SYRIA HOLIDAYS   >   MIDDLE EAST  


Provinces in Syria : Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus

Capital city of Syria: Damascus. 


hotels, tour operators - syria tours, travel guides, travel to syria

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Hotels in Syria

 

 
Centrally located hotels ranging from small family run budget accommodation to world-class five star hotels.

Travel Agents / Tour Operators

     -   Take in the best sites & off-the-beaten-track places
From great archaeological sites to colourful bazaars and exciting cuisine. All the Syria holidays are provided by operators committed to supporting local people & the environment.

 
Create your trip to Syria   -   Flight, Hotel and Car

  

 
*  Syrian Caravan
Roam the souks of Aleppo and the fortified walls of the stunning crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers and uncover the riches of Syria. Sip coffee in Damascus, an ancient city vibrant with modern life and culture, then head back in time to the Greco-Roman city of Palmyra. Your expert CEO will uncover the hidden gems of this region's rich history and culture and give you the time to explore them. Encounter the genuinely welcoming people of Syria on a short trip that's long on adventure.



  Haj & Umra   -   see Ziyarat program

Incoming Tour Operator

  Minerva Tours
Daily regular tours, excursions, hotel reservations, sightseeing, seminars & conferences, tailor made tours.

Travel Guides Syria / Related Books

Syria (Bradt Travel Guide)   -   Diana Darke (Author)
This second edition of Bradt's Syria is the clear market frontrunner, offering more detailed first-hand information on sites, cultural, historical and social background, accommodation and restaurants than any other guidebook. In addition to the country's impressive historical sites, such as the Roman caravan city of Palmyra and the Crusader castle of Crac des Chevaliers, it incorporates walking and trekking areas, wildlife and other environmental issues, while amusing snippets from literature, local anecdotes and sayings help to stimulate a genuine interest and understanding of Syria's people and the land in which they live. Diana Darke is a fluent Arabic speaker and has specialised in the Middle East for over 25 years. The owner of an old courtyard house within the walls of Old Damascus, she is well known as a Syria expert.
Paperback: 336 pages; Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 2 edition (April 2010); ISBN-10: 1841623148; ISBN-13: 978-1841623146.

Transportation / How do I travel to Syria

  Damascus International Airport

   -   Flights to Syria
Book cheap flights to Syria at ebookers and benefit from discounted airfares. View their latest offers and book your flights, accommodation, car hire and insurance online

  Airline Tickets Syria / Bargain Flights 

  Al-Hijaz Railway Company
Take a sentimental train journey to the Zabadani Valley near Damascus, with churning drivers, the sound of escaping steam, and a whistle blowing. The result is an illusion of a time that once was  -  the era of wood and coal burning steam-driven engines.

  Maps International   -    
Mapsinternational.co.uk is one of the largest map shops online.
  Online Map of Syria [ Uni Texas - Perry-Castañeda Library - Map Collection ]


Links 

  Syria Tourism
General Information: History of Syria, Damascus, Southern Provinces, Mid-Western Provinces, North-Eastern Provinces, Museums, Tourists Impressions, Maps, Archeological Discoveriers
Tourist Information: Hotels, Restaurants, Cafés, Cafeterias, Cabanas, Cinemas, Tourist Agents, Apartments, Ancient Bathrooms
  Syria Online  -  Tourism

  Damascus   -   Capital City Syria
Damascus is a mixture of old and new. In the modern part of the city there are up-to-date homes, hotels and government buildings. Whereas in the Old City, you can watch the graceful minarets and domes of more than 200 mosques rise above the famous one-story Damascene houses.
Damascus is famous for its bazaars. Bazaars are streets lined with shops, stalls and cafes. One of these is the "Street Called Straight", mentioned in the Bible in connection with St. Paul's conversion to Christianity. The tomb of John the Baptist (Prophet Yahia in the Quran) is situated in the Grand Umayyad Mosque in the centre of the old city.  The Umayyad Mosque is the symbol of Damascus. Built by Caliphate Al-Walid I in the 7th century, this mosque is a wonderful example for Islamic art and architecture. Other historic monuments in Damascus include the Azem Palace, a typical Damascene house of the 18th century.

