AMM-Jerash-Aljoun

That's a complicated trip to do on a Friday. There are buses from Amman to Jerash, no problem. Jerash to Ajloun in far more complicated as is getting away from there afterwards.

Almost certainly you would need to come back to Amman to continue to Damascus, there are quite possibly service taxis from Irbid, but again a Friday - and towards the end of the day at that - is less likely. No public transport goes anyway near to the Olive Branch.

In other words, if this is the programme that you really want to follow, you will need taxis just about everywhere!

PS : there's another point as well. The Olive Branch is very popular as a get away resort from Amman, and is likely to be booked up on almost any Friday.

The Olive Branch is a lovely hotel, I've been a couple of times now and its well worth staying over. It has great views of Jerash, serves excellent food especially breakfast and the staff are exceptionally friendly.

hmmm... if you are planning to do this all in one day it will be very difficult especially on friday. i recommend staying in amman and visiting jerash via minibus (i got away free because the driver couldn't speak english even though i was trying to pay him!!) from the abdali bus station. it's a little tricky heading onward to ajlun from there so you're better off sharing a taxi or paying for one outright. what i did was visit jerash on one day, return to amman, and the next day visited ajlun and umm qais with a service taxi. you can connect to damascus from irbid (on the way to umm qais).

Thanks for all the replies and the heads-up on booking a room at Olive Branch in advance. My new plan looks something like this: Friday: AMM-Jerash and a night at the Olive Branch, Saturday: After breakfast first visit castle in Ajloun (I just love castles) and then on to Irbid and hope to arrive in Damascus before 3PM and then on to Maalula. Does this seem manageable in one day?

How hard will it be to find a service taxi from Irbid to Damascus because it would seem to me that it is redundant to return to Amman to take a service taxi to Damascus.

Many thanks again for the very informative replies.

Yes, I know it looks redundant, but you may well gain time in the end. I'm sorry that I can't give you any answer about the service taxis from Irbid because I've never tried this. I think it would just be a question of luck.

Service taxis leave when full and there are likely to be far more potential passengers from Amman than from Iribid, but there's no way at all of telling in advance how long you would have to wait in either place.

Malula should be perfectly possible from Damascus - but are you planning to stay there for the night? Because getting back again would be very different. And if you are planning on visiting Mar Musa, remember that it is a considerable distance above the town, I think that even with a car (taxi?) you would need about 15/20 minutes to get there.