How Visitors Get Around Amman
Amman is a sprawling city built across many hills and valleys, and its layout shapes how you move through it. Areas take their names from the hills (jabal) or valleys (wadi) they sit on, such as Jabal al-Luweibdeh and Wadi Abdoun. East Amman holds many of the historic sites and cultural activity, while West Amman is more modern and serves as the economic center. Practically speaking, this means a visitor will often move between two fairly different halves of the city, and the mode you choose depends on where you're headed.
Rail, Metro and Tram
Amman has no metro or tram network for visitors to use. The city's historic railway station, Mahatta, is a small and charming stop with a museum that is worth a look even if you don't take a train. Scheduled rail services within Jordan and to Damascus have been suspended and are unlikely to resume; occasional train excursions and local services to Zarqa run no more than once a week, if at all. In short, don't plan your trip around rail.
Buses and Public Transport
Amman has a bus network, including a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that serves the city and connects it to neighboring Zarqa. For visitors, the BRT is most useful as a link between the main bus stations and the center: from Tabarbour North Bus Station you can take the BRT on the main road to the Jordan Museum for 0.610 JD, and from there catch a taxi into the city center. The same BRT connection is useful when arriving from the airport bus.
Long-distance and regional buses cluster at a few key stations:
- Tabarbour Bus Station — on the northern fringes of Amman. Most buses to the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge and to northern Jordanian cities such as 'Ajloun, Jerash and Irbid arrive here, as do buses from Madaba.
- JETT bus office — in the Abdali area, at the former and larger bus station on King Hussein Street. Many JETT buses leave and arrive directly outside the office, including the bus to the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge. JETT also runs daily buses to Damascus and several per week to Baghdad.
- South Bus Station (Wihdat / Mujama Janobi) — where tourist buses and vans to and from Petra operate; vans leave when full.
- 7th Circle — non-tourist buses coming from the south (Kerak, the airport and beyond) pass through here and continue a little further into town.
There are also serviis — sedan cars that operate like buses along set routes. From Tabarbour you can take serviis #6 to the Raghadan Tourist Service Station (Raghadan Al Seyaha), next to the Colosseum. Be careful: there are two Raghadan stations in Amman, and the one relevant to most tourists, near the Roman Theater, is Raghadan Al Seyaha. Tell your taxi driver this specifically, or you'll end up at the wrong one and have to catch another serviis back.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxis are plentiful and metered. As a rough guide, it should never cost more than 2 JD on the meter from Tabarbour Bus Station to most places in town, so either insist on the meter or pay a maximum of 2 JD. From the 4th Circle, a taxi to your hotel runs about 1–1.5 JD.
Uber and Careem both operate in the city, and are a convenient way to cover the last leg of a journey — for example, 1–3 JD from where the airport bus drops you to your hotel. Be aware that taxi drivers tend to crowd bus stops, especially at the North Bus Station, and will aggressively try to sell you a ride, sometimes boarding the bus to claim they are the official taxi service. They are not, and they generally overcharge.
Walking
Some areas of Amman are not easily navigated on foot. The walkable route may be inconvenient even when it looks short on a map: tools such as Google Maps may not provide an easily traversable route even in walking mode, and a walk that appears to take a few minutes can take half an hour or longer. In some areas you may run into roads that quickly become highways or expressways, very steep hills, roads with no functional sidewalk, sidewalks without working pedestrian crossings at busy intersections, sidewalks heavily obstructed by vegetation, and crossings that require a distant overpass. Walking in Amman is not impossible, but parts of the city are designed primarily for vehicles, so plan accordingly.
Getting From the Airport Into the City
Queen Alia International Airport (AMM) is where most travellers to Amman and Jordan arrive. Note that money exchange is available before passport control along with a single ATM (which doesn't take MasterCard); more ATMs are available after customs. There is only one post office and no postbox, in the arrivals hall of Terminal 1 near the Lost and Found office. If you have an early arrival flight and don't want to pay for a full day's hotel for just a few hours, you can wait in the baggage claim hall, where there are some seats available — not too comfortable, but acceptable.
Your main options for reaching the city:
- Sariyah Airport Express bus — leaves from a marked bus stop on Level 1 (Arrivals) and costs 3.30 JD. It runs around the clock every hour on the hour, with additional half-hourly departures during the day. Buy your ticket from a kiosk outside the airport exit; the kiosk often only takes cash and frequently lacks change for larger bills, though card payment has been working more recently. Note that during night time there is no service to the airport. The service may be run by a minibus with very limited seating and baggage space. The route runs from the airport via 7th Circle, Six Circle, Fifth Circle, Fourth Circle, the Housing Bank Complex, and on to Tabarbour North Bus Station. If you're travelling with luggage, you may not be allowed to get off wherever you like — the only official stops are 7th Circle and Tabarbour North Bus Station. From the 4th Circle, where the bus turns north, you can catch a taxi to your hotel, or just walk the last stretch. From the terminus, take the BRT to the Jordan Museum for 0.610 JD, or call an Uber or Careem for 1–3 JD.
- Ride-hailing — Uber and Careem operate, with the fare usually around 15 JD, but rides must be caught upstairs at the departures level. Catching a ride from the city back to the airport can be expensive and unpredictable; at busy times such as the morning rush hour it may cost upwards of 25 JD, and a driver may accept the fare, take time to arrive, then decline upon realizing the destination is the airport. Repeatedly searching for a driver could significantly delay your arrival at the airport for your flight.
- Taxi — a taxi from the airport to Amman should cost around 22.5 JD, and airport taxi fares are fixed. You can pay by card at the taxi station booth, which saves you from exchanging or withdrawing money at the airport with its high commission costs. The fixed fare applies only from airport to city; a driver may try to secure your return ride at a massively inflated price. It is not hard to get a ride from the city to the airport for 20 JD, so if a driver asks for more, make your stand and say no.
Very occasionally, regional or charter flights use Marka Airport (ADJ), which is centrally located in east Amman a few kilometers beyond the railway station. You may also consider arriving and departing via Aqaba airport and continuing by intercity bus — in summer there may be cheap flights there, and you may be entitled to a free visa.