Syria and Jordan Combination Tour ( 15 Nights / 16 Day )

Day 01: Arrive Damascus where you will be met and assisted. Later, transfer to your hotel in Damascus.

Day 02: Breakfast, then start our excursion to the south: visit Bosra, the antique Roman city with its 15,000 seat amphitheater. Continue to Chahba, the city of "Philip The Arab" the Syrian emperor of Rome, with its mosaics, Roman bath and amphitheater. Return to Damascus for dinner and overnight.

Day 03: Breakfast and start our tour by visiting Damascus including the National Museum, the Old Bazaar, Omeyad Mosque, Azem Palace, Via Recta, Anania's House, Bab Charki and St. Paul Window. Dinner and overnight in your hotel.

Day 04: Breakfast, then visit the site of Palmyra including the museum, the temples of Bel, Baal Shamin and Nebo, the Roman Bath, The Tetrapyle, Diocletian's Camp and the Tomb's Valley. Dinner and overnight in your hotel. (B, D)

Day 05: Breakfast, then depart to Krak Des Chevaliers and visit the famous Crusader Castle, the most spectacular example of Crusader military architecture in the Middle-East. Proceed north to Hama with its Norias (giant water wheels) located on the Orontes River. Arrive Aleppo where you will be transferred to your hotel for Overnight.

Day 06: Breakfast, then visit Aleppo: a sightseeing tour of the city, including the museum, Grand Mosque, the 5 miles old Bazaar, the Citadel, some caravanserai. PM excursion to visit St. Simeon Cathedra, where St. Simeon stayed for 40 years on top of a column in the fifth century. The Byzantine Cathedral was then the largest in the Byzantine empire. Back to Aleppo.

Day 07: Breakfast and start heading south to visit Sergella one of the 500 Dead Cities of the north. These were ghost cities built between the 4th and 7th century and disappeared around the 9th century for still unknown reasons. Continue our visit to Apamea, the antique 1000 column Hellenistic city built by Selucos Nicator who named it after h is Syrian wife. Proceed to Maaloula, the village where people still speak Aramaic the language of Christ and its St. Serguis Chapel. Return to Damascus for dinner and overnight.

Day 08: Breakfast and morning free for relaxing by your hotel pool or for last minute shopping. PM you will be met and transferred to a Syrian home where you will enjoy dinner with a Syrian family and have a social discussion about the way of life in Syria. Later transfer back to your hotel for an overnight.

Day 09: Breakfast, then you will be met and transferred by car from Damascus to Amman. Arrive Amman where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 10: Breakfast, then drive to the lowest spot on Earth and experience floating in the waters of the Dead Sea. Continue northwards to Pella in the Jordan Valley, considered to be one of the largest, richest and most important archeological sites in Jordan. Continue our tour to Um Qeis, Gedara which was renowned in its time as a cultural center. Um Qeis boasts an impressive colonnaded terrace and the ruins of two theaters as well as a spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee, the Yarmouk River and the Golan heights. Transfer back to Amman for check-in at your hotel, the Forte Grand. PM you will be met and transferred by our representative to a Jordanian home for dinner and a friendly social discussion to get to know the local people and see their way of life. Later transfer to Amman for check-in at your hotel, the Forte Grand. PM you will be met and transferred by our representative to a Jordanian home for dinner and a friendly social discussion to get to know the local people and see their way of life. Later transfer back to your hotel for an overnight.

Day 11: Breakfast and start our tour by visiting Jerash, the best preserved city of Roman times, to see its theaters, temple, churches and colonnaded streets. Then continue to Ajlun to tour the 12th century saracen Castle built by one of Saladin's lieutenants in the campaign against the Crusaders. Transfer to your hotel in Amman.

Day 12: Breakfast and start our tour of the Desert Castles, which include the Amra Castle with its zodiac dome adorned with the early examples of Umayyad fresco paintings, the fortress-like mysterious Qasr Kharanah, the black basalt Roman/Medieval Islamic fort at Azraq and the Roman fort turned Omayyad residential palace of Qasr El-Hallabat. Enjoy a nice lunch at Azraq. Transfer back to your hotel. Later you will be met and transferred to Kan Zaman Village, which dates back to the 19th Century. It was transformed into a handicraft center with small workshops in little and winding streets offering all hand-crafted traditional products, sidewalk cafe and a main restaurant that offers a wide selection of home-made dishes. Enjoy a delicious dinner at Kan Zaman while enjoying live folkloric music and entertainment. Transfer back to your hotel for an overnight.

Day 13: Breakfast, then drive southward along the Kings' Way to Petra, visiting Madaba with the oldest map of the Holy Land and its Mosaic School and Mt. Nebo the alleged burial site of Moses overlooking the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley; then drive through the magnificent scenery of Wadi Mujib to Kerak to visit the Crusader Castle. Continue to Petra.

Day 14: Breakfast, and a full day tour visiting the many sites of Petra, on horseback and then on foot. This city was carved into the rose-red Sharah Mountains by the Nabateans and lost to Civilization until re-discovered by the Swiss Burkhardt. Walk through the Siq, a narrow and winding fissure between the cliffs, to reach the Treasury, the Roman Theater, the Courts, Qasr Bint Pharaoun, Temple of the Winged Lion and other monuments. A break for lunch, or if you wish you may climb up to the Monastery. Overnight in Petra.

Day 15: Breakfast and transfer back through the desert highway to Amman. Transfer to your hotel, the Marriott Hotel in Amman. Balance of day at leisure for last minute shopping or simply relaxing by your hotel pool. Overnight.

Day 16: Breakfast, then you will be met and transferred to Amman Airport where you will be helped with your check-in formalities for your flight back home.