Syria Travel International

AIR: The Syrian Arab Republic’s national airline is Syrian Arab Airlines (RB) (website: www.syrian-airlines.co.uk). British Mediterranean (a franchise partner of British Airways) operates regular services from London to Damascus and two services to Aleppo.

Approximate flight times: From Damascus to London is six hours and from Aleppo is four-five hours.

International airports: Damascus (DAM), 25km (18 miles) southeast of the city (travel time – 30 to 40 minutes). Two other international airports, Aleppo and Latakia offer connections to Amman and Beirut airports. A bus service runs every 30 mins from 0600-2300. Return is from the city centre. Taxis are available, but it is advisable to negotiate fares beforehand if there is no taxi meter in the cab. Facilities include banking, restaurants/snack bars, duty-free shop and tourist information.
Aleppo (ALP) (Nejrab), 10km (6.5 miles) from the city (travel time – 20 minutes). Bus and taxi services go to the city. Facilities include banking, 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.

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.

SEA: The principal ports are Banyas, Latakia and Tartus. The nearest car ferry sails to Bodrum in western Turkey. Beirut (Lebanon), however, is served – from Alexandria, 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 organised by Cypriot, Greek, Italian and Turkish companies and their programmes vary year by year. Contact a travel agent for details.

RAIL: Links go via Ankara (Turkey) and Istanbul. Change at Ankara for the Taurus Express to Aleppo.

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 south, the best routes are from Aqaba on the Red Sea in Jordan. 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. 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.