Syria from Past to Present

10 Days – 9 Nights

Day1

Arrival to Damascus

Arrival – Transfer to Damascus – overnight at the hotel.

When your plane lands in Lebanon, a driver will be waiting for you at the airport or around Beirut to get you to the Lebanese-Syrian borders. After crossing the borders the car will get you to the hotel in Damascus.

Day2

Damascus – Maaloula – Hama – Aleppo

Departure from Damascus to Maaloula. The monastery of Maaloula contains a portrait of the Virgin believed to have been painted by St. Luke. The little houses of the village cling to the face of an enormous rock; they look suspended in mid-air. The inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. The word Maaloula means “entrance” in Aramaic.
Departure towards Hama, to admire its famous Norias: large wooden wheels, installed on the edge of the Orontes and which have not stopped turning since the fourteenth century to raise the water to distribute in the city. The rustic beauty of these old machines is striking, their regular song seems to come from the depths of time.
Arrival to Aleppo, free time in the souks and possibility of relaxing in a Hammam.

Day3

Aleppo City Tour

Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit of the second city of Syria.
A flourishing metropolis since the 3rd millennium BC, Aleppo has been fighting with Damascus for the title of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city. The old city has undoubtedly the most beautiful souks of the Middle East. Lunch during the visit.
The citadel: stands in the middle of the city and dominates it from the height of its fifty meters. It has admirably designed towers and is distinguished by its entrances made with perfection to prevent any enemy intrusion and its iron gates.
Caravanserais: They were intended for the accommodation of traders on the move and their goods. They are famous for their decorated facades, high arched entrances and huge wooden doors that closed at nightfall.
The souks: The old souks covered with Aleppo are distinguished by their coffered vaults and their enormous cupolas. Most date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. These are real living museums that offer us a true image of what were the commercial districts and the animation that reigned in the Middle Ages. Each souk specializes in selling a type of product. In the charming souks you can also find authentic Bedouin handicrafts, as well as rugs, fabrics and many varieties of delicacies to enjoy, such as the famous Aleppo pistachios, honey-based pastries, almonds and fruits. dry that will make happy the most greedy. You will do the best shopping in the Orient …
Dinner in a restaurant. overnight at the hotel.

Day4

Aleppo - Apamea - Saladin Castle Lattakia

Departure towards Apamea, an ancient city, is one of the examples of Roman architecture in Syria. The city of Apamea was distinguished by its main street, which stretches for a length of 1.774 meters and a width of 37.5 M, which is flanked by magnificent spiral columns along the street and has been well restored, in addition to the theater, the caves, the cathedral, churches, the palace, mosaic paintings and many monuments scattered throughout the place.
Move towards the Saladin Castle, a beautiful citadel built by the Franks in the middle of the forests, on a rocky peak. It allowed to control the roads coming from and going towards Lattakia. The history of this stronghold is long: the Phoenicians had already fortified the place, Alexander the Great seized it, as well as the Byzantines a few centuries later. It is the Crusaders who, in the twelfth century, will give the castle its current appearance. At the time, it was called “Château de Saône” (named after a crusader). Its current name was only awarded in 1957, commemorating Saladin’s seizure of the place in 1188.
Dinner and overnight in Lattakia. a major Syrian city situated on the Mediterranean Sea, Lattakia is an important port playing an essential role in the imports and exports for Aleppo (Syria’s industrial capital) and for the Syrian Eastern Region. it is known for its diversity of landscapes, from the green mountains to the sandy beaches.

Day5

Lattakia - Ugarit - Amrit - Arwad Island – Tartous

Departure towards Ugarit, a coastal town north of Lattakia. Ugarit became famous thanks to the discovery of tablets of the oldest consonantal alphabet known to date. The first habitat, a large fortified village, dates back to the 8th millennium BC. The two immense palaces, later constructions, yielded archives and literary archives, attesting to an astonishing diversity of languages and five writing systems, including the consonantal alphabetical or Ugaritic script which dates from the 14th century BC AD.
Resumption of the road direction to Amrit, the classical Marathas, was a Phoenician port located near present-day Tartous in Syria. Founded in the third millennium BC. Marat was the northernmost important city of ancient Phoenicia and a rival of nearby Areas.
Heading to visit Arwad island, the only island in Syria, and it is located 3 kms from Tartus. It was an independent kingdom named Aradus in the days of Canaanites, it has many names (Arwad, Arados, Ruad Island, Arfad) , It includes Maritime Museum and it is The capital of the Phoenician kingdom.
Heading to visit Tartous, a city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest coastal city in Syria (after Lattakia), The Phoenician founders named the city Antarados meaning “The town facing Arwad”. It is a favorite destination for tourists and a beautiful modern city with its buildings, markets, modern resorts, tourist facilities and port. As for beaches of Tartous, it is a beautiful extension of the Syrian coast, with soft sand, chalets, hotels, cafes and marine restaurants that are scattered on it.

Day6

Tartous - Safita Tower - Crack des Chevaliers - Al Mishtaya

Departure towards Safita Tower, located on a site where remains of the Phoenician settlement were discovered. It’s square is a chapel dedicated to St. Michael and serving the Greek Orthodox community of the city.
Continue to the Crack des Chevaliers, the most famous fortress of the Middle Ages. The crusaders made it the basic element of their system of strongholds on the coast. It is so vast and so impregnable that it has become the symbol of a whole era of bloody struggles between Muslims and Crusaders.
Heading to visit Al-Mishtaya, a village in northwestern Syria, located west of Homs. It is characterized by its charming landscapes, and beautiful climate.
Dinner in Al-Mishtaya at restaurant. Overnight at the hotel Tartous.

Day7

Al Mishtaya – Palamyra – Damascus

Palmyra: The one that the Romans baptized Palmyra (the city of palms) and that the Syrians call Tadmor (miracle in Aramaic) is the most important oasis of the Syrian Desert. Located 240 km from Damascus, Palmyra is the city of all superlatives. It arises in the midst of golden sands that extend to infinity. An oasis of columns, remains and palm trees that testifies to the splendor of this city that made, one day, tremble of Rome …
The temple of Bel: It was for the Polyarenes what Zeus was for the Greeks. Its temple is the largest and most majestic building in Palmyra, a unique example of fusion between Greco-Roman and oriental-inspired architecture.
The theater and the big colonnade: It crosses the city on more than one kilometer by which the caravans arriving from the desert passed.
Tombs: including tombs towers, tombs dug, tombs temples or individual tombs.
Back to Damascus – Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day8

Damascus City Tour

Breakfast at the hotel. meet our guide Then The tour starts with our guide to taking you.
The National Museum: Its visit provides an overview of the civilizations that have succeeded in Syrian soil. It contains statues, seals, jewelry, masks, mosaics, tablets and weavings from the most important sites in the country.
The Umayyad Mosque: which is the best example of Arabic Islamic architecture that dates back to the 8th century A.D; The tour will also include a stroll in the old Souks to enjoy the oriental fragrance Located in the heart of the Medina, the mosque is distinguished by its prayer room, its courtyard and its walls covered with mosaics.
El-Azem Palace: Not far from the Great Mosque, in the labyrinth of the souk is the palace El-Azem. It is considered as the sumptuous model of the Damascene house whose exterior simplicity and sobriety do not suggest anything about a beautiful and rich interior, with many varieties of flowers, fruit trees and water jets.
Saint Ananian Church: It is of particular importance because it is attached to the memory of Saint Paul. Before his conversion to Christianity he had a vision here that blinded him for several days and gave him an unshakeable faith.
Souk Al-Hamidiye: The most beautiful souk of Damascus. Its shops display all sorts of goods, especially clothes, fabrics, pastries and handicrafts.
Dinner in a restaurant then overnight in Damascus.

Day9

Damascus – Bosra - Damascus

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure towards the South of Syria.
Visit Bosra, a very ancient city, already mentioned in the inscriptions of Akhenaton, in the 14th century BC. The most important of its monuments is the famous Roman Theater (2nd century AD), the one of the most beautiful and best preserved in the world. It is 45 meters long and has a depth of 8 meters. Its stands can accommodate seventeen thousand spectators.
Back to Damascus_ overnight and dinner at the hotel.