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 in the past few years Syria, long on the touristic back burner, has rather suddenly been revealed as a top-drawer destination. GeoEx has been traveling to Syria for a decade, and we’re eager to return—in the sure knowledge that our good friends there want us to. While the country is in turmoil. We’re keeping day-to-day watch on developments with the firm intention to make our visit only when it’s safe and appropriate (and in the meantime, to our Syrian friends: As-Salamu Alaykum).

Our travelers have delightedly roamed Damascus, probably the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, a great metropolis bountifully bequeathed with exquisite mosques and mausoleums. We’ve explored 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 architec¬ture. (Peter Wilshire of the Times of London had a less pragmatic take. He called it the “model for every sandcastle ever built.”) We’ve meandered in one of the Middle East’s greatest marketplaces, the souk at Aleppo (where Murder on the Orient Express begins), admired the Roman and Byzantine wonders of Apamea (“magical,” our chief Syria fancier Carey Johnston says), and the walled city of Resafa (favorite stomping grounds of Harun al-Rashid of The Thousand and One Nights). And we’ve been 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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