While we still advise booking a tour to Syria for most travellers, since the fall of Assad, it has become easier to travel around Syria independently. Currently, if entering Syria by land borders, they are allowing foreigners to enter if they can provide the name of a Syrian sponsor inside the country, or if they have a permission document from the Syrian ministry of tourism. It is also currently free to enter by land borders, unlike the airport, which is charging visa fees (Click here to know how much).

Entering via Damascus airport is more complicated, as airlines require a permission document from the ministry of tourism to board (we can provide this, please contact us), and visa fees must also be paid.

Entering SDF areas in North Eastern Syria requires special permission, otherwise you may get turned back at the checkpoint. If you manage to enter without permission, you may be arrested, detained, and potentially imprisoned for illegal entry. We do not recommend attempting this. If you join us on a tour of the North East, this permission will be provided. Otherwise, contact me for more details (preferably by WhatsApp: +447905681636). In general, though, it can be difficult to travel to this part of Syria independently.

But once you are in Syria and have all of your required permissions, how can you travel around, and where can you stay? This article aims to help you.

Long Distance Bus Travel around Syria

If you’re in Damascus and you would like to take a bus to long-distance destinations such as Homs, Aleppo, Deir Ezzour, Latakia, Idlib, Raqqa, Al Qamishli and more, then you can take a bus from Damascus Bus Station in Harasta at this location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bUciY5YWxMTRbpvL9. In case the link doesn’t work in Syria, you can type in the following text into Google Maps: كراجات البولمان حرستا.

If you’re in Aleppo, you can find long distance buses from Ramouseh garage at this location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/EW2oCamDVd9pLmKeA. You can also find it by typing on Google Maps: كراج البولمان بحلب

If you’re in Homs then you can find long distance buses https://maps.app.goo.gl/Edycv7ecddY8jqjAA. You can also find it by typing on Google Maps: محطة إنطلاق البولمان الشمالي بحمص.

If you’re in Latakia then you can find long distance buses here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wAGqtDaKBK6DUh8W8. You can also find it by typing on Google Maps: Pullman Bus Station.

If you’re in Raqqa then you can find long distance buses here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TkFcYTpnAJRN6tGq5. You can also find it by typing on Google Maps: Pullman Garage Raqqa

Short Distance Bus Travel

If you plan on travelling to somewhere nearby – for instance, if you’re in Damascus and you’d like to go to a nearby town, then you can travel by minivans, known locally as “servis”. The locations in each city to find these minivans are different, and the often depart from different places depending on where you’d like to go.

If you’re in Damascus and you’d like to go to a town to the north of the city, such as Al Nabk (where Mar Musa Monastery in located) or even Homs, you can find minivans that depart from Abasseen Garage: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qvbzupKXhZWsnFxh8. You can also type كراجات العباسيين into Google Maps to find the location.

If you’re in Damascus and you’re like to go somewhere to the south, such as Daraa, you can find minivans that depart from here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/22zQ4nXWyBDqhGZaA. You can also type مركز انطلاق المنطقة الجنوبية into Google Maps to find the location.

If you’re in Aleppo and you’d like to head to Idlib or Darat Izza or any of the nearby towns to the West of the city, you can find minivans that depart from here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1p7XnG3JoPEiAqtR6. You can also type الكراج الموحد into Google Maps to find the location.

If you’re in Aleppo and you’d like to head to Azaz or Manbij, or somewhere to the North or East of the city, you can find minivans that depart from دوار الصاخور (Sakhour Roundabout).

In general, though, you can ask locals in the city that you’re in to help direct you to the minivan location that takes you to your destination. They should be able to help you to travel around Syria independently.

In case you don’t want to join one of our Syria tours where we usually provide transport from Beirut for free, you can cross the border by yourself. Did you know that you can travel from Beirut to Damascus by bus (or vice versa) for less than 10 USD each way. However, there are many steps involved. Follow along with the article to learn how.

IF travelling from Beirut to Damascus:

First, go to Cola station (exactly at this location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Pch6j3Xv2pY7m3i87). You will find minivans heading towards Chtoura in the Bekaa valley. Get in one of them. It currently costs 300,000 Lebanese Lira per person (just over 3 USD). They look like the image below:

After around an hour you should arrive in Chtoura. You can also exchange money to Syrian Lira here. After you get out of the bus, you can find another similar minivan heading to Masnaa (the border crossing with Syria) for 100,000 Lira (1 USD). When you arrive, ignore all of the drivers offering to take you to Damascus, and go and get your passport stamped out of Lebanon.

