Umm Qais cascades down the grass-growing hillsides of northern Jordan, just a whisker away from the Sea of Galilee (look northwards from the lookouts and you can even see the water glistening under the sun), the Golan Heights, and the highland territories of south-western Syria.

However, it's the fascinating ancient settlement of Gadara that really elevates the place to bucket-list status. Umm Qais tour guides are at hand to take you up to the archaeological dig sites that sprawl over the nearby ridges. They can reveal the secrets of the 2,000-year-old trading bazaars and Roman-era shopping arcades, pinpoint the later churches and the venerable Hellenic temples alike. The Umm Qais Museum there brims with mosaic art and carved marble deities, which have all been recovered from the surrounding hills and abandoned city.

An abandoned Ottoman village and vantage views are also high lights here, while adventurers prefer to set their sights on the verdant valleys of the Yarmouk Nature Reserve to hike and bike through sinewy mountain ridges, oak forests, and rocky plains.