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.
Krak des Chevaliers
A Crusader fortress on a ridge above the Homs gap, and one of the best-preserved medieval castles anywhere. Concentric walls, a vaulted gothic hall, a sloped glacis you can still walk the full circuit of. It survived the war with damage that has largely been repaired. The site is large and exposed, so it rewards an early start and good shoes.
- Combine with the Christian valley town of Marmarita nearby
- Bring water — there is little shade on the ramparts
- Status
- Open and secured
- Worth
- Half day
- From Damascus
- 2.5 hours
- Best time
- Spring, for green hills
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.