Ar Raqqah
Raqqa is a city in Syria on the north bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres east of Aleppo.
Raqqa is a city in Syria on the north bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres east of Aleppo. It is located 40 kilometres east of the Euphrates Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Ar Raqqah
6 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Tell Bi'a
Tuttul was an ancient Near East city. Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a in Raqqa Governorate, Syria.
3.5 km · archaeological site in Syria · Wikipedia - 02Uwais al-Qarni Mosque
The Uwais al-Qarani Mosque was a Twelver Shi'a mosque in Raqqa, Syria, until it was demolished by the Islamic State on May 31, 2014. As of 2026, it is currently awaiting reconstruction.
2 km · Islamic Shrine in Raqqa, Syria · Wikipedia - 03Tell Zeidan
Tell Zeidan is an archaeological site of the Ubaid culture in northern Syria, dates from between 6000 and 4000 BC. The dig consists of three large mounds on the east bank of the Balikh River, slightly north of its confluence with the Euphrates River, and is located about 5 km east of the modern Syrian city of Raqqa. This site is included within the historical region known as Mesopotamia and the Tigris-Euphrates river system, often called the Cradle of Civilization.
7.6 km · archaeological site in Syria · Wikipedia - 04Raqqa Museum
The Archeological Museum of Raqqa, also known as the Raqqa Museum, is a museum in Raqqa, Syria founded in 1981. The structure housing the museum was built in 1861 and served as an Ottoman governmental building.
800 m · museum in Syria · Wikipedia - 05Qasr al-Banat
Qasr al-Banat, Girls castle or Palace of the Ladies, are a set of brick ruins of a residence dating from the 12th century in the city of Raqqa.
1.5 km · archaeological site in Raqqa, Syria · Wikipedia - 06Great Mosque of Raqqa
The Great Mosque of Raqqa or Al-Qadim Mosque is the oldest mosque, currently in a ruinous state, in Raqqa, Syria, located at the northern section of the city's heart. The mosque was built by the Abbasids in 772 CE, under the reign of caliph al-Mansur.
1 km · mosque in Raqqa, Syria · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Great Mosque of Raqqa
First built in 772 AD, this mosque was extensively damaged by fighting in 2017.
- 02Ruins of Qasr al-Banat Castle
Ruins of a 12th century palace.
- 03Raqqa Museum
Damaged during the civil war, the museum has now been renovated and is once again open to the public.
- 04Raqqa City Walls
Assyrian fortifications, survived the 2017 siege of the city except for a 25-m-long stretch that was demolished to allow Syrian Democratic Forces troops to enter the Old City.
- 05Baghdad Gate
One of the surviving historic city gates.
- 06Tuttul
Archaeological site of the Broze Age town of Tuttul.
From Wikivoyage: Ar Raqqah, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Al Baik Restaurant,. Shahba Restaurant,. Al Sanabel Chicken.
From Wikivoyage: Ar Raqqah, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Ar Raqqah
- Airports
- Aleppo (ALP), 162 km · Şanlıurfa GAP (GNY), 167 km · Gaziantep Oğuzeli (GZT), 176 km
- Aleppo → Ar Raqqah168 km · quickest by road, 3h 4m · $16–22
- Damascus → Ar Raqqah368 km · quickest by road, 6h 51m · $35–48
- Şanlıurfa → Ar Raqqah136 km · quickest by road, 3h 35m · ₺275–370
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Ar Raqqah
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Ar Raqqah. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inBuses and shared taxis do run from Damascus and Aleppo.
- Get aroundShared taxi is the most common way of getting around with in the city, walking is an option in the centre.
From Wikivoyage: Raqqa, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-04.
- 01683 km
- 02698 km
- 03707 km
- 04709 km
- 05769 km
If you know how people move in Ar Raqqah – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Ar Raqqah
- Raqqa Districtdistrict of the Raqqa Governorate in Syria600 m
- Al-Qahtaniyahvillage in Raqqa Governorate, Syria8.6 km