The Oval Plaza, the Cardo Maximus, the Temple of Artemis and the South Theatre are all in remarkable condition. The site warrants a focused 2.5–3 hours.
Entrance: 10 JOD (free with Jordan Pass). See the Jerash complete visitor guide for the full detail of what to see and in what order.
Arrive at Jerash by 8:30 AM (opening time is 8:00 AM) and spend the morning before the tour groups arrive. By 11:00–11:30 AM the Oval Plaza is noticeably more crowded. Leave Jerash around 12:00 PM.
Ajloun Castle: medieval fortress in the forest
Ajloun Castle (Qalat Ajloun) is 40 km west of Jerash through pine-forested hills — a 50-minute drive that is unusually scenic for the region. The castle was built in 1184 by Husam al-Din Abu al-Hayja, a nephew of Saladin, to guard the Jordan Valley fords and coordinate the Ayyubid response to the Crusader presence.
It is not a ruin — the castle is substantially intact, with multiple towers, a dry moat, a gate complex with drawbridge grooves, and a series of halls and barracks that can be walked through. The strategic position is obvious: from the walls you look west across the Jordan Valley into the West Bank, and north toward the Yarmouk River. The Crusaders could see it from their positions; it was designed to be seen.
The castle takes about 1–1.5 hours to explore. There is a small museum on site. The Ajloun Forest Reserve, managed by the RSCN, begins immediately around the castle and offers walking trails if you have extra time.
Entrance: 3 JOD (covered by Jordan Pass). Arrive Ajloun approximately 12:30–13:00, leave by 14:30.
Umm Qais: the view at the end of the world
Umm Qais (ancient Gadara) sits on a basalt plateau in the far northwest of Jordan, overlooking the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), the Yarmouk River gorge, and on a clear day, the Syrian plateau and the Israeli city of Tiberias. It is one of the most emotionally charged panoramas in the region — three countries visible from one spot, a lake that figures in the Gospels directly below, and a Roman-era city around you.
Gadara was one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, a confederation of Hellenised cities in the eastern Roman world that also included Jerash (Gerasa) and Philadelphia (modern Amman). The city was famous in antiquity for its philosophers, satirists and poets. The ruins include a colonnaded street, an unusual basalt theatre, Roman baths and a Byzantine church complex. The black basalt stone used throughout — volcanic rock from the local geology — gives Umm Qais a dramatically different visual character from the white limestone of Petra or Jerash.
The Ottoman-era village built over part of the site has been partially converted into a visitor complex with the excellent Resthouse restaurant. Arrive in time for the late afternoon light on the Sea of Galilee — the view from Umm Qais at sunset is one of the finest in Jordan.
Entrance: approximately 3 JOD (covered by Jordan Pass). Arrive Umm Qais approximately 15:00, stay until 17:30–18:00 for the sunset view.
Drive back to Amman from Umm Qais: approximately 1.5 hours (110 km).
How to organize the day
Recommended order: Jerash (morning) → Ajloun (midday) → Umm Qais (afternoon)
This order puts the largest and most demanding site when you have most energy, places the castle visit at a comfortable midday pace, and saves the sunset view at Umm Qais for late afternoon when the light is best.
Departure time from Amman: no later than 7:30 AM. An earlier start (7:00 AM) gives you more buffer at each site.
Sample itinerary:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7:30 AM | Depart Amman |
| 8:30 AM | Arrive Jerash, begin site visit |
| 11:30 AM | Leave Jerash, drive to Ajloun |
| 12:30 PM | Arrive Ajloun Castle |
| 14:00 PM | Lunch at Ajloun (small restaurants in town, or carry lunch) |
| 14:30 PM | Drive to Umm Qais |
| 15:30 PM | Arrive Umm Qais |
| 17:30 PM | Sunset view over Sea of Galilee |
| 18:00 PM | Dinner at Umm Qais Resthouse (optional) |
| 19:30 PM | Arrive Amman |
This is a long day — 12 hours door-to-door. It is achievable without feeling rushed, but it requires a genuine early start and efficient site visits.
Transport options
Private driver (strongly recommended)
This day trip requires a private driver or a rental car. The three sites are not connected by public transport at any practical frequency. A private driver for the day costs approximately 80–120 JOD depending on your negotiation, the season and the driver’s reputation. Your hotel in Amman can arrange this; alternatively, book through a tour platform.
