It’s downright presumptuous to use a word like “discover” about a country that has been around under various guises since humans got in the civilizational mood. But Syria, long on the touristic back burner, has suddenly been revealed to the mainstream travel world as some sort of new—and they love to use the word “hot”—destination.

GeoEx has been traveling to Syria for a decade, and we’re great fans of its exquisite and ancient wonders, its extraordi­nary scenery, and its eager and open hospitality. Our travelers roam Damascus, probably the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, a great metropolis bountifully bequeathed with exquisite mosques and mausoleums. We explore Krak des Chevaliers, an imposing Crusader fortress that T. E. Lawrence considered “the finest castle in the world” and one of the most perfect examples of medieval defensive architecture. (Peter Wilshire of the Times of London had a less pragmatic take. He called it the “model for every sandcastle ever built.”)

We meander in one of the Middle East’s greatest market­places, the souk at Aleppo (where Murder on the Orient Express begins). We admire the Roman and Byzantine wonders of Apa­mea (“magical,” our chief Syria fancier Kristina Tuohey says) and the walled city of Resafa (favorite stomping grounds of Harun al-Rashid of The Thousand and One Nights). And we’re awestruck by one of the grandest ancient sites in the world, the forest of colonnades at Palmyra, which led the great Arabist Gertrude Bell to “wonder if the wide world presents a more singular landscape.”

Day 1: Arrive in Damascus, Syria • Days 2 & 3: Damascus • Day 4: excursion to Bosra • Day 5: drive to Krak des Chevaliers and Hama • Day 6: drive to Latakia via Apamea • Day 7: drive to Aleppo via Saladin’s castle • Days 8 & 9: Aleppo • Day 10: drive to Palmyra via Resafa • Day 11: Palmyra • Day 12: drive to Damascus via Mar Mousa • Day 13: Damascus • Day 14: depart Damascus.

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