Syria Travel Guide

You'd be hard-pressed to find anything positive about Syria being written in the States. With a hefty association with some less than welcoming nations, you could be forgiven, in fact, for dismissing the country as somewhere best avoided with an American or European passport, and heading elsewhere. That would be a mistake, though: your government might not want you to go here, but in this case that's a largely political movement. Not only is Syria safe, for the most part it's extremely welcoming, too. Not only is it welcoming, the sights are incredible, too.

Before we get to al… read morel that, though, there’s one thing you just have to know about first: Syria’s food. The local cuisine takes its cues from the French, Greeks and Turks, and blends their respective styles into a healthy, flavorsome combo that invariably thrills visitors. Shish Kebab, stuffed zucchini, falafel and stuffed grape leaves all squeeze onto the menus, and are usually served in sociable restaurants that sit patrons in the street.

When you’re full to the brim with healthy feasts, it’s time to explore. Start with the magnificent Qala’at Al-Hosn, an astonishing crusader castle, before climbing the hill above the Roman ruins of Palmyra and staring down at a site so vast you’d need days to explore every well-preserved nook and cranny.

Capital Damascus is known more for its exotic name than the city itself, but rarely disappoints, with mazes of ancient streets to be explored, and a skyline littered with minarets and generation after generation of crumbling architecture. It’s a stereotypical ‘romance of the Orient’ experience, one that you’ll need to break from and slurp on a strong coffee every so often to really take in. Bosra’s Roman theatre still lays on performances amid the well-maintained ruins, while trotting around on a flatulent camel is a bum bashing yet gleaming experience.

It would take some time to get 'templed out' in Syria, but if you do need a break from the sites, there’s no better way to spend an afternoon than bantering at the market, or following a street vendor around an rustic village, kebab in hand. It’s all exceptionally old world, and majestically exciting to even the most well traveled of tourists.