As day trips go, we knew we were being ambitious. It didn’t look like a big deal. On the map, Jerusalem was barely 40 or 50km away from us in the Jordanian town of Madaba…as the crow flies, anyway. From all accounts though, getting there and back on the same day was no mean feat. But we were so close! And we only had one day! And it was Jerusalem! We decided to give it a go. We’re very glad we did. Even if it did turn out to be no mean feat.
The challenge, of course, was all in the border crossing. Our 45-minute taxi ride through the striking (sea-level!) mountain landscape around the Dead Sea delivered us to the King Hussein Bridge crossing just as the border opened at 8am.
Three hours, five slow queues, two Jordanian ‘arrival’ stamps instead of ‘exit’ stamps, one bus journey and a long wait in the middle of no-man’s land, two raised passport control officer eyebrows and some note-taking at our ‘married with different surnames’ status, and a thorough bag checking later, we exited Israeli passport control into the West Bank.
Given our limited window for seeing one of the world’s most historically and religiously profound cities, we’d drawn up a pretty tight itinerary for the expedition, even factoring in a lengthy crossing delay.
The problem was, no one could tell us what time the crossing actually closed that night. Our hotel said 9pm. Our guidebook wrote 8pm. A Jordanian border guard assured us it was 6pm while a lady at Israeli passport control checked with a few people before announcing 10pm. An English couple on our sherut to the Old City were told 11pm. We decided to play it safe and be back at the border by 5pm.
So we had four hours. Four intense, overwhelming, extraordinary whirlwind hours through the ancient streets of Old Jerusalem and the world’s three great monotheistic religions.
We wandered the thriving market streets of the Muslim Quarter as they became the busy, café-lined streets of the Jewish Quarter as they became the buzzing, souvenir-stall streets of the Christian Quarter, and into the Muslim Quarter once again (we didn’t have time to visit the shy Armenian Quarter).
The muezzin’s call to prayer filled the air just as a group of young Jewish schoolboys wearing kippahs raced past us. As we moved from the Western Wall to the Dome of the Rock and then along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, sites of such immense importance and meaning for billions of people, the experience – especially for these two curious observers – was intriguing and disconcerting and hopeful, all at once.
For such a fraught place, our very brief sense of the pulsing life within the city’s medieval walls was that it felt ironically at ease, at least on the day we visited.
But just like that, our four hours was up. The return border crossing was positively swift – just one hour! And not even a second glance at the fact we were ‘arriving’ in Jordan for the second time in a day, without having ever officially exited.
Seven hours of travel and border wrangling for four precious hours in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was worth every second. Our only regret is that we didn’t have a week to give it instead. It is most definitely on our return list.
We’ll never know for sure what time the border actually closed that day.
Good to know
Is it possible to do a day trip to Jerusalem from Jordan?
A day trip from Madaba or Amman in Jordan to Jerusalem is entirely possible, we did it. But given how extraordinary a place Jerusalem is, we’d recommend giving it longer.
Getting there
A taxi from Madaba to the King Hussein Border Crossing takes around 45 minutes. Pick up a sherut (shared taxi) on the other side for the trip to Jerusalem (they drop off near the Damascus Gate); it’s around 45 minutes from the border. How long the crossing itself takes will depend on any number of factors on the day so give yourself plenty of time.
Travel tip
There are official opening hours for the King Hussein Bridge/Allenby Bridge, which differ depending on the day of the week and religious holidays. The border can be closed at any time though for security or other reasons. Be sure to check the latest information before you travel.
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