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.
Qamishli & Hasakah
Qamishli and Hasakah anchor Syria's Kurdish-majority northeast, a mixed Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian region with little tourism infrastructure. The SDF formally dissolved into the national army on 25 August 2026 and administration transferred to Damascus, but integration on the ground remains incomplete, and this stays a region for local knowledge rather than independent travel.
- Status
- Integration incomplete; little tourism infrastructure
- Worth
- Not a tourist stop
- From Damascus
- 8+ hours
- Best time
- —
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.