Jordan self-drive holidays

Almost everything is researchable (and bookable) online. Get yourself a decent map and a guidebook to do a bit of pre-trip planning to see where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do.

Hiring a car is simplicity itself. All the big global brand names have offices in Jordan – but you’ll often do better to go with a quality local company, who can offer new cars, good backup, full insurance and trustworthy customer service at a much lower price. Reliable (www.rentareliablecar.com) has a great reputation – they’ll pick you up (and drop you off) for free at the airport or anywhere within Amman, for example – but there are lots more companies out there. All you need is your UK driving licence.

If you’ve driven before in, say, Greece or Italy, driving in Jordan will be familiar: standards aren’t quite up to scratch everywhere, but the roads are excellent and signage (in Arabic and English) is good. The main thing is that distances are small: you could drive from Amman to Petra in under three hours, and hiring a car for a week will let you explore far off the beaten track of most tour companies. Traffic is light in most areas, other than within Amman, which can suffer from congestion – here, you’d do best to leave your car at your hotel and take taxis to move around within the city centre.

If you’d rather take public transport, there’s a dense and reliable network of buses crisscrossing the country. These are mostly small local minibuses, seating about fifteen people, which ply between market towns – they’re a great way to meet and chat with ordinary local people. Buses mostly don’t run to a timetable: they depart when they’re full, but service is generally frequent, especially on routes between larger towns. Fares amount to a few pennies – rarely more than £1, apart from on longer routes such as Amman to Petra or Aqaba.

Another option, alongside buses, are service-taxis (or “serveeces”) – large, roomy cars seating four or five passengers. They run on fixed routes – either within or between towns – but are quicker than buses and generally go more often. Their fixed per-person fares are slightly higher than the competing bus fare – but still very affordable.

For more information go to www.visitjordan.com