Jordan : Michelin's recommendations

With a land area similar to Benelux''s (roughly two fifths the size of the United Kingdom), Jordan is an independent kingdom boasting a rich history. Today, shock waves from the revolutionary movements in the Maghreb and other neighbouring countries in the Near and Middle East are reaching Jordan, and its people too are calling for change.
Jordan remains a fascinating place; although it has no corridor to the Mediterranean and no great river, it offers astonishingly diverse landscapes, from the pleasant reliefs north of Amman, dominated by wheat and olive crops, to the extremely arid and mineral desert of Wadi Rum. Not to mention its extraordinary architectural vestiges and numerous unexplored archaeological sites...
Jordan is lovely at any season and can be explored by plane, car - or by camel! But for your visit to Petra, one of the most fabulous sites in the Near East, it's best to avoid summertime. A trip to Jordan is worth it just to see Petra, 260 km from the capital in Amman, with its jagged red cliffs looming out of the vast desert whiteness. Petra is above all an amazing geological formation, rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
With its desert castles, oases, great ancient cities, Madaba and its magnificent mosaics, Jordan remains a choice destination for cultivated, independent travellers.
Aqaba, immortalised in the film Lawrence of Arabia, is a little paradise where you can enjoy swimming in the warm waters of the Red Sea alongside schools of multi-coloured fish!