The best bars and cafés Jordan

Locals, expatriates and tourists meet in this trendy and design café with its sixties decoration to nibble on sandwiches, salads and burgers. In the alcove armchairs or on the comfortable sofas, you feel at home to chill out without taking your head off. From the terrace, you can enjoy the view of Amman and hear the call to prayer from the nearby Hussein Mosque. Books, including travel guides, are sold on site. An ideal place to have a brunch or a break in the afternoon. Very friendly staff and draft beer.

This cafe on the edge of Tourism Street, on the way down to the Visitors' Centre, is one of the few in Wadi Musa to offer a relaxed atmosphere and to serve alcohol. However, the clientele is almost exclusively male and gangs of girlfriends or single women will quickly feel stared at. The café is frequented as much by locals as by tourists, who chat over a hookah flavoured with honey or apple. The friendly and unpretentious welcome and the Jordanian dishes make it a good address.

Only a few steps from Paris Square nestles this very nice traditional café, with an oriental and wooded Art Deco decor. The heterogeneous decoration, the old mosaics, the bistro chairs, the mottled objects give to the place the air of a Spanish inn with Levantine sauce. A clientele of regulars rush there to share a shisha, to devour some local specialities at low prices (try the manakish, a Levantine speciality, or the classic kofta), to quench their thirst with a mint tea between friends or family. A recommended stopover.

Despite the passing years, the Blue Fig has maintained its status as a trendy bar, very popular with the trendy youth of Amman. It must be said that the place is very nice, all glass, steel and wood, and that the volumes are impressive. Moreover, the Blue Fig has a large terrace sheltered by parasols. During the day, families with young children come here for a burger or French toast and in the evening, a certain youth takes over to devour bread and chill out to lounge music.

Bars are not common in Wadi Musa, except in luxury hotels. This one belongs to the Petra Guest House and is set in a very original location as it occupies a 2,000 year old Nabatean tomb. The niches dug in the rock shelter benches equipped with large colored cushions and form a serene and comfortable setting where one would stay for hours. It is possible as the list of cocktails is long and you can smoke hookah. Claustrophobic people will prefer to enjoy the beautiful terrace.

This very British looking pub pays homage to the hit series "Coronation Street". The setting is a copy-paste of the one in Amman. The managers are the same. You will find the horseshoe-shaped bar, lined with countless bottles of alcohol; the Irish beers Kilkenny or Guinness on draught; the high bar stools; the furniture in patinated wood. The place is very popular with the expatriate clientele and the tourists who feel a bit like at home. It is particularly crowded on the evenings of matches, broadcasted on the screens.

The Cave Bar is ideally located within the walls of the old Nabatean city. Occupying a cave dating back to the first century, its outdoor terrace in the summer allows you to enjoy the coolness of the evening. In winter, this spacious decorated and heated cave will offer you its drinks as well as its menu of snacks (count 8 € on average) inside. Let yourself be carried away by the oriental melodies and the unique side of the place, known to stay open some summer evenings until 4am. The service is very attentive and the experience is memorable.

This tiny café has three tables on its doorstep. It is located opposite the mosque esplanade, a few meters from the entrance to the castle. It's a meeting place for drivers waiting for their visiting customers. It has to be said that the prices charged here are the most honest there is: you won't be bludgeoned. You can enjoy an orange squeezed before your very eyes, or a mint tea. Small catering options available. Kerak's best deal!

This café-library opened in 2019 allows you to combine business with pleasure after a day of exciting visits. A series of small, beautifully arranged lounges, a coffee and tea counter, homemade cakes, an eco-friendly garden, thousands of books in all languages (including French) create an intimate and gourmet atmosphere, designed to feed the taste buds and neurons. The place was conceived by two friends eager to meet new people and enjoy culture. Themed evenings are regularly organised: poetry, storytelling, acoustic concerts..

This café on the top floor of a shopping mall overlooking University Circle has the look of an English garden. Yes, you will see when you take a seat under the trellis overflowing with cascades of pink and white flowers... in fabric. You will sit in big wicker armchairs painted in white and decorated with big cushions as flowery and pink as the trellis. In the evening, young people from the nearby Yarmouk University come here to smoke hookah, on the terrace, but also inside. The thick smoke quickly perfumes the place.

