When I first visited Amman, the capital city of Jordan, I was expecting the total opposite of what I found. I was expected a religious, conservative city where women shouldn't walk the streets alone and men ruled the roost. Yet what I found was a hub of creativity, an electric cafe culture and a huge up-and-coming art and creative scene. It was no wonder Amman quickly became one of my favourite cities in the Middle East and I have gone back to visit three more times since (in a 4 month period). This city has me hooked, and here is exactly why you should be eating, drinking and hanging out in Amman!

Whenever I travel to a new country my top priority is to find a good coffee shops to spend hours watching the world go by in. I didn't have high hopes for Amman. Why? Because when have you ever heard that Amman has an amazing coffee shop culture? WELL NOW YOU HAVE. I was blown away at how hip these cafes were, and quite frankly I had never found a city with such a huge selection of cafes all as good as each other. Watch out Seattle, Amman is close on your heels.

Food is the heartbeat of Amman, and is its pride and joy. I dare you to have a bad meal while visiting this city - it is impossible. Whether it is a small road-side falafel shop or a high end restaurant you can guarantee the quality of your dish will be world class. There really is nothing like a Jordanian meal. 

Yes, people DO drink in Jordan! But if you were anything like me, you presumed there wouldn't be any hip bars in this predominately Muslim city. Oh, we were so wrong (thanks to the decades of expats that have settled here and created a bar scene - all be it a small one).