Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHICH CASTLES TO VISIT?
You can't come to the Eastern Desert and miss the desert castles. There are dozens of ruins belonging to the Umayy-
ad dynasty scattered across the gravel plains of the Eastern Desert, so how do you choose which ones to visit?
Below is a list of the main castles and a guide to their accessibility. The castles fall into two convenient sets. The
most famous ones lie on the so-called 'desert castle loop'. These are accessible on a day trip from Amman via
Azraq, by tour or by car. Individual castles can be reached with more difficulty by a combination of minibus and
taxi.
The other set lies on the so-called 'Eastern Desert Highway', or Hwy 10, which leads from the town of Mafraq to
the Iraqi border. These are much more time-consuming to visit.
Each of the two sets takes a long, full day to cover. You can combine the two sets by staying the night in Azraq
and using Hwy 5 to cut between the two. See also the boxed text (
Click here
) for a third set, all of which are thor-
oughly off the beaten track.
Set 1: Desert Castle Loop
CASTLE NAME PUBLIC TRANSPORT4WDBY TOURWORTHWHILE
Qasr al-Hallabat
(
Click here
) Yes
No Sometimes
Qasr al-Azraq
(
Click here
)
Yes
No Yes
Qasr 'Uweinid
(
Click here
)
No
Yes No
Qusayr Amra
(
Click here
)
Taxi from Azraq
No Yes
Qasr Kharana
(
Click here
) Taxi from Azraq
No Yes
Qasr Al-Mushatta
(
Click here
)
Taxi from Amman
No No
Set 2: Castles of the Eastern Desert Highway
CASTLE NAME PUBLIC TRANSPORT4WDBY TOURWORTHWHILE
Umm al-Jimal
(
Click here
)
Yes
No Sometimes
Qasr Deir al-Kahf
(
Click here
)No
No No
Qasr Aseikhin
(
Click here
)
No
No No
Qasr Burqu
(
Click here
)
No
Yes No
