Running through Syria and Jordan to the Red Sea, the King’s Highway is one of the world’s oldest and most “romantic” thoroughfares – “as legendary and evocative as the Silk Road”, says Stanley Stewart in the FT. Used since prehistoric times, it has carried monarchs, saints and heroes, from the Queen of Sheba and John the Baptist to Richard the Lionheart and Lawrence of Arabia.
And its geography is as astounding as its history. The road runs on a plateau to the east of the Great Rift Valley, where the earth splits dramatically to create a “gothic” landscape of escarpments and precipices, “convoluted” canyons and “dizzy” heights where eagles soar.
To take in some of the most remarkable sights in relaxed fashion, drive south from Amman in northern Jordan to Aqaba on the Red Sea, giving yourself a week and staying at small, locally run hotels along the way. From the ruined palace of Herod Antipas near the village of Mukawir (ancient Machaerus), you can see the domes of Jerusalem “glinting in distant sun”. Desert winds moan between the broken pillars of the banqueting hall where Salome is said to have danced for the king, demanding the head of John the Baptist as her reward.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And scarcely less atmospheric are the vaulted halls of Karak, 50 miles to the south – one of the most impressive of Crusader castles, a “chiaroscuro labyrinth” sitting astride a sheer-sided spur of rock. Leave your car and walk the last ten miles to Petra if you can, hiking across a “colossal empty landscape” and along the natural valley through the rock that leads to this ancient city, with its spectacular hidden temples and tombs carved into towering sandstone cliffs. And stop again to wander among the rock formations of the desert valley of Wadi Rum – “vast, echoing and god-like”, in the words of T.E. Lawrence.
Original Travel has an eight-night trip from £2,850 per person including flights, car and driver
-
5 dramatically dysfunctional cartoons about the government shutdownCartoons Artists take on life without government, foam finger pointing, and more
-
October 4 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include the Einstein files, defunding the police, and an odd tribute to Jane Goodall
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipeThe Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
6 incredible homes under $1 millionFeature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classicThe Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period dramaThe Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
-
Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thrillerThe Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’
-
A Booker shortlist for grown-ups?Talking Point Dominated by middle-aged authors, this year’s list is a return to ‘good old-fashioned literary fiction’
-
Fractured France: an ‘informative and funny’ enquiryThe Week Recommends Andrew Hussey's work is a blend of ‘memoir, travelogue and personal confession’
