Syria Discovery Guide

Read the security section before anything else on this page. Syria has been through fourteen years of war, the Assad government fell in December 2024, and the country is in a fragile transitional period; most Western governments still advise against all or all but essential travel, and that advice normally voids ordinary travel insurance. What is there, for when circumstances allow, is one of the richest historical landscapes on earth. There is Damascus, among the oldest continuously inhabited cities anywhere, and Aleppo's citadel and covered souq, damaged and under restoration. There is the Krak des Chevaliers, the finest crusader castle in the world -- and Palmyra, dynamited in 2015 and now partly a record of what was lost.

The main travel issue

Beyond the advisories, movement itself is controlled, with routine checkpoints and areas that close without notice.

The solution

If and when it becomes possible, go through a local agency with a driver and pre-arranged permissions rather than independently, and travel in April to early June or September to November.

Damascus

The walled old city: the Umayyad Mosque, built in the eighth century on a site that was a temple to Jupiter and then a cathedral, and one of the earliest great buildings in Islam. The covered Souq al-Hamidiyah, the Azm Palace, the Christian quarter around Bab Touma, and Straight Street, named in the Book of Acts.

Aleppo

The citadel on its mound above the city, and the vast covered souq — medieval, several kilometres of it, burned and shelled during the war and being rebuilt section by section. Aleppo’s food is regarded as the best in the country.

The crusader castles

Krak des Chevaliers, which T. E. Lawrence called the finest castle in the world, holds its concentric walls and great hall largely intact. Qalaat Salah ed-Din stands on a ridge cut from solid rock.

The dead cities

Hundreds of abandoned Byzantine settlements in the limestone hills between Aleppo and Idlib, UNESCO-listed, standing roofless and almost untouched since the seventh century.

Palmyra and Bosra

Palmyra, much of it destroyed in 2015 and access dependent on conditions. Bosra has a Roman theatre of black basalt, one of the best preserved anywhere.

Syria is an old, plural society that has been through a catastrophe, and both halves of that are present in any encounter.

Many communities

Sunni Arabs are the majority, alongside Alawites, Christians of several ancient churches, Druze, Ismailis and a large Kurdish population in the north and east, with Armenians, Circassians, Turkmen and Assyrians. Some villages around Maaloula still speak a form of Aramaic, the language of the Gospels.

Hospitality

Syrian hospitality was legendary before the war and survives it. Coffee, tea and food are pressed on visitors by people with very little, and refusing is genuinely difficult. Accept graciously.

The war is present

More than half the pre-war population was displaced, hundreds of thousands were killed, and vast numbers have relatives abroad, missing or dead. People may speak openly or not at all; follow their lead and do not press.

Damascus and Aleppo

The two cities have a long rivalry, particularly over food, and Aleppo generally wins the argument.

Family and reputation

Extended family is the unit that matters, and social conservatism is strong outside the urban middle class. Dress and behaviour are read as statements about respect.

The most responsible decision about Syria is whether to go at all. Tourism in a country in transition, with millions displaced and enormous reconstruction needs, raises real questions, and they deserve an honest answer rather than an enthusiastic one.

If you do travel, the single most useful thing is to put money directly into Syrian hands — family-run hotels, local guides, restaurants and craftspeople — rather than through intermediaries abroad.

Do not treat damage as a backdrop. Photographing ruined neighbourhoods where people still live, and posing in front of them, is resented and understandably so. Ask before photographing anyone.

Buy nothing that might be an antiquity. Looting during the war was industrial in scale, the trade funded armed groups, and exporting antiquities is a serious criminal offence in Syria and in your own country.

Water and power are both unreliable and rationed in much of the country. What a visitor uses is taken from somewhere.

Be careful what you say and post. People can be exposed by association.

Seasonally, April to early June and September to November are the comfortable windows: warm days, cool nights, and the interior and desert sites bearable.

July and August are hot and dry, above 35°C in Damascus and Aleppo and considerably more at Palmyra and in the eastern desert, where midday sightseeing is genuinely difficult.

December to February is cold and wet in the west, with snow in Damascus in some years and reliably in the mountains. Heating and power are unreliable, which matters more than the temperature.

Ramadan moves through the year; daytime eating and drinking in public are avoided, hours change, and the evenings are the liveliest time of the year.

In practice, though, timing here is governed by the security and administrative situation rather than the weather, and both can change quickly. Check current conditions close to any intended date, not months out.

What a day costs, by how you travel

Relative cost across the country

Prices are low in dollar terms and highly unstable in local terms, and inflation has been severe. Assume figures quoted anywhere, including here, are indicative rather than current.