Amman is the best base in the country for day trips. Jerash, an hour north, holds the most complete provincial Roman city in the Middle East — colonnaded streets, oval forum, two theatres, temples of Artemis and Zeus. The Dead Sea, 45 minutes west and 430 m below sea level, has half a dozen public beaches and spa hotels where you can float in the most saline water on earth. Further east, the Desert Castles — Qasr Amra with its 8th-century frescoes, Qasr Kharana, Qasr al-Hallabat — can be strung together in a loop. For a longer day, the Byzantine mosaics of Madaba and the viewpoint from Mount Nebo, where Moses is said to have looked over the Promised Land, are under an hour south.