Routes
Tested itineraries, from half a day to a full week.
9 Routes
In the footsteps of St Paul in Damascus: Kawkab, Straight Street and Bab Kisan
Six stops in the order of Acts: the two conversion traditions at Kawkab and Tabbaleh, Straight Street, the underground Chapel of Saint Ananias and Bab Kisan.
6 hours · 53 km · 6 stops · Easy
Raqqa’s four cities: a half-day walk and drive from the Abbasid walls to Tuttul
Half a day in Raqqa: walk Bab Baghdad and the walls of al-Rafiqa, then drive to the tells of Tuttul and Tell Zeidan. About 27 km, with timings and access notes.
4.5 hours · 26.6 km · 5 stops · Moderate
Half a day around Shahba: Tell Shihan, the mosaic museum and the Nimreh bridge
Shahba read from the edge of the Lajat: the extinct volcano of Tell Shihan, the Roman town and its mosaics, and the single-arch Nimreh bridge. 24 km; closed today.
6 hours · 24.3 km · 4 stops · Easy
Jebel Barisha’s northern slope in a day: Khirbet al-Khatib to Ksejbe
Five Dead Cities on the north of Jebel Barisha: Khirbet al-Khatib, Deirouni, Dar Qita, Ba’uda and Ksejbe. Inscriptions from 392 to 537, six hours by car and on foot.
6 hours · 10.4 km · 5 stops · Moderate
Half a day in Aleppo: from the Jawshan slope to the Syriac quarter
3800 metres across west Aleppo, three stops: a shrine built around a single rock, a Syriac church in dark stone and a modern mosque with six minarets.
4 hours · 3.8 km · 3 stops · Easy
From al-Midan to Qadam station: the southern end of the pilgrim road
The south gate of Damascus is not a gate but a street. Walk 2 kilometres down the spine of the quarter, then 3 kilometres by car to a basalt railway station.
4 hours · 5.4 km · 4 stops · Easy
Latakia to Jableh in half a day: from the arch to the theatre
The oldest thing standing in Latakia is a Roman arch; 29 kilometres south sits a Roman theatre of 35 rows. The day opens by car and closes on foot in Jableh.
5 hours · 29.1 km · 4 stops · Easy
Half a day in Homs: from the museum to the foot of the citadel
The centre of Homs is walkable, but it breaks in one place. Three stops sit on the souq line, the fourth is 1200 metres off; 2500 metres and four stops.
4 hours · 2.5 km · 4 stops · Easy
A day out of Damascus: from Mount Qasioun to the Barada valley, on the trail of Abel
From the cave on the slope of Qasioun to the shrine in the Barada valley, two ends of one story in a single day: 105 kilometres, four stops, a car and a steep stair.
9 hours · 105 km · 4 stops · Moderate