Landmarks of Old Damascus: The Wall and Gates, The Omayyad Mosque, The Azem Palace, Damascus Citadel en de The Souqs.
Landmarks of the New City: The National Museum, Al-Takieh al-Suleimaniyeh, The City of Damascus Historical Museum en Al-Salhieh

  Aleppo
The second largest city of Syria, Aleppo, lays claim to being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world . In the centre of Aleppo is the magnificent Aleppo Citadel, considered to be the oldest in the world, the Great Mosque, and the Aleppo souk, which is the longest covered souk in the world. There are over 200 'Dead Cities' within a radius of 60km around Aleppo, some of which date back to the first century AD.
  Bosra al Shaam   -   an Amazing Historic City
Situated at about 40 km east of Deraa, Bosra, is excellently well-preserved and of monuments of great dimensions- a monumental town like Palmyra and Petra. Once the capital of the Roman province of Arabia, an important stopover on the ancient caravan route to Mecca, Bosra has conserved within its thick walls a magnificent Roman theatre from the 2nd century early Christian ruins and several mosques.
  Homs
  Latakia / Lattakia   [ Saladdin Castle ]
Latakia is Syria's main seaport on the Mediterranean. It lies 186 km southwest of Aleppo, 348 km northwest of Damascus. It has retained its importance since ancient times.
Latakia's history goes back a long way. In the 2nd Millennium BC Latakia was part of the Kingdom of Ugarit. Ugarit a Syro-Phoenician kingdom is being excavated at the moment about 20 km north of Latakia. Then it fell to the Assyrians, and then the Persians.
Devastating earthquakes in 494 and 555 badly damaged Latakia, but  it was rebuilt by Justinian. Latakia was taken in AD 638 by the Arabs, in 1097 - 1103 by the crusaders, and in 1188 by Saladin. Subsequently the town was administered by Christians from Tripoli, Muslims from Hama, and the Ottoman Turks; it came within the French mandate of Syria and Lebanon in 1920.
  Maaloula / Ma'lula
  Palmyra
  Tartous
  Zabadani

  Bimaristan al-Noury
  Khan Al Shouneh in Aleppo
The Khan was built in 1548, to function as a center of crafts, with revenues dedicated to the Khesro Islamic school [ founded by the pious governor of Aleppo, Khesro Paghi, during the Ottoman reign ]
Krak Des Chevaliers - kruisvaarderskasteel
'The most admirable castle in the whole world', this is what Lawrence of Arabia had to say about the greatest of Crusades castles in Syria. The Castle is located at an altitude of 650 meters, on the top of a volcanic cliff. The view, as seen from its towers, covers a vast land extending from Mount Lebanon to the valleys of Homs and the Mediterranean shores.
  Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian
  Saladin's Tomb and its neighboring Schools
  Seydnaya   -   Greek-Orthodox monastry with a miraculous icon
Muslim and Christian pilgrimages alike head to Seidnaya from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to pay homage to this great shrine.
A legend tells that the monastery was founded in the sixth century. When the Byzantine Emperor Justinian was chasing a deer on to the top of the hill during a hunting game, and just as he was about to draw his bow, the deer miraculously converted into the Virgin Mary and commanded him to build a convent on the rock.
  Shrine of Saida Zeinab
  Soukhs in Damascus
Souq al-Hamidiyeh, Souq Midhat Pasha, Souq al-Harir en Souq Al-Bzourieh
  St. Paul's Church
  Tekiya Soulaimainya
Superbly positioned on the river Barada strand between the National Museum and the Victoria bridge, this great example of Islamic architecture is considered as one of the most refined and poetic buildings in Syria.
Works on the Tekiya Soulaimanya started in 1445, and did not complete till 1450. It was built to serve as a meeting station for caravans of pilgrims heading to Mecca for the holy Hajj.

Cuisine  -  Syrian cooking

Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey Through Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan   -   by Sonia Uvezian
First-rate cookbook that provides a wide spectrum of authentic and easy-to-follow recipes that make use of healthful and readily available ingredients. Both the narrative and illustrations are fascinating, and there are also some wonderful menu suggestions.
Flavours of the Levant Home Cooking from Lebanon, Syria and Turkey 
Nada Saleh
A selection of recipes from Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, an area known as the Levant. Each section in the book introduces one of the regions, followed by instructions for starters, main courses and desserts. It is full of healthy-eating ideas and recipes for favourite Middle-Eastern dishes.
Hardcover 288 pages (May 10, 2002);  Publisher: Robson Books Ltd.;  Language: English
ISBN: 1861054467 

  Culinair   -   arabian recipes

History of Syria

Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)

