SYRIA

Afternoon: meet up in Beirut transfer and check-in at the hotel and have a pre-departure briefing for Syria

Evening: dinner in the Lebanese restaurants of Corniche, and evening dedicated to the discovery of the surprising nightlife of Beirut, one of the most active in the Middle East

Morning: breakfast and transfer to the Maasna border to cross over the frontier. Customs formalities and entry into Syria. Arrival in Damascus in the morning

Afternoon: first taste of Damascus, the oldest city in the world, continuously inhabited for more than 11,000 years. Visit the church of Sant’Anania, then along the ‘Right path’ (or Latin Via Recta), which runs from east to west in the old city of Damascus, between bazaars and the maze-like streets of one of the most fascinating historic centers of the Middle East

Evening: dinner in a restaurant and overnight in Damascus

Morning: visit to Damascus: from the National Museum for an overview of the civilizations that developed on Syrian soil, to the souq Al-Hamidiye, the most beautiful souk in Damascus. Its shops display all kinds of goods, especially clothes, fabrics, pastries and crafts.

Afternoon: visit of the Umayyad Mosque: located in the heart of the Medina, the mosque stands out for its prayer room, its courtyard and its walls covered with mosaics. El-Azem Palace visit: not far from the Great Mosque, in the souq labyrinth is the El-Azem Palace. It is considered the perfect model of the damascene house. The exterior simplicity and sobriety do not suggest anything of a beautiful and rich interior, with many varieties of flowers, fruit trees and water jets.

Evening: dinner and evening in Damascus

Morning: Breakfast and transfer to Maaloula, a small Christian town perched at 1500 meters above sea level, whose monasteries were almost completely stolen and destroyed during the civil war and by ISIS between 2013 and 2014. Continuation to Aleppo

Afternoon: continuing the itinerary and arrival in Aleppo: nicknamed “the capital of the North”, a flourishing metropolis from the 3rd millennium BC, until 2010 it was the most inhabited city in Syria with over 4 million inhabitants. Today, after the years of civil war, the population of the city has more than halved. The old town undoubtedly has the most beautiful souks in the Middle East, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 and is considered one of the cultural capitals of Islam

Evening: dinner and evening in Aleppo

Morning: visit of the castle of Aleppo, and of the citadel, which rises in the center of the city and dominates it from the height of its fifty meters. It has beautifully designed towers and stands out for its perfectly crafted iron doors to prevent any enemy intrusions

Afternoon: visit of the caravanserraglio, which was intended for the accommodation of merchants on the move and their goods, and of the old souks covered in Aleppo, which stand out for their coffered vaults and their huge domes. Most of it dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries. These are real living museums that offer us a faithful image of what were the commercial districts and the animation that reigned in the Middle Ages. Short visit to the historic centre, one of the areas most affected by the war

Evening: dinner and evening in Aleppo

Morning: breakfast and transfer to Hama, and visit of the city and its ruins, 17 historic water wheels on the Oronte river, some of which have probably been active since the 12th century. Lunch in Hama

Afternoon: departure for the Krak Des Chevaliers, “the most admirable castle in the world”, as defined by Lawrence of Arabia. Visit the castle, the most iconic example of Crusader architecture and one of the most spectacular and best preserved medieval castles in the world, and continue on to the city of Homs. Arrival, check-in and visit of the city, epicenter of the Syrian revolution, and today the touching testimonies of the scars of war, between desolating destruction and hopes for the young population for a better future

Evening: dinner and evening in Homs

Morning and afternoon: breakfast and departure to Palmira. What the Romans baptized as Palmyra (the city of palm trees) and what the Syrians call Tadmor (a miracle in Aramaic) is the most important oasis of the Syrian desert. Located 240 km from Damascus, Palmyra is the city of the superlatives. It rises in the midst of golden sands that extend infinitely. An oasis of columns and palms remains that testifies to the splendor of this city that one day made Rome tremble. Visit of the temple of Bel, which was for the Palmyrians what Zeus was for the Greeks, the largest and most majestic building in Palmyra, a unique example of fusion between Greek-Roman architecture and oriental inspiration. Visit of the theatre and the large colonnade, more than a km long, through which the caravans that came from the desert passed. Visit of the tombs: tower, excavated, and temple. Return to Damascus in the afternoon and check-in at the hotel

Evening: dinner and last night in the clubs of Damascus

Morning: Departure from Damascus, crossing the Syrian-Lebanese border and continuing on to Beirut

Afternoon: arrival in Beirut, check-in at the hotel and visit of the center of the capital of Lebanon

Evening: dinner and last night of the trip to Lebanese restaurants and Corniche clubs

Morning: We’ll be able to say our final goodbye over a nice breakfast!