Practical information
Visas, border crossings, cash, SIM cards, getting between cities — where the plan is built.
145 Practical
Combining Syria with Lebanon and Jordan
Beirut to Damascus is 115 kilometres, Amman to Bosra one morning. Which crossings are open to whom, how to order the trip, and what Lebanon looks like now.
Travelling alone in Syria
Guide or independent, how to agree terms with a driver, the problem with a table for one, and who needs to know where you are. The practicalities of going alone.
How to plan three days in Damascus
Mornings inside the walls, afternoons on the Ottoman side, the last evening on Qasyoun. Which walk fits which day, which quarter to sleep in, where meals land.
How to plan two days in Aleppo
Day one runs from the citadel through the souq to Jdeideh; day two takes the museum, the gates and the courtyards. Which walk fits which half day, and where to stay.
Day trips from Damascus
Monasteries to the north, Bosra to the south, the Barada valley to the west. How long each takes, how to find a car, and which season suits which trip.
Day trips from Aleppo
Saint Simeon, Ain Dara, Cyrrhus, the castle on the Euphrates and the Dead Cities. How long each takes, what the roads are like, and which to ask about first.
A week on the coast: Latakia and Tartus
Seven days split between two bases, Latakia in the north and Tartus in the south. A day-by-day plan, the distances, the seasons, and what people wear on the beach.
The desert and the Euphrates: Palmyra, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor
Long distances, thin infrastructure, information that ages fast. The stops on this line, the kilometres between them, and what to arrange for water, fuel and safety.
Travelling the north: Idlib and the Dead Cities
Which village belongs to which day, what to do about unexploded ordnance, how to behave around families living in the ruins, and how to get out here from Aleppo.
Travelling the south: the Hauran and Bosra
Three provinces of the basalt plain, built from the same stone but not in the same state. Bosra is open, Deraa needs care, Sweida is not a destination now.
The religious communities of Syria
Sunni, Alawite, Druze, Ismaili, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Armenian and Yazidi. Where each community is concentrated, what it keeps, and why that helps you.
Young Syria and everyday life
Parks, the seafront, mate, wedding convoys, match nights and campus streets. Reading the half of the country that no monument covers, and what not to ask.
