Damascus - anyone been?

[Wadeski]

I'm going to the kuwait with my girlfriend (she's a brit, and her family work there) at easter and I would like to see some other bits, preferably historic, while we are out there.

I've always wanted to go to Damascus, but does anyone have any tips on what its like, what the best accomodation is (riads like morrocco, or big hotels?) and if there are any things we should be careful of....basically any tips would be great.

[mgp1969]

when is easter? am going 13-16 april. if it's after that, i'll let you know

speaking to the dutch consul here in dubai who had previously been based in damascus, he reckoned it was a hidden gem, very tolerant society and very interesting city. there are also the roman ruins at aleppo, etc. i ahev details of a riad from a mate at work i will PM you when back in the office sunday

if you want to travel somewhere else in the region and are not sure about syria, try jordan (amman, petra, wadi rum, dana national park and jerash all worth a visit) or oman (muscat (one of my favourite cities), nizwa, turtles at raz al jinz, good diving off muscat or elsewhere off the coast, forts at barka, rustaq, etc plus lots of wadis which are worth exploring)

lebanon is also great but probably not as stable as oman or jordan

[Wadeski]

thats great advice - and i would love any details you have.

i am planning to be there the same time, coincidentally.

[mgp1969]

Found hotel details on Blackberry (see, they do have some uses):

http://www.almamlouka.com/

I am going to do this:

http://www.syrianautomobileclub.com/discover/eng/i...

[PD9]

Never been, Sorry I cant help.

[speedyman]

I was there in 1985 I stayed at the Cham Palace, great hotel. I went to a large souk whilst there, lots of cheap damask silk for sale, good quality to. I did not feel threatened then, as always be on your guard and advisable to not be alone.

http://www.chamhotels.com/palace_damascus.html

Speedyman

[Dr_Rick]

My parents worked there for a short while and it was quite entertaining actually. The souks are excellent. You'll find a curious mix of styles there that will just go to show what an ancient cross-roads in the trade routes it is. There's Roman, Arab, bit of Asian, African in places and a hint of European somehow.

We had a local guy drive us as the rules are somewhat 'interpretive'. While there, we did a trip down from Damascus to Petra for that full on Indiana Jones vibe, Wadi Rum for where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed and the Dead Sea. Allepo was good, Krak Chevalier (sp?) for Crusader castles. We also lived in Oman and that's definitely worth the trip - non of the bling of Dubai and way more welcoming as a people. I'd agree that Lebanon is possibly a little dicey at the moment, but if you do get in, track down Chateau Musar for a good slurp of Bekka Valley wine. They've got a huge vine cellar holding some $3m worth of wine. We went and were offered a wine from our birth-year. So I had a 1978 red that was truly incredible and then he told me it was worth £150-bottle.

Dr Rick