Into Amman, out of Damascus?

Hello - I was wondering whether we have 'enough time' to see the main sites of Jordan (say: Amman surrounds Petra but excluding Red Sea and Dead Sea and Wadi Rum?) by flying into Amman on a Saturday and out of Damascus the following Saturday - so only 7 / 8 days really. I know we are pushing it, obviously, but we haven't got enough holiday days left and I'm really desperate to get to Jordan this year. Alternatively we could fly into and out of Amman and not bother with Syria at all (would only really be seeing Damascus if we do depart that way). Any thoughts? Thanks, L.

Should be enough time. You could spend 3 full days in Petra, 3 days in Amman and visit the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo as well (which is a day trip from Amman or Madaba). No problem. Check out my 2008 Jordan Photo Travelogue.

Yes, it is certainly possible. You could spend 2 days in Amman, 3 days for Petra and the remaining 2 days in Damascus. Amman-Damascus is around 4 hours by taxi.

I think 8 days are enough for you visit many beautiful places in Jordan. I suggest the following route
Day 1 - ( stay in Amman) - full day tour to Jerash, Umm Qais e Ajloun Castle if you want is possible also visit Pella.
Day 2 - ( stay in Amman) - Half day tour to desert castles after you can visit some places in Amman ( ( The Citadel, Roman Forum, Mosques)
Day 3- ( Amman to Petra) - full day tour to Mount Nebo, Dead Sea, Wadi Mujib, Kerak ,Petra. Night stay in Wadi Musa
Day 4 ( stay in Wadi Musa) - Visit Petra ( the main route Monastry East Cliff )
Day 5 ( stay in Wadi Musa ) - Visit Petra ( High Place of sacrifice get the way down via Wadi Farasa , in the afternoon you can go to Litle Petra and Wadi Araba)
Day 6 - Petra- Wadi Rum - Jeep tour and night stay at Bedouin camp
Day 7 - Wadi Rum - Aqaba ( Aqaba Gate, Aqaba castle, Boat tour, South Beach)
Day 8 - Aqaba- Amman

Thank you all so much for your replies, I'm so glad it seems we can do this trip in the limited time that we have. I cannot WAIT(!) to get to Jordan, hoping to book flights in the next couple weeks.

PS. george5 - are taxi's one of the easier ways to travel around the area? I did this quite a bit while touring SE Asia so I'm happy to do it again here. The only thing is that in SE Asia the taxi's would only take you to the border of another country, then we had to walk across the border and find another one on the other side, would that be the same situation going fom Jordan | Syria?

george5 - are taxi's one of the easier ways to travel around the area? I did this quite a bit while touring SE Asia so I'm happy to do it again here.

Yes, taxi are fairy easy, but not all that cheap. You can hire a taxi to take you from Amman to Damascus for around 40 JD/50 €. Ask your hotel to arrange it for you and have them pick you up from your hotel.

Within Jordan you can also rent cars at affordable prices (~ 40 € per day). Driving is fairly straight forward.

vaniacroccia's suggestions are just great, but may I recommend dropping one day in Petra and visiting instead Dana? I know that Petra and Wadi Rum are the big attractions of Jordan and nobody can be disappointed BUT Dana is a hidden jem. You go there, you don't know what to expect and then you see it, fall in love with it, and realise it is as worth as Petra and Wadi Rum.

You may skip Little Petra and, if you're a energetic walker, can manage to see all the main sights in Petra in one day (main road, the East Cliff, the Monastery and the High Place of Sacrifice). I did that and don't have the feel I rushed too much. As to Dana, I may tell you more, but I read some of vaniacroccia's recent posts, and they really tell much more and better than I could do. The search function is still disabled but if you visit vaniacroccia's profile you can see her recent posts and find great information on Dana.

Enjoy!

I would skip Jordan and spend my time in Syria; it is a much more interesting country and has many fantastic sites to be visited. You can't see it all in 7 days but you can get a good taste with a couple of days in Damascus and then visits to Krak des Chevaliers, Aleppo (2 nights) and Palmyra. There are some other sights along this path.

Ronniepf enjoying your post here on Syria I would like to know why it is so difficult to organize a trip to Syria.
Hotels do not have websites for reservations and does not have any agreements with the online reservations sites, also do not answer emails. Everything seems much more expensive than in Jordan, prices are crazy and it all begins with 100 Euros. A full day tour to a 150 km distance city is 100 Euros, a half day tour to a 25 km distance ciy is also 100 euros .... prices is not logical. They are trying to rip me off even before the trip.
How do you managed to organize your trip, book hotels and tours?

Syria is cheeper than Jordan. Look at LP book for hotel recs- and why not try hotel Afamia in Damascus? Yes, you do have to wheel & deal a bit & watch out from getting ripped off my taxis- but that exists in Jordan too, no? You can ararnge your taxis for daytrips, etc when you get there (Syria). IDuring summer in SYria many are very hungry for tourist $s so you do have to watch being ripped off. But in general it is not worst than your average other country. I just got to Jordan- has a reputation for being more $$- but also more tourists- i can report more on that later once i have some experiences here. Best wishes.

Zoey II
The first impression I got from Syria, I am still at the stage of research on prices, is that prices are more expensive than those I paid in Jordan.
Everyone says that Syria is cheaper, I really hope it is because I will travel on holiday twice this year and did not want to be bankrupt.
Being ripped off in the Middle East is normal, no one escapes the Arab style of negotiation without taking a loss. But I'm getting smart, now I know the tricks.They always find a crack in which it was combined to deliver much less than you paid for.

I am expecting answers from the hotels that booked through a tourist company in Damascus , if I can not I will try Afamia .

Do you know good hotels in other cities do you recommend?

Villa Palmyra is a nice mid range option in Palmyra... in Aleppo i would not rec the place i stayed.....