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.
Sweida
The Druze heartland of the south remains largely outside Damascus's control amid unresolved tensions with local armed groups. There is no visitor access, and it should not be used as a route between other destinations either — plan around it rather than through it.
- Status
- No visitor access; do not route through it
- Worth
- —
- From Damascus
- —
- 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.