Once you are stamped out of Lebanon, go through customs and find a car heading to the Syrian side of the border. I suggest paying the driver 1 or 2 USD each to the Syrian side of the border (or the equivalent in Syrian or Lebanese currency), as he is heading there anyway.

After getting stamped into Syria, pass through customs, and you will find a similar minivan heading to Damascus. They currently charge 25,000 Syrian Lira per person (around 2.5 USD). You might have to wait a while for it to fill up before the minivan leaves. He will drop you at Somariyah station (exactly here). You can cross to the other side of the highway and find another minivan heading towards central Damascus from there (Baramkah).

IF travelling from Damascus to Beirut:

If you are travelling the other way around, you basically have to follow the same steps. Make sure you go to Somariyah station (exactly here) and search for a minivan heading towards Jdeidet Yabous (the Syrian side of the border). The minivans are usually located inside the station on the left hand side – ignore the taxi drivers that offer to take you to the border if you’re on a budget.

Once arriving at the border, you can follow the same steps mentioned above, but in reverse.

Travelling from Beirut to Damascus by bus this way shouldn’t take too much longer than going by taxi – around 4 hours should be enough. Safe travels and enjoy Syria!

So, since the fall of Assad, the Syrian government has announced that they will be imposing Syria visa fees for the entry of foreigners. Currently (27th February) these fees are only being charged at Damascus airport, while entry from land borders is still free. This is likely to change within the very near future, though. If you’d like to visit Syria with us, check out our SYRIA TOURS.

The current Syria visa fees are as follows:

Group 1: Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania

Free, 6 months stay (although certain requirements for Lebanese citizens to enter)

Group 2: Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia

150 USD, 3 month stay, valid for 3 entries into Syria

Group 3: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Peru, Montenegro, China, Morocco, Angola, Pakistan, Tanzania, Chad, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Cyprus, Cambodia, Cuba, Mongolia, Namibia, Ecuador, Sudan, Algeria, Yemen

40 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 25 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 4: Armenia, Central African Republic, Uruguay, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Senegal, Mexico, Niger, India, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Turkmenistan, East Timor, Comoros, Ethiopia, Lithuania, Colombia, Georgia, Luxembourg, Rwanda, Russia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Singapore, New Zealand, Gambia, Guinea, Venezuela, South Korea, Laos, Libya, Liberia, Malawi, Thailand, Mozambique, Myanmar, North Korea, Serbia

75 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 25 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 5: Spain, Switzerland, Paraguay, Bahrain, Denmark, Sweden, Somalia, Germany, Norway, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Belarus, Slovakia, Slovenia, France, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania (mentioned in 2 lists it seems), Lesotho, Malta, Moldova, Macedonia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Hungary

125 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 30 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 6: Phillipines, Uganda, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Canada, Oman, Egypt

150 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 40 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 7: Kenya, Uzbekistan, United Kingdom, Australia, Afghanistan, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Burundi, Dominica, Eswatini, Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, New Zealand, Iraq

250 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 65 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 8: USA, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan

300 USD for a single entry 15 day visit). OR 75 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 9: Marshall Islands, Congo (not clear which one, or both)

350 USD for a single entry 15 day visit. OR 90 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Group 10: All other countries that are not mentioned

100 USD for a single entry 15 day visit (3 months for Arab nationals). OR 25 USD for a 3 day transit through Syria.

Tourism in Syria after the fall of President Assad is possible. But is it safe? And what are the conditions that are imposed on foreign visitors. As a foreign national that crossed the border into Syria a mere 6 days after the regime collapsed, and as someone who runs group tours to the country, you’re in the right place to be asking!

Is it true that visas are not required?!

Currently (8th February 2025), all nationalities are exempt from visas (which are not currently being issued anyhow), but certain nationalities face restrictions. For instance, if you’re Iranian or Israeli, it’s not possible to enter Syria. For Lebanese, there are certain conditions. But for most nationalities, it is MUCH easier than under the days of Assad.

