Lebanon and Syria holiday
| country: | Lebanon, Syria |
| departures: | 2010: 27 Feb, 25 Sep, 23 Oct, 4 Dec 2011: 26 Feb, 19 Mar, 23 Apr, 23 Jul, 27 Aug |
| price: | From £1509 - £1615 (17 days) including flights from the UK and from £1152 - £1218 excluding flights. |
| more info: | Price includes: 13 nights hotel, 1 night monastery in dormitories, 1 night guesthouse, 1 night local home-stay; 16 breakfasts & 3 lunches included. Single supplement £139. Group size approx 16 - 20. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The order of sightseeing between Krak and Aleppo may change slightly during the shorter days of the winter months as will Day 5 in Lebanon, however all sites described will be visited.
Historic Lands of the Middle East
We begin our journey in Lebanon with a visit to the famous Beiteddine Palace and Sidon, site of a remarkable sea-castle. Moving on, we spend time at Baalbek, admiring the magnificent temples and views of the Beqa'a Valley. We also walk among the mysterious monasteries of the Qadisha Valley and the Cedars of Lebanon before visiting the ancient harbour town of Byblos. Then we cross the Anti-Lebanon range to the Syrian capital Damascus, where we'll visit the famous Ommayad Mosque and wander through the magical souk.
Crusader Castles & Roman Ruins
Our journey continues via the great Krak des Chevaliers castle to Roman Apamea and the medieval citadel at Aleppo, Syria's second largest city. We also visit the celebrated St Simon's monastery, where St Simeon Stylites spent 40 years of his life preaching from the top of a column.
Europos & Palmyra
Following the valley of the Euphrates through parched desert, we reach the ancient site of Dura Europos - a major garrison town 2000 years ago. We then drive to spectacular Palmyra, the lonely desert caravanserai of Queen Zenobia, to take time wandering among its sun-baked temples and triumphal arches. Finally, we head back to Damascus.
Featured highlights:
From the temperate Mediterranean to the scorched deserts of eastern Syria Encounter fascinating reminders of this region's role throughout the history of civilisation Experience the colour of everyday life in the cities and villages along the way
Historic Lands of the Middle East
We begin our journey in Lebanon with a visit to the famous Beiteddine Palace and Sidon, site of a remarkable sea-castle. Moving on, we spend time at Baalbek, admiring the magnificent temples and views of the Beqa'a Valley. We also walk among the mysterious monasteries of the Qadisha Valley and the Cedars of Lebanon before visiting the ancient harbour town of Byblos. Then we cross the Anti-Lebanon range to the Syrian capital Damascus, where we'll visit the famous Ommayad Mosque and wander through the magical souk.
Crusader Castles & Roman Ruins
Our journey continues via the great Krak des Chevaliers castle to Roman Apamea and the medieval citadel at Aleppo, Syria's second largest city. We also visit the celebrated St Simon's monastery, where St Simeon Stylites spent 40 years of his life preaching from the top of a column.
Europos & Palmyra
Following the valley of the Euphrates through parched desert, we reach the ancient site of Dura Europos - a major garrison town 2000 years ago. We then drive to spectacular Palmyra, the lonely desert caravanserai of Queen Zenobia, to take time wandering among its sun-baked temples and triumphal arches. Finally, we head back to Damascus.
Featured highlights:
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly Beirut. |
| Day 2: | Beirut. Walking tour of the city. |
| Day 3: | Visit Sidon and then lunch in Baadarane with the villagers before driving to Deir el Qamar. |
| Day 4: | Local home stay. Discover Beiteddine Palace and Museum before travelling on to Aanjar and Deir El Ahmar. |
| Day 5: | Explore Baalbek before lunching with the locals in Deir el Ahmar. Drive to Bscharreh. |
| Day 6: | Valley tour the monastery and walk through Qadisha Valley. |
| Day 7: | Tannourine walk in the nature reserve before travelling on to Byblos. |
| Day 8: | Byblos. Visit the Crusader fortifications. |
| Day 9-10: | Damascus. Transfer to the Syrian capital for a walking tour. |
| Day 11: | Apamea. Drive via Krak des Chevaliers Castle, the Roman waterwheels at Hama and the city of Apamea to Latakia. |
| Day 12: | Explore Saladin's Castle and Ugarit, before journeying on to Aleppo. |
| Day 13: | Aleppo. Visit St Simeon's Monastery and medieval Citadel. |
| Day 14: | Discover Rasafa trading post and Halabiye en-route to Deir-ez-Zor. |
| Day 15: | Explore Dura Europos and Mari before continuing on to Palmyra. |
| Day 16: | Palmyra Visit Queen Zenobia's city. Drive to Damascus. |
| Day 17: | Fly UK. |
small group cultural tours
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends it's good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as experiencing new cultures.award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Community:
Our tour to Lebanon and Syria is a fascinating insight into a culture both ancient and modern. Naturally we’ll show you the scenic and historic wonders but few tours to these beautiful countries offer as many opportunities to meet the people as we do. During our stay in we take lunch in Baadaran village with the local weaver, Baz, and learn about his ancient craft. We also lunch in a women’s co-operative in Deir el Amhar where we can meet the women and buy some of their delicious preserves. In Tanourinne we actually get the chance to eat in local people’s homes and learn first hand about family life in Lebanon. All these visits are hugely important in helping support local incomes in rural areas so local people can stay in their homes, rather than migrate to the cities, so you know your visit is really making a difference to them. Lebanese people are some of the most hospitable in the world and are tremendously welcoming to visitors and these are incredible experiences for us. Another great experience is our stay at the monastery in the Qadisha Valley. We take great care on this, and indeed all our visits to respect the local culture and customs so that our visits are welcomed. Our tour leaders are well trained and help explain about the local norms so that our visits are more enjoyable for all involved. Our partners in Lebanon and Syria are passionate about operating responsibly and have developed their own foundation to support training and development for vulnerable communities. Environment: On the environmental side, our strict responsible tourism policy helps us to minimise our impact in this area and to support conservation, such as supporting the nature reserve in Tannourine, minimising our use of water and disposing of waste responsibly. As there is no recycling in this area, we encourage you to carry water purification filters and water bottles. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |