Al Salt

This ancient town was once the capital of Jordan. A half-hour drive northwest from Amman transports you back in time to a town of picturesque streets and dazzling houses from the late Ottoman period, with their characteristic long-arched windows.

It's the ideal place for admiring the architecture, stopping off at the small museum, and finishing up at Salt Zaman, a lovely restored old building in the heart of the town, charmingly furnished with antiques and handicrafts.

Salt also houses a Handicrafts School where you can admire traditional skills of ceramics, weaving, silkscreen printing, and dyeing.