Currently, it is possible to enter Syria as a foreign tourist by land from Lebanon or Jordan (currently prohibited in most cases from Turkey and Iraq). In most cases, upon arrival at Syrian immigration, you will be asked your purpose of visit, and whether they allow you to enter or not is up to their discretion. In most cases, you’ll be stamped through and welcomed quickly, but there have been cases or people being turned away for seemingly arbitrary reasons (having too many tatooes for instance). Having a document indicating that you have booked a tour, or its itinerary, certainly helps. Entry is also free of charge.

If you choose to fly into Damascus, authorities at the airport are easily letting foreigners in without questions, but they have to pay 50 USD to enter. One issue, though, is whether the airline will let you board without a valid visa. I suggest checking with the airline before booking. Turkish Airlines has announced that foreigners will be allowed to board their flights, but other airlines (particularly Qatar Airways) appears less lenient.

What is INSANE though is that currently, you are allowed to stay in Syria as long as you wish, as no time limit is being enforced.

Is independent travel allowed?

Tourism in Syria during Assad was very tightly controlled! Meaning that most foreign tourists had to have a guide assigned to them from the moment of entry until the moment of exit, with large surveillance from the intelligence services. Now, tourists are not bound by such conditions, and if you manage to enter Syria, then you can travel freely across most areas of the country (SDF controlled areas such as Raqqa still require special permission). Does that mean that I recommend independent travel? No. Syria has just come out of turmoil, and it is a complicated place to navigate if you’re not familiar. It is safer to go with a guide, and you’ll be having a richer experience.

Is tourism in Syria safe, after Assad?

Currently, parts of the country are still unstable, especially rural regions along the Syrian coast and Homs province. Furthermore, Kurdish forces still control swathes of the East, and it is not clear whether they will come to an agreement with the new government. Also, an Israeli occupation is still holding territory in the south. It is also true that elements of the new government were members, or supporters, of extremist groups. This might sound worrying, but the reality on the ground is that major cities are all safe, as are most areas of touristic interest. Hence, we have decided to resume our group tours to Syria, starting in April. If you are interested, be sure to let us know.

After joining one of our Iraq tours, you might decide that you want to visit Turkey! Well, you can go by land. It’s only been around a year since Iraq and Turkey inaugurated a new border crossing between the two – the Zet border crossing. However, it’s not exactly simple to cross as a foreigner, especially if you’re crossing from Iraq to Turkey. This is partly because transportation to the border is difficult, and also because of the border procedures themself. Make sure you read on if you don’t want to get turned around at the border (like I was!). We decided to cross this border to explore Turkey’s fascinating Hakkari region – one of my favourite destinations in the country that few people visit.

IMPORTANT point: the crossing is only for pedestrians – no cars!

Crossing from Iraq to Turkey

From Erbil, there is no direct transport to the border. We decided to hitchhike (which was fairly easy) but you can also take public transport to Soran from Erbil Terminal. From Soran, people told us that you can find shared taxis to the Zet border crossing. Keep in mind that it’s good to leave early, because the border closes at around 5pm.

Getting turned around at the border!

When we arrived at Zet border crossing, the Iraqi Kurdish officials refused to stamp me out, seeing as they didn’t recognise my Iraqi federal visa. They told me that I had to return to Erbil (three hours away) to get a Kurdistan exit visa before they would let me cross. This is not the case if you use other border crossings, such as the more common Ibrahim Khalil crossing.

Seeing as we were determined to go to Hakkari and to cross the Zet border crossing, we returned to Erbil to get this stamp! It cost me 60,000 Iraqi dinar (around 40 USD). You can get it by visiting the second floor of the Erbil immigration building. We then returned to the border the following day.

Finally crossing the Zet border crossing

The Iraqi Kurdish border guards, after stamping me out, singled me and my friend out for special checks of our bags. This took quite a while, and involved questioning. It took around an hour to get out of the Iraqi side, despite the fact that it wasn’t busy at all. The Turkish side took less than five minutes, immediately stamping our passports and putting our bags through a scanner before entering.

Onward travel from Zet border crossing

After crossing the Zet border crossing, there are minivans that can take you to Şemdinli town, which itself is very pleasant and scenic. From there, you can either spend the night, or you can travel onward to Yuksekova or Hakkari. Hakkari city itself truly has some of the best people and scenery in all of Turkey, and I totally recommend visiting – especially the Cennet Cehennem Vadisi!