UK citizens need a Syrian visa. Either buy in advance
from the Syrian embassy at 8 Belgrave Square, London SW1, tel.
020 7245 9012,
www.syrianembassy.co.uk or buy at the frontier for about
$52.
Page last
updated:
21 June 2010
To Syria by train?
The magnificent gate to the citadel in Aleppo.
Why not? Syria is a
wonderful country to visit and Syrians are amongst the most
hospitable people you will meet anywhere. It's a very
safe country for travellers, too, safer than most western
countries. It's easy to reach
Aleppo and Damascus overland from London
or any other city in Europe, using the
weekly 'Toros Express' from Istanbul to Aleppo direct (when
it's running, as it's currently still suspended), or by
daily train from Istanbul to Adana in southern Turkey, then
by bus to Aleppo. This
page tells you how.
First, you need
to reach Istanbul. For journeys starting in London,
Paris or Vienna, see the London to Turkey page
for train times, fares and how to book.
The train journey from London to Istanbul takes 3 nights
with daily departures year-round. For journeys starting in other European
cities, find train times with
http://bahn.hafas.de.
Step 2:
Istanbul to Syria...
Once in
Istanbul, there are two comfortable & inexpensive ways to travel
overland to Aleppo & Damascus in Syria.
Option 1:
By once-a-week direct sleeping-car from Istanbul to Aleppo
every Sunday, with daily
train connections to Damascus. Unfortunately, this
service is currently suspended and
unlikely to run again in 2010, but an update will be posted
on this page if and when it resumes.
Times, fares & information here.
Option 2:
By daily air-conditioned sleeper train leaving Istanbul late
at night and arriving in
Adana in southern Turkey in the early evening of the
following day. This is a relaxing journey through superb scenery
in the comfort and privacy of a modern air-conditioned
sleeping-car. Spend the night in
Adana, then take daily buses or a taxi from Adana to Antakya then
on from
Antakya to Aleppo, arriving in Aleppo in the evening. This option has the advantage of
running daily, if you don't mind it taking longer and part
of the trip being by bus rather than train. In fact,
they've just reinstated a weekly overnight train from Adana
to Aleppo, making it possible once more to do the whole
journey by train.
Times, fares & information here.
New train
Gaziantep-Aleppo: Incidentally,
there's a new twice-weekly train from Gaziantep in south
eastern Turkey to Aleppo, the problem is that all Turkish
domestic trains to Gaziantep from either Istanbul or Ankara
are still suspended due to long-term engineering
work, rendering this new train pretty useless for travellers
from Europe or Istanbul to Syria. For info on this
Gaziantep-Aleppo train, see
www.tcdd.gov.tr/yolcu/ortadogu.htm. It's in
Turkish only, but understandable with help from
Google's language tools.
The Istanbul-Aleppo Toros Express was cancelled from 15 June
2008 until further notice, due to construction of the new
high-speed line in Turkey. The Istanbul-Gaziantep part of the Toros Express
was also suspended from that date. This train was
originally due to resume operating in September 2008, which
became 'October 2008' then 'early 2009' then 'April 2009'
then 'May
2009'. There's still no sign of
the Istanbul-Aleppo sleeper resuming. Even Turkish
Railways themselves don't seem to know when it will resume. I'll post updates as soon as I get
any, SO ASSUME IT STILL ISN'T RUNNING UNLESS YOU SEE AN
UPDATE HERE. I doubt it will run
again this year (2010), and may never run again.
If you have any more feedback
please email me.
But please don't email me to ask if it's running, if
I get any news, it will be posted here immediately.
The
famous 'Toros Express', named after the Taurus mountains
through which it passes, runs 3 times a week
from Istanbul (Haydarpaşa
station on the Asian side) to Gaziantep in southern Turkey. Once
a week on Sundays, it conveys a direct sleeping-car from Istanbul to
Aleppo in Syria. Costing just 69 YTL (£29 or $52)
one-way for a journey of 1,390 km (868 miles), this direct sleeping-car is a safe,
comfortable and inexpensive way to reach Syria, a great
experience passing
through some superb scenery on the way. The
Istanbul-Aleppo sleeper is an air-conditioned Syrian
Railways sleeping-car with 1- & 2-bed rooms, looked after by
friendly Syrian staff.
From Aleppo, there are several daily air-conditioned trains to Damascus.
Note:
This train is officially shown in the timetables as running
Istanbul-Damascus, but in practice itnormally only runs
Istanbul-Aleppo. Passengers for Damascus must change
trains at Aleppo onto another sleeper, see below for
Aleppo-Damascus trains. There
are additional daily trains between Istanbul & Konya and Ankara &
Adana if you want to stop off in Turkey, see the train travel in Turkey
page for train times & fares.
