Routes
Tested itineraries, from half a day to a full week.
100 Routes
A second walk in Palmyra: from the Baths of Diocletian to the Funerary Temple
A second half-day walk in Palmyra: the granite-columned baths, the Temple of Nabu, the agora with 11 gates and the only tomb inside the walls. Four stops, timed.
3 hours · 1.1 km · 4 stops · Easy
From al-Shaykh Badr to Hawat al-Jubab: the town of the 1918 revolt, two hill castles and a sinkhole
A day by car in the hills of Tartus: al-Shaykh Badr, where Saleh al-Ali declared revolt in 1918, the castles of al-Kahf and Qadmus, and a sinkhole 35 metres deep.
9 hours · 37.5 km · 4 stops · Moderate
Mamluk mosques of Qanawat: from al-Tawrizi to al-Tawusiyya
An 1800-metre walk west of the Damascus walls past four Mamluk mosques: Tankiz of 1317, al-Tawusiyya of 1382, al-Tawrizi of 1420 and al-Shadhbakiyya of 1453.
2.5 hours · 1.8 km · 4 stops · Easy
Through Souq Saruja: from Jawdat al-Hashimi School to the Tomb of Ibn al-Muqaddam
A 2700-metre walk across Souq Saruja, north of the Damascus walls: the city’s first state secondary school, a Mamluk bath, a leather souq, a cemetery, a 1201 tomb.
4 hours · 2.7 km · 6 stops · Easy
Souqs on both sides of the Citadel: Sarujiyya, Asruniyya and Khan al-Muradiyya
A half-day walk around the Citadel of Damascus: saddlers below its west wall, copper sellers facing its east wall, then Khan al-Muradiyya and the Umayyad Mosque.
3 hours · 0.9 km · 5 stops · Easy
The west end of Straight Street: from Khan al-Dikka to Khan al-Zafaraniyya
A half-day walk in Damascus along the covered west end of Straight Street: four khans, a Mamluk minaret and a bathhouse turned souq, all within half a kilometre.
3 hours · 0.5 km · 6 stops · Easy
Tombs from Abu Rummaneh to Salihiyya: Farrukh Shah to Ibn Salama al-Raqqi
A walk of nearly three kilometres in Damascus, from Abu Rummaneh up to Salihiyya: Ayyubid and Mamluk tombs dated 1182 to 1322, a madrasa of 1214 and a park break.
3 hours · 3 km · 6 stops · Easy
Safita to Jabal al-Nabi Matta: a hill town, the Dreikish reservoir and a planted chestnut forest
A day trip by car from Tartus: Safita’s houses built from castle stone, the springs of Duraykish, a lake behind a 41-metre dam and a chestnut forest at 1100 metres.
8 hours · 36.9 km · 4 stops · Moderate
From Masyaf to Wadi al-Uyun: Rusafa Castle and the valley of springs
A 68-kilometre mountain day southwest of Masyaf: its Ismaili castle, tree-covered Rusafa, the waterfalls of Wadi al-Uyun and the Roman temple at Husn Suleiman.
8.5 hours · 67.8 km · 4 stops · Moderate
A day from Qamishli to Amuda: two cathedrals, Urkesh, Mor Elias and Chagar Bazar
A 104-kilometre day from Qamishli: two city cathedrals, Urkesh, holy city of the Hurrians, Mor Elias in Amuda, reopened in 2017, and Mallowan’s mound, Chagar Bazar.
7.5 hours · 103.9 km · 5 stops · Easy
Hama to Salamiyah day trip: Riba fortress, Shmemis Castle and the Ismaili town
An 87-kilometre day east of Hama: the dry-stone basalt ring at Riba, Shmemis Castle on its extinct volcano, and Salamiyah, the town the Ismailis rebuilt in 1849.
8 hours · 86.9 km · 3 stops · Moderate
Aleppo’s consulate khans: from Khan al-Wazir to Khan al-Jumruk
A half-day walk in the Aleppo souq through six khans, tracing where Venetian, English and French consuls lived, from the treaty of 1207 to Khan al-Jumruk.
3 hours · 0.8 km · 6 stops · Easy
