Cities
Each one keeps its own scent and its own rhythm.
17 Cities
Daraa
The capital of the Hauran plain, a few kilometres from Jordan. How to reach Daraa, what is left in the town, how far Izra and Bosra are, and how things stand.
Deir ez-Zor
The Euphrates capital of eastern Syria and the way in to Mari and Dura-Europos. What is in the city, what happened to the sites, and whether you can go.
Raqqa
A city on the north bank of the Euphrates that was the Abbasid capital for twelve years. What still stands in Raqqa, whether you can go, and what to ask.
As-Suwayda
The basalt town at the heart of Jabal al-Druze: Nabataean Suada, Roman Dionysias, Druze capital. What stands there, what is nearby, and where the region stands now.
Hasakah
The plain city where the Jaghjagh meets the Khabur and the way in to the tells of the Jazira. What is in town, how to reach the sites, whether you can go.
Qamishli
A hundred-year-old city built by refugees on the Turkish border in 1926, and the way in to Urkesh and Shubat-Enlil. What is here now and how to travel it.
Nebek
The centre of the Qalamoun, halfway between Damascus and Homs at 1255 metres. What to see in Nebek, how to reach Deir Mar Musa, and which villages to pair.
Damascus
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, built in the oasis the Barada river opens at the foot of Mount Qasioun. Every layer belongs…
Zabadani
An upland plain between two mountain ranges, an hour north-west of Damascus. What to see around Zabadani, when to go, and which towns fit into one day.
Aleppo
A city built on trade. The citadel does not sit on a hill — it is the hill, with millennia stacked beneath it. The souqs are reopening, and so are the soap works.
Palmyra
An oasis in the middle of the Badia, and colonnades that are still standing. How to reach Palmyra, when to go, and what is left of the ruins after 2015.
Latakia
Syria’s main port and the heart of the coast. Rocky coves, pine forests and the mildest weather in the country — what to do in Latakia, and when to go.
