Travel to Syria
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Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in old Damascus: the mosaic treasury on columns, the north arcade, and the Minaret of the Bride

Damascus

The capital of Syria. Stay in the old city. Walk the souq to the Umayyad Mosque.

Last checked 13 September 2026

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Damascus, Syria: one day inside the walls. Souq al-Hamidiyya to the Umayyad Mosque, Azem Palace and Khan As’ad Pasha if they are open, Straight Street, evening in Bab Touma. Sleep around Bab Touma or the souq. Shoes off and shoulders covered at the mosque; a small cash ticket if you are not there to pray. You do this without a tour office. Cash pounds in the lanes — a US card is not the souq. Dollars at the hotel. Skip the National Museum if you only have one day inside the walls.

What to see

  1. 01Umayyad MosqueMosque
  2. 02Souq al-HamidiyyaSouq
  3. 03Azem PalacePalace
  4. 04Khan As’ad PashaKhan
  5. 05Straight Street and AnaniasStreet
  6. 06Damascus CitadelFortress
  7. 07National MuseumMuseum

Getting there

Most people arrive from Beirut or Amman by land, or from DAM if the airline boarded a visa-on-arrival passenger. The airport is about half an hour; cash taxi; agree the price before you sit. Get dropped at the citadel end of Hamidiyya — that is the usual start. Some guides begin at Bab Sharqi and walk west; same spine, the other way. Inside the walls, walk. For the rest of the city, YallaGo once you have a Syrian number, or a yellow taxi you priced with kam?. Northbound buses to Homs and Aleppo leave from Harasta or al-Abbasiyeen. Maaloula is a morning from here — that day is on the Maaloula page. Three nights in Damascus only is the 3-day Damascus itinerary on this site. Bosra is south, a different day — that day is on the Bosra page. How to get to Syria and getting around Syria on this site have the fares and the app.

How to get to SyriaGetting around SyriaCash in Syria

A day here

  1. 1Enter Souq al-Hamidiyya from the citadel end. Do not buy in the first shops. You come out at the Jupiter columns and the mosque.
  2. 2Umayyad Mosque: cover up, shoes off, a small cash ticket if you are not praying. Friday the courtyard is for worship first.
  3. 3Azem Palace after the mosque if it is open — often closed Tuesday. Cash pounds; confirm at the door. Khan As’ad Pasha is next on the spice souq, same Tuesday, a different ticket.
  4. 4Straight Street toward Bab Sharqi — quieter than Hamidiyya. Chapel of Ananias is a short drop into a crypt if you want it; the street has no ticket.
  5. 5Evening in Bab Touma. Mount Qasioun is a taxi for the view, not a requirement. Do not add the National Museum to this day.

Nearby

Visitors walking the arched bridge to the restored south gate of the Aleppo Citadel
AleppoNext on the M5. Citadel in the morning, souq after.
Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque in Homs: silver domes, twin north minarets, and the city park
HomsThe M5 sleep. Krak one morning, Palmyra the other.
Houses of Maaloula stacked up the pale Qalamoun cliff, church towers and laundry on the terraces
MaaloulaA Damascus morning. Two monasteries, then back — or north to Homs.
Visitors in the black basalt Roman theatre at Bosra, cream columns against the stage wall
BosraSouth. Theatre. Not the seven-day line.