Christian pilgrimage · Kingdom of Jordan
The river where Jesus was baptised. The mountain where Moses saw the land he would not enter. The fortress where John the Baptist was held. All of it in one country, reached by one flight, walked with one guide.
Why here, why now
Pilgrims have spent so long looking west that they forget the Bible's geography runs through Jordan too. Moses died here. Elijah was born here. John baptised here. And right now, it is the side you can actually reach.
Al-Maghtas — Bethany Beyond the Jordan — sits on the east bank, in Jordan. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015 and has received three papal visits. The Byzantine churches, the hermit caves and the stepped baptismal pools are all still there in the ground.
A Jordan pilgrimage crosses no frontier and depends on no crossing point. Your group lands at Queen Alia, meets a Ministry-licensed guide, and stays with that guide for eight days.
We quote a four-day extension to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee separately. It is confirmed only if conditions allow it, and if it cannot run, the Jordan pilgrimage runs regardless and the extension refunds in full.
Coaches with front seating held for those who need it. Step-free routes where they exist. Hotels with lifts. A pace that lets an eighty-year-old finish the day as well as she started it.
Jordan currently sits at Level 3 on the US State Department advisory scale, as do Israel and the West Bank. We say so on this page rather than leaving you to find it later. Any group leader worth travelling with will check, and we would rather you heard it from us. We review conditions with our partners on the ground and will not operate a departure we would not put our own families on.
Many operators have postponed their Israel-based pilgrimages well into this year and issued travel credits. If your congregation is holding one of those credits, or simply put a trip on hold, Jordan is the itinerary that can go ahead — and it is not a consolation prize. It is where the baptism happened.
Five journeys
All five stay inside Jordan and walk the same ground — north to south, from the Decapolis down to the river and out into the wilderness. They differ in how many days you can give, how far you walk, and how much of the country you see after the holy sites.
Five days · Four nights
Four nights, and the places a first group most wants to stand in. No desert camp, no long transfers, no week away from the pulpit.
Eight days · Seven nights
Fewer miles between sites, and more of them. For groups who have travelled before, or who want the scripture rather than the scenery.
Eight days · Seven nights
The complete pilgrimage. Every principal site, a full day at Petra, and a night under the stars at Wadi Rum.
Nine days · Eight nights
The same holy ground, on foot. For a congregation tired of the coach window and able to manage a long day's walking.
Eleven days · Ten nights
The complete pilgrimage, and then the country it sits in — a full day at Jerash, the desert castles, and two nights on the Red Sea.
The ground itself
Five of these are recognised by the Vatican as places of pilgrimage. All of them are within a day's drive of Amman.
Al-Maghtas, on the east bank. Byzantine church foundations, hermit caves and the stepped pools where the earliest pilgrims were baptised. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2015; visited by John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.
“This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.”John 1:28
The Memorial Church of Moses at Siyagha, restored by the Franciscans over sixth-century mosaic floors. On the ridge outside, Fantoni's Brazen Serpent Monument. On a clear day the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem are all in view.
“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo… There the Lord showed him the whole land.”Deuteronomy 34:1
Herod Antipas's fortress-palace on a cone of rock above the Dead Sea. Josephus names it as the place where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded. Recently consolidated, with columns re-erected on the upper court.
“Herod had John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison.”Matthew 14:3
Near Ajloun, on a quiet hill in what was Gilead — associated with the birthplace of the prophet Elijah. The remains of a large sixth-century church, its mosaic floors still legible.
“Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab…”1 Kings 17:1
A cave where tradition holds that Jesus, his mother and the disciples rested on their travels. The shrine of Our Lady of the Mountain stands there now, and Jordan's Christian community keeps a national pilgrimage day here each June.
A place of rest on the road, and still one today.Local tradition
On the floor of the Greek Orthodox church of St George lies the Madaba Map — the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of the Holy Land, laid in the sixth century. Madaba's Christian community has been continuous ever since.
Jerusalem, in tesserae, as pilgrims found it fifteen centuries ago.6th century AD
A Decapolis city on the northern escarpment, its black basalt streets looking out over the Sea of Galilee and the Golan. The country of the Gadarenes, where the herd ran down the steep bank.
“When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes…”Matthew 8:28
Not a site of biblical events, but of biblical geography — one of the Decapolis cities named in the Gospels, and among the best-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world. Later, a substantial Byzantine Christian town with more than a dozen churches.
“…the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.”Mark 5:20
The Nabataean capital, carved into the sandstone of Edom. The great monument on the high place is Ad-Deir, the Monastery. On the peak above the city, Jabal Haroun — the mountain traditionally held to be the burial place of Aaron.
“Aaron died there on top of the mountain.”Numbers 20:28
Pella, where the Jerusalem church is said to have taken refuge before the destruction of AD 70. Lot's Cave at Deir 'Ain Abata, above biblical Zoar. The Dead Sea and Wadi Rum. And, conditions permitting, the crossing to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.