Dali is known to all Amman's hip and slightly "out-of-touch" people. This bar attracts lovers of cold draught beer, local wine, cocktails... in short, it serves alcohol, even during Ramadan. In the early evening, it's very difficult to find a free table, both on the terrace and inside. We like the relaxed atmosphere, the slightly loud music, the cheerful hubbub. During the day, many people come to work on a corner table while drinking tea or coffee.

If you're a fan of original cocktails, this is the only address in Amman worth keeping your eye on. Here, the menu includes the great classics of international bars, but also a whole series of original creations. So original, in fact, that some of them are served in a huge iced drop. It's imperative to reserve your table on weekends (Thursday and Friday evenings), especially if you want to enjoy the pleasant but small garden courtyard. You can accompany your cocktail with a snack to share.

The Almond Coffee House uses its large glass roof to create a bright, warm, contemporary and cosy place. It is one of the "hot spots" in Amman, one of those that are always full from morning to night. The long list of coffee proposals (espresso, Turkish coffee, hazelnut and toffee latte, almond latte...) is matched only by that of pastries and cakes. Will you fall for a muffin, a donut covered in chocolate, cookies or an almond croissant? The hot chocolates are also the reputation of the house.

This café, located on the top floor of the Taj mall, will surprise you in more ways than one. Its pleasant setting recreates the atmosphere of the old cafes of Amman, now disappeared, all in woodwork and tiles. Its wide choice of coffees and teas, why not accompanied by a shisha, in the local style, will satisfy you. The quality of its Lebanese-inspired cuisine makes it possible to take more than a break, and to have lunch or dinner between a few purchases. If the address seems uninspiring on paper, Café Hanin has established itself as one of the best in Amman.

This small, modern and relaxed café pays tribute to Rumi, a famous Persian poet of the 13th century. We like the old tiles, the pretty round tables in light wood and their matching bistro chairs and the large glass roof that lets the daylight in. The café is preceded by a pleasant terrace separated from the street by a hedge of greenery. You will come across a mainly student clientele, those who like to debate for hours, coming here to share a good coffee or a tea scented with mint or rose water.

This small European-style café was founded by Yana Nikolayeva, a Ukrainian. We like its simplicity and its rough stone and brick walls left bare. It serves above all good coffee and in particular Ethiopian coffee or the unavoidable cardamom coffee that Jordanians can't do without. You can accompany your "little black" with mini-sandwiches or gourmet pastries. When the weather is nice, the owner takes out a few tables outside, lined up between two buildings. And during the hot weather, you can refresh yourself with an iced coffee.

Between the stacks of fine books, postcards and souvenirs in the National Museum of Fine Arts shop, this friendly café invites you to take a moment to relax and unwind. It is perfect for a refreshing break after browsing the museum's galleries. The bright atmosphere, the few tables and benches adorned with colourful cushions will make you want to pick from the dozen or so coffees on offer. Sandwiches and light snacks to fill the small hollows.

This is Downtown's place to sip a freshly squeezed juice. It's simple: there's a long queue, whatever the time of day. You'll spot the little stall by its neatly lined-up fruit stalls. You can combine fruits or opt for the refreshing "limoun nahna", lemon juice with mint. The little store has been quenching the thirst of passers-by since 1962 and has become a must in the capital. There are a few tables in the cul-de-sac, but they are often crowded.

This cocktail bar is decorated like a ship's dry dock, with woven bamboo ceilings, rattan pots and glass floats as lampshades. The place is a little confusing, as it doubles up as a dining room for private parties. The atmosphere is pleasant, as the place is huge, airy and very exotic, with green plants and wood panelling everywhere. Cocktails are prepared in XL format, and the bar menu includes a fine selection of spirits. At weekends, the dance floor welcomes salsa lovers who whirl to the sound of a live orchestra.

Rovers Return takes its name from the famous pub of the no less famous British river series Coronation Street which blew its 60 years of existence and its 10 000th episode in 2020! The Amman pub that pays tribute to the world's most famous soap-opera is much more recent, having appeared in the Abdoun district in 1997. It has all the ingredients of a traditional English pub with (fake) brick walls and pillars, wooden and skai bar stools and a waxed horseshoe bar. You can drink pints of Amstel on draught.