Cash
How much money to physically carry
This is the question that decides your trip. Work it out before you book, because you cannot top up once you are inside.
Cash-to-carry calculator
A planning estimate in US dollars, including a contingency reserve. Not a quote.
Bring clean, undamaged US dollar notes — torn or heavily marked bills get refused, and pre-2013 series are often rejected outright. Split the money across two or three places rather than one wallet, and keep a stack of small denominations: the visa fee, the departure tax and most taxi fares are far easier to settle without asking for change on a hundred.
New Syrian pound converter
Checked by hand · 10 Oct 2026
Checked by hand · 10 Oct 2026
In old pounds: 1,220,000
The currency changed underneath you
On 1 January 2026 the pound was redenominated, removing two zeros: 100 old pounds became 1 new pound. New notes carry wheat, olives, roses and citrus instead of portraits — the government described the design brief as no faces, no places. Old notes circulated alongside for a 90-day transition and were withdrawn by around May. Any price you see quoted online from 2025 or earlier is in old pounds; divide by a hundred.
Two rates, one of which you will actually use
The central bank publishes an official reference rate — about 122 pounds to the dollar in October 2026 — while the parallel market in Damascus and Aleppo runs a few per cent higher, roughly 130 to 133. Change money at licensed exchange offices or banks, not with people who approach you in the street, where counterfeit new notes are the obvious risk.
Cards work now, in a few places
The central bank licensed banks to work with Visa and Mastercard in May 2026, and on 27 August foreign-issued cards started working at participating merchants. The local processor reports about 4,200 terminals in Damascus and Aleppo, mostly in upscale hotels, government offices and big shopping centres, with a target of 50,000 by the end of 2026. Away from those places, and anywhere outside the two cities, assume cash. We have no confirmation that foreign cards work in ATMs. Ask your own bank in advance whether it will authorise Syria transactions.