Things to Do in Ajloun, Jordan
Nobody I know plans a trip to Jordan around the north. They come for Petra, for Wadi Rum, for the Dead Sea, and the green hills of Ajloun are almost always an afterthought, a stop on the way between Jerusalem and the highlights further south. That is a real shame, because I found the region around Ajloun one of the most surprising corners of the whole country. Within a day I had wandered a standing crusader castle, hiked through pine forest that felt a world away from the desert, and eaten lunch in an olive grove. Here is what I would not miss.
Walk the castle of Ajloun
The 12th century castle of Ajloun, known locally as Qal’at ar-Rabad, is the reason most people come, and it does not disappoint. Perched on a hilltop above the town, it was built to watch over the trade routes and to defend against the crusaders and their successors, and it commands a view across the whole northern valley. I spent a happy couple of hours climbing its towers and tunnels, peering out through the arrow slits at the olive terraces spilling down the slopes. The setting is genuinely dramatic, and the mix of Mamluk additions and the older core makes it a proper place to wander rather than a mere photo stop. Go early, before the tour buses, and you can have the ramparts almost to yourself.
Hike in the Ajloun Forest Reserve
A short drive from the castle lies the Ajloun Forest Reserve, one of the few genuinely wooded parts of Jordan and a real tonic after days of sand and stone. The walking trails thread through oak and pistachio woodland and down to the grassy valley floor, and the whole place is blissfully cool compared with the rest of the country. I took the long route along the ridge and had views down to the Jordan valley and across to the Sea of Galilee on a clear day. Keep an eye out for the shy roe deer and wild boar that live here, and take water and good shoes, because the paths are steep in places.
Climb to the viewpoint at Mar Elias
Just outside the town, the hilltop of Mar Elias is named for the prophet Elijah, who is said to have been born nearby, and it holds the remains of an ancient church complex. The drive up is steep and winding, but the reward is a quiet, windswept summit with a chapel and a view that seems to take in half of northern Jordan. I liked it more than almost anything else in the region, simply for the sense of stillness. On a calm afternoon, with the olives whispering below and the plains stretching away into Israel and Syria, it felt like the very picture of peace.
Wander the old town and the souk
Ajloun town itself has a friendly, low key charm that is easy to miss in a hurry. The main streets are dotted with bakeries turning out fresh shrak bread and with juice stalls, and the souk is a proper working market rather than a tourist stage set. I wandered through the vegetable stalls and bought a bag of local olives and a lump of white cheese for the road, and the unhurried, welcoming feeling of it stayed with me. It is the sort of place where you can sit with a tea and let the day drift, which makes a refreshing change from the intensity of the bigger sites.
Eat at one of the local farms
The hills around Ajloun are famous for their olives, and the simplest meals here are among the best I ate in Jordan. Small family restaurants and farmhouse kitchens serve the classic northern dishes: young ripe olives in olive oil, maftoul and the local flatbread baked in earth ovens. I had a long, lazy lunch in the shade of an olive grove, with bread torn straight from a clay oven, and it was one of those unplanned meals you remember for years. Ask at your guesthouse for a recommendation, because the memorable tables here are rarely on the main road and almost never in the guidebook.
My honest advice
Give Ajloun at least a full day, and consider staying the night in one of the many old family houses converted into guesthouses that dot the wooded hills. The castle and the reserve are superb in themselves, but the real joy here is the contrast, the green and the cool and the calm that feel so far from the desert you saw a day earlier. Come for the history, stay for the hiking, and leave room in your day for one entirely unplanned hour beside an olive grove, because that will be the part you remember.