How you travel
Every tier visits every site, with the same licensed guide, in private air-conditioned transport. What changes is where you sleep and how much of the day is unhurried. Jordan's stars are assigned by the Ministry of Tourism, so these are audited classifications rather than adjectives.
Three star
Clean, central, unpretentious. Family-run hotels in Wadi Musa, guesthouses in Madaba within walking distance of St George's. The way pilgrims have travelled for a very long time.
Four star
First-class properties with lifts, full dinner service and the space to sit down together in the evening. This is the standard most congregations travel on, and what we quote unless you tell us otherwise.
Five star
Directly opposite the Petra gate. Overlooking the northern shore of the Dead Sea. For groups travelling with members who need accessible rooms, this tier removes the most friction.
Most groups do. Four star through the north, five star at the Dead Sea and Petra, is the most common combination we quote — the upgrade is felt most where you have time to sit still. We price accommodation night by night, so any arrangement is possible.
Sedans and vans for small parties; minibuses, midi and full coaches for groups. In Jordan, any group of seven or more travelling in one vehicle must be accompanied by a Ministry-licensed guide, and licensed local guides are separately required at Petra, Jerash and the Amman Citadel. All of that is included in what we quote — it is a legal requirement, not an upsell. Wadi Rum is reached only by 4×4 with a Bedouin driver, and at Petra electric carts run from the Visitor Centre to the Treasury — they cannot be reserved in advance by anyone, but priority goes to groups with elderly or limited-mobility travellers, and your guide requests one on arrival.
For pastors, priests and group leaders
Leading a pilgrimage should not mean chasing deposits from your own congregation. It shouldn't cost you your Sunday afternoons or your relationships.
Earned seats · one free place for every ten travelling
Ten paid travellers earns the first free place. Twenty earns the second — which is usually how a spouse comes along. You watch it fill in real time on your own dashboard, so you always know exactly where you stand.
Request a quote
Group size, hotel tier, dates and room arrangements all move the number, so a single published price would be wrong for almost everyone reading it. Answer the questions below and we will build a proper quote from real supplier rates. Nothing is owed until you accept one.
Before you ask us
Because the honest answer depends on six things we don't know yet. A group of forty pays considerably less per person than a group of twelve, because the coach and the guide divide across more people. Five star at the Dead Sea costs more than four star in Amman. Singles cost more than doubles. Rather than publish a number that would be wrong for most readers, we build the real one and send it within a day.
As a rough orientation: for a group of twenty-five or more travelling seven nights, three-star land packages typically start in the mid-to-high one thousands per person, four star runs somewhat above that, and five star higher again. Your quote will be specific.
Jordan currently carries a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” advisory from the US State Department, with certain border regions and specific areas rated higher. We say this plainly rather than hoping you don't check.
What we can tell you is that we review conditions continuously with our licensed partners on the ground, that groups in Jordan travel with a licensed guide and a tourism police escort as a matter of law, and that we will not operate a departure we would not send our own families on. If we cancel, you are not left carrying the cost.
Possibly. We quote a four-day extension crossing at Sheikh Hussein in the north, and confirm it roughly seventy-five days before departure once conditions are clear. If it cannot go ahead, the Jordan pilgrimage runs exactly as planned and the extension refunds in full. We deliberately structure it this way so that the trip you have promoted from the pulpit does not depend on it.
Not by default. Our quotes are land packages, which keeps them transparent and lets your group take advantage of the nonstop service between Dallas–Fort Worth and Amman, or book from whichever gateway suits you. We are glad to advise on routings and can connect you with a consolidator for group air.
We can quote from a single traveller upward. Church groups are typically twenty-five to thirty-five people, which is also where the per-person cost becomes most favourable. Below seven travellers in one vehicle the rules change — no licensed guide is legally required — so very small parties are quoted differently.
Tell us, and we plan around it rather than apologising for it afterwards. Hotels with lifts, front seating held on the coach, step-free routes at the Baptism Site, and an electric cart at Petra requested for you on arrival — the carts cannot be pre-booked by anyone, and priority goes to exactly the travellers who need them. Ad-Deir involves eight hundred steps and nobody is obliged to climb them — there is plenty to do below. Accessible rooms are available in the five-star tier.
A deposit of $300 per traveller confirms a place once you have accepted a quote, of which $100 is a non-refundable service fee. The balance is due sixty days before departure, and any traveller can spread it over monthly instalments instead. Every traveller is offered travel protection in writing and must either accept or decline it — we strongly recommend accepting.
For groups, yes. Jordan waives the individual visa fee for groups travelling with a licensed agency and guide, provided a manifest is filed in advance. We collect passport details from your travellers, file the manifest, and it is handled on arrival. You will need a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates.