An Amman day from the Citadel to a downtown mensaf dinner

An organic café and fair-trade shop on Rainbow Street, run by Jordan's national conservation society. Terrace view over the downtown valley. Turkish coffee, zaatar manakish straight from the oven, a pot of fresh mint tea.

The ancient hilltop citadel with Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad ruins layered on one site. The Temple of Hercules columns and the 8th-century Umayyad Palace dome are the two structures to see. The small museum at the entrance covers the stones.

A 2nd-century Roman theatre cut into the hillside, seating 6,000. Walk up to the upper tier to hear the acoustics of a single clap from the stage below. Two small museums on the wings. Free.

A 1950s downtown institution for falafel and hummus. King Abdullah eats here. Order the 'Hashem set' — falafel, hummus, foul, pickles, warm bread, fresh mint tea. Cash only, shared tables, the city's working lunch.

The old museum on the Citadel hill (the new Jordan Museum is more modern but in the west of town). Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, the Ain Ghazal plaster statues, and the 'Ammān' name inscriptions. Ninety minutes.

The downtown souk — spices, roasted nuts, gold by the gram, scarves. Smaller than the Istanbul or Cairo equivalents, and the authentic non-tourist market that locals use daily. Walk both sides; haggle politely.

A traditional Jordanian restaurant in an old Jebel Amman villa. Mensaf — lamb slow-cooked in fermented yoghurt, served over rice with almonds — is the national dish and the one to order. Sit on floor cushions in the back room if you can.