General Travel Guide for before your trip to Syria

Social Conventions
The Syrians take as much pride in their modern amenities as in their unique heritage and in the tradition of exquisite craftsmanship, and both should be appreciated. Visitors will enjoy the hospitality that is a deep-rooted Arab tradition and sharing the pleasures of an attractive Oriental way of life. It is customary to shake hands on meeting and on departure. A visitor will be treated with great courtesy and will frequently be offered refreshment, usually coffee. As a guest in someone’s home or, more usually, in a restaurant, visitors should respect Arab customs and traditions. A souvenir from the visitor’s home or company is well received. Conservative casual wear is suitable. Beachwear or shorts should not be worn away from the beach or poolside. Smoking follows Western habits and in most cases it is obvious where not to smoke. Smoking is prohibited in public from dawn to dusk during Ramadan.

Photography: No attempt should be made to photograph anything remotely connected with the armed forces or in the vicinity of defense installations, which even includes radio transmission aerials. It is wise to take a good look at what will be appearing in the background before pointing the camera.

International Travel:

Getting There by Air
The Syrian Arab Republic’s national airline is Syrian Arab Airlines (RB) (website:

Departure Tax
S£200. Children under 10 years of age and transit passengers (continuing their journey within 24 hours and not leaving the customs zone) are exempt.

Main Airports
Damascus (DAM), 25km (18 miles) southeast of the city (journey time – 30 to 40 minutes). To/from the airport: A bus service runs to and from the city center. Taxis are available, but it is advisable to negotiate fares beforehand if there is no taxi meter in the cab. Facilities: Bank, restaurants/snack bars, duty-free shop and tourist information.

Aleppo (ALP) (Nejrab), 10km (6.5 miles) from the city (journey time – 20 minutes).To/from the airport: Bus and taxi services go to the city. Facilities: Bank, restaurants/snack bars and tourist information.

Latakia Airport (LTK) is situated 25km (16 miles) from the city. Although there are no scheduled flights serving this airport, some chartered flights run here.

Getting There by Water, Main ports, Latakia and Tartus

The nearest car ferry sails to Bodrum in western Turkey. Beirut (Lebanon), however, is served (from Egypt, Cyprus and Greece) and Damascus can then be reached in a couple of hours by road. An attractive alternative is to take a ferry either from Italy (Ancona, Brindisi or Venice) or from Greece (Piraeus) and go as far as Turkey (Bodrum, Izmir or Kusadasi). From any of these ports it is easy to join the main road south via Aydin, Dinar, Antalya, and the steep rugged coast through Alanya, Anamur, Mersin, Tarsus, Iskenderun, Antakya, to Aleppo or Latakia. Three days should be allowed for the sea crossing and another three for the drive.

Certain lines offer a mixture of cruise and car ferry; the return journey could be made via Bodrum, Heraklion, Rhodes, Santorini and Piraeus. Cruise ferries are organized by Cypriot, Greek, Italian and Turkish companies and their programs vary year by year.

Getting There by Rail
Links go via Ankara (Turkey) and Istanbul. Change at Ankara for the Taurus Express to Aleppo.

Getting There by Road
the principal international routes are from Istanbul, via the E5 road to Adana, Ankara and Iskenderun in Turkey. Enter at Bab-al-Hawa for Aleppo, or at Kassab for Latakia. From the east, the best routes are from Aqaba on the Red Sea in Jordan.

Bus: Services are available across the desert, with routes from Aleppo and Damascus to Istanbul; Damascus to Amman; Damascus to Beirut and Tripoli; and Damascus to Riyadh.

Documentation: To enter the Syrian Arab Republic with a car, a customs certificate must be produced; it is obtainable from Automobile Clubs and Touring Clubs against a deposit. An International Driving Permit can also be obtained from these organizations, which is obligatory for holders of licenses which do not use the Latin alphabet.

Overview
the following items may be imported into the Syrian Arab Republic without incurring customs duty (irrespective of passenger’s age):

• 200 cigarettes or 50 cigarillos or 25 cigars or 250g of tobacco.
• 30g perfume for personal use.
• 570ml of spirits
• 500ml of lotion and 500ml of eau de cologne
• Gifts worth up to S£250

Prohibited Imports
Firearms and ammunition; live, frozen or stuffed birds, or any bird-derived products.

Internal Travel:
Getting Around By Air
Syrian Arab Airlines flies to Aleppo, Deir ez Zor, Latakia, Palmyra and Qamishli.

Getting Around by Rail
the railway extends 2,200km (1,364 miles). A service operates between Damascas-Aleppo-Deirez-Zar-Hassakeh-Kamechli. A second line runs between Aleppo-Latakia-Banias-Tartous-Homs-Damascas-Deraa. First-class carriages are air conditioned.

Getting Around by Road
there are 25,887km (16,086 miles) of roads. Traffic systems are poor and there are numerous accidents. Second-class roads are unreliable during the wet season. The principal route is Aleppo to Damascus and Dar’a (north–south axis). Traffic drives on the right.

Bus: Services run from Damascus and Aleppo to most towns and are cheap, widely used, efficient and comfortable. There are orange-and-white air-conditioned Karnak (Government-operated) buses and buses run by Transtour. Reservations should be made well in advance. Karnak bus routes serve their own terminals, which are usually in or near the city centers. There are also privately-run bus and microbus services.

Taxi: Shared taxis are available to all parts of the country. Service taxis (old limousines) run on major routes and cost 50 to 70% more than Karnak buses.

Documentation: International Driving Permit required. Green Cards are not yet accepted in the Syrian Arab Republic. Insurance is required by law and a customs certificate is needed. These are available from touring and automobile clubs.

Getting Around Towns and Cities
Publicly-owned bus services operate in all major towns and cities. Most buses outside the capital, however, have no signs in a European script to indicate destination or stops, which can make traveling rather difficult. Taxis are widely available. Fares should be agreed in advance and according to the meter in the cities.

About the Author

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