Damascus

Worth seeing in and around Damascus

10 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.

1. 01
   Umayyad Mosque

   The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. It is considered to be the oldest mosque still in use in its original form.

   300 m · mosque in Damascus, Syria · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Damascus University

   Damascus University is a public research university in Damascus, the capital city of Syria. It is the largest and oldest university in the country.

   1.7 km · public university in Damascus, Syria · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Mount Qasioun

   Mount Qasioun is a mountain overlooking the city of Damascus, Syria. It has a range of restaurants, from which the whole city can be viewed.

   4.2 km · Historic mountain in Damascus · Wikipedia
4. 04
   National Museum in Damascus

   The National Museum of Damascus is a museum in the heart of Damascus, Syria. As the country's national museum as well as its largest, this museum covers the entire range of Syrian history spanning over 11 millennia.

   1.8 km · museum in Damascus, Syria · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Al-Azm Palace

   Al-Azm Palace is a palace in Damascus, Syria, built in 1749. Located north of Al-Buzuriyah Souq in the Ancient City of Damascus, the palace was built in 1749 to be the private residence for As'ad Pasha al-Azm, the governor of Damascus; during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, it housed the French Institute.

   400 m · palace in Damascus, Syria, built in 1749 · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque

   The Sayyida Zaynab Mosque is a Shia mosque located in the town of Sayyidah Zaynab, Rif Dimashq, Syria. Twelver Shia tradition considers the mosque to contain the mausoleum of Zaynab bint Ali, the daughter of Ali and Fatima, sister of Hasan and Husayn, and grand-daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

   8.2 km · Islamic Shrine in Damascus, Syria · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Citadel of Damascus

   The Citadel of Damascus is an Ayyubid-era medieval fortified palace and citadel in Damascus, Syria. It is part of the Ancient City of Damascus, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

   700 m · castle in Damascus, Syria · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus

   The Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus, also known as the Maryamiyya Church, is one of the oldest Greek Orthodox churches in Damascus, Syria and holds the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. The church complex is located on the Street Called Straight.

   400 m · patriarchal cathedral in Damascus · Wikipedia
9. 09
   National Library of Syria

   The National Library of Syria is the national legal deposit and copyright library of Syria, located in the capital Damascus overlooking the Umayyad Square. The Libraries and Documents Association of Syria has its headquarters at the National Library.

   3 km · national library of Syria · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque

    The Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque is a Shia mosque and mausoleum complex, located in Damascus, Syria. The complex contains the grave of Ruqayya bint Husayn, the young daughter of Husayn.

    200 m · Mosque in Damascus, 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

The Souq al-Hamidiyya, a broad street packed with tiny shops, is entered through columns from a Roman temple built on a site that had been occupied by an even older temple. The souqs themselves smell of cumin and other distinctive spices and you can find passages dedicated to everything from leather and copper goods to inlaid boxes and silk scarves.

1. 01
   Temple of Jupiter

   Roman temple, built in the 1st century BCE.

2. 02
   Umayyad Mosque
3. 03
   Azm Palace

   Built in 1749, it includes a museum describing the life of royal families.

4. 04
   Citadel of Damascus

   Medieval fortified palace and citadel, now partly ruined.

5. 05
   Statue of Saladin

   Unveiled in 1993, marking the 800th anniversary of Saladin's death.

6. 06
   Khan As'ad Pasha

   Largest caravanserai in the Old City of Damascus, built in 1758.

From Wikivoyage: Damascus, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

View the city from Mount Qasioun is a must-do activity in Damascus as it offers a panoramic view. The peak is accessible at any time, although the view is perhaps most spectacular at night when the whole city is lit up and the minarets of mosques are bathed in green light. The Umayyad Mosque in the old town is particularly impressive when viewed from the mountain.

1. 01
   Damascus Opera House

   Bathing in a hammam, i.e., a Turkish bath, is a great way of both soaking up the atmosphere of Old Damascus and to be rejuvenated after a long day.

From Wikivoyage: Damascus, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

The famous vegetarian falafel sandwich, chicken shawarma, and manakeesh, bread filled with zatar, spinach, meat, pizza-style tomato and cheese or other fillings are widely available and cheap. Less common but still widely spread are places which sell foul (boiled fava beans with sauce) and hummus. A typical Damascene dish is fatteh, made up of soaked bread, chickpeas and yogurt.

1. 01
   Bakdash
2. 02
   Beit Jabri Restaurant

   A favorite with locals and tourists, and offers the Syrian classics.

From Wikivoyage: Damascus, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Damascus

Airports

Damascus (DAM), 22 km · Beirut Rafic Hariri (BEY), 83 km · Marka International (Amman Civil) (ADJ), 174 km

• Aleppo → Damascus

  310 km · quickest by air, 4h 46m · $170–260
  GuideToday
• Beirut → Damascus

  85 km · quickest by road, 1h 57m · $9–12
  GuideToday
• Amman → Damascus

  176 km · quickest by road, 2h 58m · JD8–10
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

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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 Damascus

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 Damascus. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Damascus – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.