  Syria's History   -   Wikipedia
Eblan civilization;  Syria in Antiquity;  Early Christian and Islamic history;  French Occupation;  Instability and growth: independence to 1970;  Ba'ath Party rule under Hafiz al-Assad, 1970-2000;  21st century
The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-gatherers to Early Urban Societies (Ca.16000-300 B.C.) (Cambridge World Archaeology S.) 
Peter M. M. G. Akkermans, Glenn M. Schwartz
This book is the first comprehensive presentation of the archaeology of Syria from the end of the Paleolithic period to 300 BC. Although Syria has been the focus of intensive excavations for decades, no large-scale review of the results of these excavations has ever appeared until now. Syria is one of the prime areas of excavation and archaeological field work in the Middle East, and Peter Akkermans and Glenn Schwartz outline the many important finds yielded by Syria, before providing their own perspectives and conclusions.
Paperback 350 pages (February 2004);  Publisher: Cambridge University Press;  Language: English;  ISBN: 0521796660 
Syria: Revolution from Above (Contemporary Middle East S.)  -   Raymond Hinnesbusch
This study examines the development of the Syrian state as it has emerged under thirty-five years of military -Ba'thist rule and, particularly, under President Hafiz al-Asad. It analyses the way in which the fragility of the post-independence state, unable to contain rising nationalist struggle and class conflict, opened the way to the Ba'th party's rise to power and examines how the Ba'th's 'revolution from above' transformed Syria's socio-political terrain. The mixed strategy of power concentration under Asad is then examined and the way in which the creation of a presidential monarchy buttressed by trusted kin and clients commanding instruments of repression was combined with the creation of Lenninst-like political organization incorporating a rural constinuency. Subsequent state-society relations, including the rise of a new class, Islamic rebellion, the survival of civil society and Asad's resort to political decompression as a substitute for democratisation are then surveyed. The author moves on to assess the political economy of economic development, showing how agrarian reform, industrialization and economic liberalization created a more equitable and diverse but fundamentally flawed state-dominated economy. The final chapter examines how Asad's foreign policy has turned Syria from a victim to an actor in the regional struggle for power.
Paperback 200 pages (August 1, 2002);  Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon;  Language: English;  ISBN: 0415285682
Antioch: The Lost Ancient City  -   Christine Kondoleon (Editor)
This exhibition catalogue brings to life the ancient city of Antioch - once the ancient capital of Syria and the gateway to the east and west. The colour plates feature artefacts excavated, including: mosaics; sculpture; glass and metalwork.
Hardcover 352 pages (December 1, 2000);  Publisher: Princeton University Press;  Language: English;  ISBN: 0691049327 

Music, Culture

Syrians have contributed to Arabic literature and music and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry.

Syria: Cradle of Civilisations 
Alain Cheneviere
Syria's archaeological riches make its claim to be the cradle of civilizations incontestable. Excavations of the towns in the Middle-Euphrates show civilization flourishing in Syria at the time of the earliest great civilizations of Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. And since then, a series of great empires has risen and fallen in the area, and all have left their mark on the country. Syria was conquered and settled by the Assyrians, who in turn gave way to the great Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Then subsequent Persian dominance was ended by the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, and Syria became Hellenized, with Antioch as capital of Macedonian Babylon. Evidence of Roman rule is everywhere, but it most impressive in Palmyra. Indeed, Syria's importance to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire founded by Constantine can be seen by the numerous Christian churches. Fortifications such as the magnificent "Krak des Chevaliers" recall the long struggles between Muslims and Christian Crusaders. And the Ottoman Empire brought Syria commercial prosperity and further treasures. But this turbulent past has contributed to more than archaeological wealth. The vibrance of modern Syria, as witnessed in commercial cities like Damascus and Aleppo, is a testament to the cultural intermingling over the millennia. The most vivid contrast is afforded by the unchanging lifestyle of the Bedouin in the vast deserts which cover more than half the country. In this series of photographs, accompanied by an informative text, Alain Cheneviere offers the reader a taste of this extraordinary diversity.
Hardcover 192 pages (November 4, 1996);  Publisher: Stacey International;  Language: English;  ISBN: 0905743989
Culture Shock! Syria: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! S.) 
C. South
Paperback 130 pages (March 1, 2002);  Publisher: Kuperard;  Language: English;  ISBN: 185733146X
  Aramusic.com   -   Arab music


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