City by city
Where you can go, city by city
What each place is, whether it's currently safe to visit, and how long it's worth. Damascus and the west function largely normally for visitors; other areas do not — this is the honest split as of October 2026, so check again before you travel. Times are driving times, which in Syria means checkpoints included.
Latakia & Tartus
A slower, saltier country: sandy beaches, mild winters, grilled fish, and the local dry white wine that most visitors do not expect to find. Ugarit, just north of Latakia, is where one of the earliest known alphabets was excavated. Saladin's Castle sits in forested hills inland and shares UNESCO listing with Krak. Daily life runs normally for most visitors, but this is where the worst sectarian violence of 2025 happened, and attacks by armed groups linked to the former government have since brought army deployments into Latakia and Tartus. Go with local guidance, stay unobtrusive, and check the news the week you travel.
- Ugarit for the alphabet tablets' findspot
- Saladin's Castle, dramatic and far emptier than Krak
- Grilled fish on the Tartus corniche at sunset
- Status
- Open, but go with local guidance; army deployed after attacks
- Worth
- 2 days
- From Damascus
- 4 hours
- Best time
- May–October
This is the underrated risk. Contamination is widespread in former front-line areas, around Palmyra, and along old defensive lines. The rule is simple and absolute: stay on hard-surfaced roads and worn paths, never enter a ruined building or an open field, and never take a shortcut across ground you have not seen someone else walk.