Advantages of a private driver over self-drive: you can read, rest or look at the scenery between sites rather than driving, and a knowledgeable driver can suggest additional stops (the Ajloun Forest Reserve trail, a local lunch spot) based on your pace.
Organized tour (best value with guide)
Full-day organized tours combining all three sites are available from Amman. These include transport, a guide and often lunch. The guide element adds particular value at Jerash (the Decapolis context) and Umm Qais (the Hellenistic history and the Gospels geography). Prices: 70–100 USD per person for a group tour.
Private north Jordan tour: Jerash, Ajloun and Umm Qais from Amman Jerash, Ajloun Castle or Umm Qais private tour from AmmanSelf-drive
Driving the Treasures of the North circuit independently is straightforward with GPS. Amman → Jerash (Route 35 north then local road to Jerash) → Ajloun (west through Kufranjeh, signposted) → Umm Qais (northwest via Irbid, 50 km from Ajloun) → Amman. Total distance: approximately 280–300 km.
Car rental: 60–80 JOD per day. Parking is available at all three sites.
What to eat and where
Jerash: small restaurants and cafes near the visitor centre offer Jordanian standards — hummus, grills, fresh bread. Adequate for breakfast or a mid-morning coffee. Not the place for a long lunch.
Ajloun town: several local restaurants for a straightforward lunch. Nothing memorable, but reliable and inexpensive.
Umm Qais Resthouse: the best meal of the day. This is a converted Ottoman school with a terrace looking directly over the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmouk gorge. The menu features Jordanian and Levantine cuisine — mezze, grilled chicken, mansaf. The setting alone is worth the visit, even if you only stop for coffee and knafeh. Reservations useful for dinner; lunch is usually walk-in.
The wider context: northern Jordan’s under-appreciated region
Northern Jordan is the part of the country most visitors skip. The Amman–Petra–Wadi Rum–Aqaba corridor is the standard circuit, and it is easy to see why — those four destinations represent some of the most remarkable experiences available anywhere in the world. But northern Jordan holds a depth of history and landscape that the south cannot match.
The region around Jerash, Ajloun and Umm Qais was, in antiquity, the most densely populated and intensively farmed area of what is now Jordan. The olive groves visible around Ajloun today are descendants of trees that were cultivated in Roman times. The springs that made Jerash (Gerasa) and Gadara (Umm Qais) possible for large ancient cities are still running today, though at reduced levels. The forest covering the Ajloun hills — the oak and pine forest now protected as the Ajloun Forest Reserve — is the remnant of a forest belt that once extended across much of northern Jordan before millennia of grazing and timber cutting.
The biblical geography of the north is different from the south. The south is associated with the Exodus, the desert wandering, Moses’s death at Mt Nebo, and the ancient cities of the Edomites and Moabites. The north is Decapolis territory — the setting of multiple Gospel stories. Jesus is recorded as preaching in Decapolis cities, casting out demons “into a herd of swine” (the Gadarene Swineherds story, set at Gadara/Umm Qais), and drawing followers from across the region. The Sea of Galilee visible from Umm Qais is the lake where the disciples were fishing when they were called. This geographical specificity is part of what makes the Umm Qais viewpoint so charged for visitors from Christian traditions.
The medieval layer — Ajloun Castle, the Mamluk trade routes, the Crusader-era geopolitics — adds a further dimension. The Ayyubid dynasty (Saladin’s dynasty) built Ajloun Castle specifically to deny the Crusaders access to the Jordan River fords. The castle is thus a piece of a military strategy that defined the entire political history of the eastern Mediterranean for a century. From the castle walls, you can see the strategic logic of its position in minutes.
This combination — deep time, multiple civilizations, extraordinary landscape — is what makes the Treasures of the North worth the full day from Amman.
Practical notes
Jordan Pass: covers all three site entrances (Jerash 10 JOD, Ajloun 3 JOD, Umm Qais 3 JOD). If you have the Jordan Pass, the circuit is effectively free beyond transport.
Weather: the north of Jordan is greener and slightly cooler than the centre. Spring (March–May) is ideal — the hills around Ajloun are forested and wildflowers cover the verges. Summer is hot but less extreme than Petra or Wadi Rum. Winter can be cold and rainy, especially December–February.
