Guided tour of Syria

Walk in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia and discover Damascus, the world’s oldest inhabited city on this 9 day tour of Syria. Explore colourful souks, ancient ruins and experience traditional hospitality staying in a Bedouin camp.

Syria is an Arabic country bordered by Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Israel as well as the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It's a cultural melting pot and has a long human past dating back to as far as 10,000 BC. Some of the sights offered up by Syria, including the architecture of Damascus and the ruined city of Palmyra, are world famous and covered in great detail on this tour.

This guided tour of Syria kicks off in the capital city of Damascus, a city full of wonders and curiosities. As the world’s oldest inhabited city, it goes without saying that there is a wealth of history on offer including the inspiring Omayyad Mosque and the road where the Apostle Paul experienced his famous conversion. As well as its rich history, Syria is abundant with great and varied architecture. Damascus is a catalogue of amazing buildings, but moving out of the city you will see the crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers dating back to the twelfth century and even get to walk its gloomy corridors. The northern city of Aleppo, also ranking high on the list of world’s oldest cities, has a plethora of unmissable sites such as the imposing hilltop citadel and ancient Madrasa Faradis mosque. In fact, there are so many architectural sites to check out that two days of the tour are dedicated to Aleppo in order to explore it properly.

However, for many the main event of the tour is the UNESCO world heritage site of Palmyra. This ancient city is of massive interest to archaeologists the world over, and it’s easy to see why. The site stretches back to Babylonian times, and is one of the most excellently preserved ancient city we have access too. Discovering this relic to antiquity yourself is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Syria has had its fair share of political unrest in the last century and at some point or another has rattled the cages of both its Arab neighbours and the United Nations. However, in the past few years the Syrian government has made inroads with its international relations and has had an active interest in supporting tourism in the country. In essence, it’s a perfect time to visit, being perhaps the first time in which travellers will feel welcome and safe as a tourist, yet early enough to feel like a pioneer while doing so.

This tour is a must for history buffs as you’ll see some of the greatest examples of ancient art and architecture this side of Rome but without any of the brazen commercialism.