Hello Everyone! Welcome back to my channel. This video was not planned but I got so many query about Syria and how to travel in Syria… I’m getting hundreds of calls, messages, emails… to share details of traveling in Syria. Not just my viewers but many YouTubers are also showing there interest in visiting Syria once. I’m sure you’ll see many of your favorite YouTubers there.
So in this video I’ll share all the important details about how as an Indian or wherever you’re from, can also visit Syria. I’ll share all the expenses you’ll have to bear, the complete process, what can be expected… I’m am confident that if you see this video till the end you will have all the information that you need. I did research for months to understand the processes to visit Syria. I’ve been trying to visit Syria before I started uploading videos regularly on YouTube, since 2019. Then only I was able to go to Syria. And I’m sure almost all the tour agencies and tour guides in Syria know me because I tried to connect with everyone who could help me fulfil my dream of visiting Syria even the Syrian tourism ministry.
First we’ll talk about how can you enter Syria. There are 3-4 ways you can enter Syria, but I’ll only talk about the best way. You can even take flight to Damascus, Syria. But this is not the best option as the connectivity of Damascus Airport is not so good. Flights from very few cities fly for Damascus and that too at very high cost. Even if you can bear the cost of flight, the Damascus Airport stay unfunctional most of the time.
Although, Syria shares it’s border with 5 countries(Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Israel) but you should consider entering Syria only from these two countries. From Jordan and Lebanon. You go to Jordan or Lebanon by flight and then enter Syria by road. I entered Syria from Jordon and exited to Lebanon. So, I could visit 3 countries just in one trip. And if we talk about Visa, then it is not like other countries that you can apply for it in Syrian Embassy or online. Getting Syrian visa is very complicated, in 2019 it was different, in 2020 it was different… In this video we’ll only talk about the current process.
Now it is almost same for Indians and non-Indians. First you need to take security clearance from the Syrian Tourism Ministry. This process can take up to 1 – 2 months. So consider this time when you’re planning to visit Syria. Now, how can you contact Syrian Tourism Ministry. Actually you can not get in touch with them directly. You will have to connect with a tour agency located in Syria and they with apply for your security clearance. Then only you can move to the next step.
Let’s say you get all the documents required from Syrian Embassy even after that you can not roam around in Syria by yourself. You must would have seen in my videos that there many security checkpoints in few kilometers and they can detain you. So never try this. Now the question arise is that how to find a tour agency that can apply for our security clearance. You can find these tour agencies on Facebook, Trip Advisor, or on some other social media platform. I myself connected with many different agencies.
In 2020, I was in touch with some other tour agency and my plan got delayed due to Covid. This time I took help from some other agency. This time my friend Chirine’s tour agency helped me visit Syria. Shukran Lebanon is the tour agency which can make your trip to Lebanon and Syria possible. I didn’t want to invest more money and effort in doing all the processes again so I wanted to take help with some trusted agency. This is not a sponsored video from them. You can go with some other agency also if you are comfortable with them.
I’m not saying other agencies are not good but there are many factor that you need to consider when you are visiting foreign country. You must do your research because any one factor can make your travel experience bad. If you’ll ask my advice, I would recommend her agency. You yourself saw in the videos that I got o explore Syria in an amazing way. They managed everything very professionally and resolved our issues in minutes. So if you want to connect with Shukran Lebanon and Chirine then you and email them here Since, she was in one of my videos, many of you tried reaching out to her and had to ignore all the messages.
So, if you’re actually planning to visit Syria or Lebanon then I would suggest you to write mail with this subject – For your information, you do not need help of any tour agency to visit Lebanon. But for Syria you need their help. There must be a tour guide with you every time during your visit to trip to Syria. And you can keep yourself safe form getting charged extra from these tour agencies by doing this… The final cost that they quote you will include charges for your tour guide, all your transportation, your stays are included in that as well as the breakfasts. All other things are generally not included in the tour package.
Now I’ll tell you, how much you can expect the cost from these tour agency to charge you for the tour packages. The cost can vary with the experience of guide, quality of restaurants, etc… If you’re going alone then it will be expensive because for you they will provide separate guide, single hotel rooms,… So this can make your trip a bit expensive. For single person 4 Day Tour packages can cost around $1000 to $1200. And this is the minimum cost you should expect. There are generally two categories of itinerary you can choose from.
I would say that cheap one is also not bad but if you want to experience luxury then you can go with the expensive one. You can make the cost half if you are traveling with a co-traveler. You’ll share hotel, guide, transportation cost… everything. Your cost can come as low as $650, if you can find a partner to travel with you to Syria for 4 days. Increasing days of your trip will increase the cost significantly. So please make sure to ask as many questions as you can from the tour agency before starting the process.
Each day in Syria will cost you around $225 so be specific with your needs and what you want to experience in Syria. I was accompanied by Manoj Bhaiya. It was a good decision cost wise and security wise also. Our trip was for 7 Days and it cost us around $1250 each. I can’t recall the exact amount but it was around $1200-$1300 each. This cost can vary depending upon the itinerary, hotels and days of your trip. I hope this will help you not to get overcharged by the tour agencies. Remember, first and last day of your tour will be pickup and departure days. If you’re planning to go via Jordan then Chirine’s company will arrange your pick up from Jordan and drop you in Jordan after your trip.
And same if you’re planning to via Lebanon. After they drop you in Jordan or Lebanon you can take flight to your country. A very important thing you should take care of is, don’t transfer the amount of your tour package to the agency before starting your tour. You only have to pay them for the tour after they pick you up and your tour starts. But you will have to transfer the Visa fees i.e. $30 in advance. You don’t need to pay the amount for tour package in advance. Be careful and try not to proceed with the tour agency who are insisting you to make all the payments in advance.
And in the end if you want to know my experience of Syria. I would say it was fantastic. Syrian people, Syrian culture, Syrian Food,… is just one of the best in the world. Your trip to Syria can be once in a lifetime trip. So make sure you don’t ruin it by getting in touch with some bad tour agency. I’m saying this again, this video is not sponsored by anyone. I just loved the way my friend’s agency planned our tour. As I told you in the beginning that before finalizing Shukran Lebanon I connected with almost all the tour agencies in Syria for months. But feel free to explore other choices also.
So if you want to hear back from Chirine and plan your tour to Syria or Lebanon, you can email her with the subject- This will increase your chances of hearing back from her because after coming in my video she got hundreds of message from our viewers for many different purposes. This is what I was discussing with her a while ago. I also requested her to give some discount to the people who watch my videos and she was happy to do that.
I hope this video cleared all your doubts to about how to visit Syria for Indians or non-Indians. I know this sounds weird but Syria is actually one of the best countries I’ve ever visited. But make sure that your tour is planned properly with the help of some tour agency because we cannot deny the fact that Syria is still having Civil War. And please don’t email Chirine if you’re not planning to visit Syria or Lebanon. All the messages made her uncomfortable. This ends Syrian Series and now I’ll start uploading videos from Turkey.