Syria is a country, which has been in the list of the most dangerous countries. That is why it is probably weird to hear that people are traveling there, but how to actually enter Syria? Is it easy and what do you need to know about the process?
Where is it located?
Syria is a country located in Western Asia and is one of the countries in the middle east. They have borders to Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey . In the past and even now, the country suffers a lot from the war which happened in 2011.
While doing the tour in January 2022, everyone said that the war is over, just not in the city of Idlip, not too far from Aleppo.
The best border to cross would be from Lebanon, but also Jordan seems to be possible.
With its capital Damascus, which is also one of the oldest cities in the world, there is a lot of history to see and experience.
Can I travel without a tour?
This is a question, which is not that easy to answer, after a journalist was visiting Syria as a tourist. He did a documentary about the country and that secret. In the end it was not a positive documentary and Syria got more strict with the allowance for tourists to enter the country on their own.
There is always a way to travel individually to a country, when it is not North Korea, but it is not easy. I tried to find a way for my trip in January, but it was not possible for me. In the end, it was possible to walk around freely in the city itself. It is unlikely that officials are going to talk to you.
When you are a middle eastern citizen, which is not Israel, it should most likely work without booking a tour.
Can everyone enter Syria?
Besides Israelis and political refugees from Syria, it should be possible for every nation to enter Syria. This does not mean that the chance of entering is the same for every nation.
Generally speaking citizens from the USA and Great Britain are usually having it harder than other nations. This is due to the political reasons. For them it is also more expensive, to purchase the visa, than for other nations. The same in many African countries as well, there also the Australians need to pay way more.
When citizens from general speaking rich countries apply, who are not having big issues with Syria, then it is usually easier. Also for citizens from the Arab world, it is quite easy to get accepted.
What are the ways to enter the country?
There are in general two easy ways. Entering the country by land or by flight.
Crossing the land border works well from Lebanon and it is supposed to also work well from Jordan.
Flying into Syria is also possible, it is just way more expensive and it seems to be only possible from Damascus.
For touristic reasons, I would not try to get to Syria on other land borders or entering at a port!
What is the process?
When booking a tour the process is simple, you search for the cheapest option for doing a tour. In my case it was a tour for 5 days for $700. When you find something for over $2000, definitely keep searching. I will not promote anything here, because I don’t know if it’s maybe not even possible to get it cheaper. Just while being there, I met people, who were paying three times more than me, for almost the same tour.
You are giving all the passport information with a picture to the tour agency and they are going to do the rest for you. Also important, to have some passport copies on you, at the checkpoints they need that.
What can change in the future?
I believe that when Syria wants to have more people visiting, to have a good income from it, they need to make it easier for tourists to enter. I have some US American friends, who were not able to get a visa, because of their nationality.
The biggest issue is the dictatorship, which is going on with Assad in Syria. Even though they may not say it is a dictatorship officially, still it is one. Pictures everywhere and when the locals are not happy with the politics, but get almost a 100% votes, then it should be quite likely, what is going on there.
I still believe that in the future it should be easier to visit Syria and also visit the country independently. First it will be likely that it is going to be easier for religious reasons and then for everyone. It is of course not guaranteed, but all neighbors are doing it, best example Iraq, who made it easier for people to visit.
My experience getting stuff done
My experience was really simple, everything worked out well. With the help of the travel company it was going well. Having the help in the background was good, to be fair, traveling spontaneously to Syria would not have been possible. The process is a bit slow, compared to most other countries.
Also covid came to it, which made things harder and I had to postpone my trip many times, before it finally worked in January 2022.
After the country told, to open up, I started to apply, to get into the country and then covid came, which was leading to closing the country again.
My experience border crossing
The border between Lebanon and Syria is an extremely busy border. It can take a while until you get your stuff done. The amount of people at the border are in the hundreds. The officials seem to also be overwhelmed a bit.
With all the documents, which the tour agency gave me, I went to the first desk, where they gave me something and checked that I was the right one.
After that I had to pay for it and go get checked with the covid testing. I basically went there and they gave me a stamp on the test, without checking it at all. It is too busy to watch everyone closely.
I was with two others and one of them didn’t have a test, but it was still working somehow.
After being done with all of that, I had to go in two more lines, before finally the stamp was in the passport. It took over one hour, but more than happy, after everything was done and we drove in the direction of the capital Damascus.
Summary
Syria, one of the most popular tourist destinations of the middle east back then, but is struggling a lot right now.
Many historical sights are available to visit and it is nice seeing all of it. Especially during this time, without so many tourists. Obviously you are able to see many destroyed building. Also cities due to the war, which is maybe not easy to see for everyone, but it is part of it.
It is not the easiest country to visit, because of the visa and the way you need to travel right now. When preferring to have it easier, it is maybe better to wait a while, until it is getting easier. It is not guaranteed that it will get easier, but the possibility is always there.
I would love to hear your experiences about this place, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
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