7-Day Syria Highlights Tour from Beirut with Palmyra and Aleppo

• Pick up at your chosen time from Beirut, Lebanon, and transfer to the Syrian border for exit and entry formalities.
• Continue to Damascus by private car.
• Check in to the hotel and rest before starting a walking tour of Old Damascus.
• In the afternoon, explore the bazaar, shopping areas, and the bar and restaurant street.
• Visit the Church of St. Ananias and the window of St. Paul. Enjoy free time in the evening to experience Damascus' vibrant nightlife.

Overnight in Damascus.

• After breakfast, begin your full-day Damascus city tour.
• Visit the National Museum of Syria.
• Explore the handicraft market at Souk Al-Hamidiye for some of the best handmade goods in the Middle East, then continue to Azem Palace, a perfect example of a traditional Damascene house.
• Visit the Mausoleum of Saladin and the Umayyad Mosque, a place of worship since the first millennium B.C. The Umayyad Mosque is famous for its incredibly decorative mosaic walls.

Dinner and overnight in Damascus.

• Drive to Maaloula, a small Christian town that was almost entirely decimated by ISIS in 2014.
• It is one of the most scenic villages in Syria and the only place in the world where Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ, is still used as a living language.
• Visit a destroyed Catholic church that has already been largely rebuilt.
• Depart for Aleppo. There will be many checkpoints along the way, as the main road between Homs and Aleppo runs very close to areas controlled by the Syrian Free Army.
• To avoid most of this, take the more scenic route to Aleppo.
• Arrive in the early evening and enjoy free time for dinner and the rest of the evening to explore on your own.

Overnight in Aleppo.

• Aleppo was arguably one of the worst-affected cities during the Syrian war.
• Here, you will have the chance to see some of the terrible destruction, as well as the opportunity to witness the early stages of the massive rebuilding projects that Syrians are now undertaking.
• Your first stop in the morning will be the famous Aleppo Castle.
• You will also be able to see the partly destroyed old souks.
• Some of them date back to the 14th century and still sell authentic Bedouin handicrafts.
• Drive into the old town, one of the areas most affected by the war.
• See the towering citadel and caravanserais.

Dinner and overnight in Aleppo.

• After breakfast, drive to Hama, famous for its historic wooden waterwheels.
• Continue to Krak Des Chevaliers, described by Lawrence of Arabia as "The most wholly admirable castle in the world." This is a medieval masterpiece.
• After touring the castle, continue on to Homs.

Dinner and overnight in Homs.

• Depart early for Palmyra.
• Spend the full day visiting the destroyed city.
• See the Arch of Triumph, the Great Colonnade, the Theatre, the Agora, and the Tombs.
• Drive back to Damascus.

Dinner, free time, and overnight in Damascus.

• After breakfast, experience some of daily life in Damascus and visit Neiraben Park and other public places in the city.
• Begin the drive back to Beirut by private transfer at your chosen time.
• Arrive in Beirut.

End of the Syria tour.