Two UNESCO sites in one day: Damascus and Bosra

Syria has six sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list and most of them are days apart. Two are the exception: 136 kilometres and a good road separate Damascus from Bosra. This route ties them into a single day without overselling it — there and back is 271 kilometres and close to five hours behind the wheel. The morning goes to Damascus, the afternoon to Bosra. The order matters. If you can sleep in Bosra the day splits in two and both halves relax.

The route

The Umayyad Mosque stands in the middle of old Damascus and no car reaches its door; you walk in from the market. Getting out of the city to the south depends on the morning traffic, so leaving early is not only a question of light. Bosra is 136 kilometres on, two hours ten minutes, the road running towards Deraa and flat for most of its length. In the town the two stops are next to each other: you enter the theatre through the castle gate, because the theatre has no door of its own. The Mosque of Omar sits at the north end of the colonnaded street, just east of the Roman market; walking north from the theatre takes eight minutes. The return is by the same road, 135 kilometres, two hours twenty.

Timing

Be in the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque at 07:00. The court is empty at that hour and the mosaics on the north wall take the morning light; an hour is enough. Set off at 08:30 and you are in Bosra around 11:00. Go into the theatre first. The basalt heats up in the afternoon and there is no shade on the seating. An hour and a half is realistic — half an hour on the tiers, half an hour in the corridors behind the stage wall, the rest on the towers. The Mosque of Omar comes after midday; its court is 16 metres by 13 and it is open outside prayer times. Start back at 16:00 and you reach Damascus as the light goes.

Take care

This is a long, tight day; if you want to do both sites justice, stay in Bosra and drive back the next morning. All six Syrian sites have been on the list of heritage in danger since 2013, and which parts of Bosra are open can change, so ask at the entrance. No published timetable for the theatre could be confirmed, so check the fee and the hours at the door. The Umayyad Mosque is a working mosque: shoulders and knees covered, a cloak handed to women at the entrance, visits paused at prayer times. There is little shade in Bosra, so carry a hat and water. Bring cash.