From Hama to Shayzar and Apamea: a day in the Orontes valley

The Orontes opens a wide valley northwest of Hama. In one day you see three layers of it: a medieval castle on a spine of rock, a second castle with a village still living inside its walls, and the Roman colonnaded street that runs a kilometre east of it. About 129 kilometres, and a little over three hours of that is driving. The order runs south to north, and the last stop is the widest view of the day.

The route

Leave Hama to the northwest. Shayzar is 28 kilometres out, fifty minutes; the castle stands in the village of Shayzar on the spine on the west bank of the Orontes, and the road curves under the spine to arrive in front of the north gate. The spine is 450 metres long and in most places under 50 metres wide, so it is one line out and the same line back. Carry on north from Shayzar: Qalaat al-Mudiq is 30 kilometres on, about an hour. A village lives inside the walls of this one; you go in through the gate and straight into its lanes. The last leg is very short: one kilometre from the castle to the colonnaded street of Apamea, three minutes. The way home is the long one — 69 kilometres from Apamea to Hama, more than an hour and a half.

Timing

Leave Hama at 08:00. You are at the north gate of Shayzar by 08:50. Give it an hour and a half: climb the stone stair to the gate tower, read the inscription above it, then walk out to the south end of the spine. Only from there do you see in one look how the Orontes wraps the castle from the east and the north. Back on the road at 10:30. You reach Qalaat al-Mudiq at 11:25. You should already have asked in Hama whether the mosaic museum in the khan is open; if it is, add half an hour here. Break for lunch in the castle. At 13:45 move one kilometre east and come out on the colonnaded street; afternoon light takes the row of columns from the side and the shadows run down the length of the street. Turn back at 15:15 and you are in Hama around 16:50.

Take care

The spine at Shayzar is ruined and uneven and there is no railing at the edges; hold on to a child’s hand. The castle collapsed in the earthquake of 1157, came down again in 1170, and the one substantial piece standing today is the north gate tower. Qalaat al-Mudiq is a lived-in village — the lanes are narrow, you walk past people’s front doors, so ask before photographing. There is no shade on the plateau at Apamea and the wind is hard, so take a hat and water. At all three stops fees and opening hours change, so carry cash. Fuel stations are sparse along the way; fill the tank in Hama. April to June and September to October are the easiest months, and in winter the plateau turns to mud.