Dress: Ajloun Castle requires some climbing and uneven surfaces. Comfortable closed-toe shoes are essential. The Umm Qais plateau can be windy; bring a layer.
Photography: the key moments — the Oval Plaza at Jerash in morning light, the view from Ajloun Castle across the valley, the Sea of Galilee from Umm Qais at sunset — are genuinely spectacular. Carry a fully charged camera battery.
Ajloun Forest Reserve: the optional addition
If the itinerary allows and energy is good after Ajloun Castle, the Ajloun Forest Reserve — managed by the RSCN directly around the castle — offers marked walking trails through oak and pistachio forest. The reserve protects approximately 13 square kilometres of the largest remaining forest in northern Jordan and is home to roe deer, Palestine vipers, wolves and a rich bird community.
The trails range from 2 km to 8 km in length and are well-marked. The easiest (2 km, 45 minutes) loops through the forest immediately below the castle with good views of the valley below. The longer Orjan Trail (8 km, 4–5 hours) connects the castle area to the village of Orjan, where a local women’s cooperative serves traditional Jordanian lunch in a community centre — one of the more genuine cultural experiences available in northern Jordan.
If you are on the full Treasures of the North day, the forest reserve is best treated as a brief extension (30–45 minutes) rather than a full trail. Save longer hikes for a dedicated Ajloun day trip. The Ajloun Forest Reserve eco-lodge (RSCN-managed) offers accommodation if you want to base yourself in the north for more than a day.
Jerash in depth: the monuments to prioritize
Given the 2.5–3 hour Jerash window on a Treasures of the North day, knowing which monuments to prioritize helps avoid spending too long at the secondary sites.
Non-negotiable: the Oval Plaza and the full length of the Cardo Maximus. This sequence — entering the elliptical forum and then walking the main colonnaded street — gives the clearest sense of the city’s scale and organization. Allow 40 minutes.
Essential: the South Theatre, the Temple of Artemis, and the Nymphaeum. Together these three represent the civic, religious and public life of the Roman city at its height. Allow 60 minutes.
If time allows: the North Theatre, the Byzantine Church mosaics in the northern sector, and the Temple of Zeus. The North Theatre is better preserved in some details than the South; the Byzantine mosaics give important context for the city’s later history. Allow 30–40 minutes.
Skip or minimize: the Hippodrome chariot show is a separate ticketed attraction and takes 30–45 minutes. On a Treasures of the North day, it uses time better spent at the archaeological remains. The visitor centre gift shop and café are accessible and inexpensive for a quick coffee before starting.
The discipline of the Jerash visit on this particular day is in not lingering at any single monument too long. This is a day for impressions and breadth; deeper engagement with any one site is better served by a dedicated return visit.
FAQ
Is one day enough for Jerash, Ajloun and Umm Qais?
Yes, if you start early (7:30 AM from Amman) and keep to an efficient schedule. You will spend 2.5–3 hours at Jerash, 1.5 hours at Ajloun, and 2–2.5 hours at Umm Qais. The driving time between sites adds 2–2.5 hours. Return to Amman by 19:30–20:00.
Which is better: just Jerash or the full Treasures of the North?
Jerash alone is the best single site in northern Jordan and a great half-day from Amman. The full Treasures of the North circuit (adding Ajloun and Umm Qais) is for those who want to maximize a full day and are willing to commit to the early start. The Umm Qais sunset view alone justifies the full day.
Can you do Jerash and Umm Qais without Ajloun?
Yes. Dropping Ajloun from the circuit saves 1.5–2 hours. This is a good option if you want more time at Umm Qais or a more relaxed pace at Jerash. Umm Qais is underrated and warrants unhurried exploration.
Is Umm Qais worth visiting?
Yes, and it is significantly undervisited. The combination of Roman ruins, Ottoman village, dramatic basalt architecture and the view over the Sea of Galilee is unique. The Resthouse restaurant alone makes it worth including.
How do you get from Jerash to Ajloun?
By car, it is approximately 40 km and 50 minutes west through forest. By public transport, it requires a bus to Ajloun town and then a shared taxi up to the castle. Not practical on a day trip itinerary — a private car or organized tour is the right choice.