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MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL LTD
Voysey House,
Barley Mow Passage
London W4 4GF
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8742 3355
USA: 1-800-988-6168
Canada: (647) 382 1644
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New Zealand: 61-7-3377-0141
Voysey House,
Barley Mow Passage
London W4 4GF
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8742 3355
USA: 1-800-988-6168
Canada: (647) 382 1644
Australia: 1300 55 95 95
New Zealand: 61-7-3377-0141
Essential Syria - The Main Classical, Christian & Islamic Monuments
- Syria has the finest antiquities and cities of any country in the Levant.
- Important prehistoric sites (major Roman remains (Palmyra), early Islamic art and architecture (Damascus Mosque), Crusader castles (Crac des Chevaliers).
- This tour selects the best sites of every age, gives precedence to the visually spectacular and minimises driving and hotel changes.
- Flight schedules change frequently on this route. We recommend you keep diaries clear for 24 hours either side of these dates.
ITINERARY
DAY 1
London to Damascus—fly at c. 4.00pm from London Heathrow to Damascus, arriving c. 11.00pm (time in the air: c. 5 hrs).
DAY 2
Damascus—one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, capital of the Umayyad Empire as well as of modern Syria—lecture followed by a walk through the picturesque old town including the ‘Street called Straight’, St Ananias Chapel of Biblical association, and the 18th-century Azem Palace, caravanserais and city gateways—overnight Damascus.
DAY 3
Damascus—the National Museum is one of the most important in the Middle East, providing a conspectus of the civilizations of this area with art and artefacts from many of the sites visited—walk through Al-Hamidiyeh Suq to the 8th-century Umayyad mosque, one of the earliest monumental buildings of Islam, exhibiting both the grandeur of an imperial power and the openness of design which reflects the nomadic roots of the Arabs—overnight Damascus.
DAY 4
Bosra—day trip to the south through the black basalt region of the Jebel Druze—Bosra was briefly a Nabatean capital before becoming capital of the Roman province of Syria—prosperous and powerful, it was largely abandoned after the Arab conquests—the splendid Roman theatre was converted into an Ayyubid fortress—much else remains of the Roman town as well as Christian and Islamic buildings—overnight Damascus.
DAY 5
Crac des Chevaliers—drive north with the foothills of the Lebanese mountains to the west—a precipitous drive leads up to Crac des Chevaliers, headquarters of the Knights Hospitallers—its massiveness, brute beauty, functional perfection, excellent state of preservation and the vastness of the landscape over which it lorded make Crac the most awe-inspiring of castles—drop down to the desert and drive east—first of two nights in Palmyra.
DAY 6
Palmyra—once the greatest of all desert emporia, whose infamous Queen Zenobia conquered Egypt and rebelled against the Romans—the ruins are as impressive as any Roman site, with their sequence of colonnaded streets, well-preserved temples of Baal and Nebo, theatre, market place and many other appurtenances of a highly sophisticated urban culture—see also the hypogea, tower tombs and museum—overnight Palmyra.
DAY 7
Hama, Serjilla—rejoin the northbound highway, stopping at Hama to see (and hear) the ancient waterwheels driven by the River Orontes—continue to the Jebel Zawiye to the dead city of Serjilla, one of the most intact of the ghost towns, with almost complete houses, churches, inns and other assorted buildings—first of three nights in Aleppo.
DAY 8
Aleppo—a trading centre and ‘desert port’ for over 4,000 years, Aleppo is a bustling city which retains some of the authentic flavour of the ancient Orient and fits the popular image of a Middle Eastern city better than any other—the huge citadel dominates the city, its fortifications representing the apogee of Arab military architecture—explore the labyrinth of covered bazaars and assorted caravanserais, the Great Mosque, madrassa and the picturesque residential quarter—overnight Aleppo.
DAY 9
Qalb Lozeh, St Simeon—drive into the hills to the west of Aleppo—the beautiful 5th-century cathedral at Qalb Lozeh is one of the most intact monuments in the region—once a major pilgrimage destination, the enormous 6th-century monastery church of St Simeon Stylites is one of the masterpieces of Christian architecture; four basilicas radiate from the site of the pillar on which St Simeon lived for 40 years—some free time in Aleppo.
DAY 10
Apamea, Damascus—drive south to the astonishing Hellenistic and Roman city of Apamea, which has the longest colonnaded street and a situation of breathtaking beauty overlooking the Orontes valley—continue to Damascus—overnight Damascus.
DAY 11
Fly at c. 10.30am from Damascus arriving Heathrow at c. 2.00pm.
DATES & PRICES
TOUR CONTAINS
TESTIMONIALS
A thoroughly good tour: Good company, excellent lecturer.
P. & A.W., London
An excellent experience which left us with a very good imression of both Syria and Martin Randall.R.W., London
We really enjoyed the tour. We saw a lot of Syria whilst travelling and staying very comfortably.J.W., London
A very well organised tour, providing an excellent introduction to the history and sites of Syria. We were very well looked after by the tour leader, manager and local guide.M. & E.H., Surrey
This was an extremely satisfying tour where the participants seemed to get on very well and there were no unwelcome hiccups.A.T., London
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