The direct
sleeping-car from Istanbul to Aleppo has eleven comfortable,
carpeted, air-conditioned 1- & 2-berth compartments with
beds, clean bedding and washbasin. Built in Germany in
the 1980s, the sleeper is looked after
by two Syrian sleeper attendants who can provide hot sweet
cups of tea when required for 1 Turkish lira. A complimentary bottle of
mineral water is supplied. During the day, you
can fold the beds away and without too much effort fold out
a 3-seat sofa. Although you may just prefer to lounge
on the bottom bunk..! Also see the
What's the journey like
section and a
3D virtual tour of a compartment in the Istanbul-Aleppo
sleeper produced by traveller Willy Kaemena.
Above: The
air-conditioned Syrian
Railways sleeping-car from Istanbul to Aleppo.
Make
sure you bring your own supply of food and water (and
some beer or a bottle of wine..!) as there is no
restaurant car and no food available on board.
Bring your own toilet paper as
this may not be supplied, or may run out. There is one squat toilet
and one reasonably clean western toilet at the end of the corridor.
Also bring soap and a towel.
Eastbound, expect an arrival in
Aleppo between 18:00 and 19:30, whatever the timetable says.
Westbound, expect an arrival in
Istanbul Haydarpaşa a few hours late. DO NOT book
onward trains from Istanbul the same evening, including the
22:00 departure from Sirkeci station to
Sofia/Belgrade/Bucharest/Budapest, as this connection cannot
be guaranteed. Always allow for one night to be spent
in Istanbul.
You can buy a ticket from Istanbul to Aleppo or Damascus at the International ticket
window at Haydarpaşa station in Istanbul, where staff speak
English. Tickets can be paid for in Turkish lira,
euros or US
dollars, but credit cards are not accepted. Some travellers
manage to book a ticket for the
Istanbul-Aleppo sleeping-car even on the day or travel.
However, the sleeper often leaves with only a berth or two
left available and often leaves fully-booked, so to be sure of a place
it's best to book in advance before you get to Istanbul.
You can do this by email through one of
these two travel agencies in Istanbul, for a relatively
small fee:
Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency, Divan Yolu
Caddesi No. 16/B, 34410 Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey.
Telephone +90 (212) 527 7085 or 513 7119. Fax +90
(212) 519
3792. E-mail
erdemir@tur-ista.com. Recommended by
several seat61 correspondents, and I can personally
recommend their service as I've used them myself.
Please mention seat61.com when booking. Tur-ISTA
charge 70 euros for travel in a single-berth compartment or
60 euros per person for travel in a 2-berth compartment
inclusive of taxes and booking fees. They will need
passenger names and scanned copies of your passports.
How to buy tickets: westbound from Aleppo to Istanbul...
The westbound journey from Syria
to Istanbul must be booked at the international ticket
window at the
station in Aleppo. This is marked in English, and is
the first window you come to in the row of windows to the
right of the main hall when entering from the street.
Remember to bring your passport when buying tickets. If you book your return journey to Istanbul on the day you
arrive in Aleppo or perhaps the day after, you are unlikely
to have any problem securing a berth, although it's reported
that tickets are only sold one week before departure.
For some reason, westbound berths are easier to get than
eastbound ones, and berths often
remain available even on the day of departure, although it's
not unknown for the sleeper to leave fully-booked so reserve
a few days in advance if you can. The international ticket
window opens from about 8am to 11am, and you must pay in Syrian
pounds.
Your journey starts on the ferry across the Bosphorus,
through wisps of early morning mist, from the European side to Haydarpaşa
station on the Asian side. The ferries sail from the
Karaköy ferry terminal on the
Galata side of the Galata Bridge every
10-20 minutes, the crossing takes 20 minutes, and the fare
is 1.50 YTL. Enjoy the wonderful views of the Istanbul
skyline, with the Haghia Sofia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi
Palace reflecting the morning light...
At Haydarpaşa station, you'll find the blue and white Syrian
sleeping-car to Aleppo attached to the back of a long line
of dark blue Turkish coaches. If you haven't yet
stocked up with supplies for your journey, there are snack
kiosks at the station, so now is your
chance - there's no food on board. Pictured above
right: Your home-from-home, a private 2-bed sleeper
compartment in the Istanbul-Aleppo sleeping-car.
Soon
after leaving Haydarpaşa and the suburbs of Istanbul, you'll
see the blue waters of the Sea of Marmara sparkling on the right with
tankers and freighters lying at anchor just off shore. A few hours
from Istanbul, and the train follows a muddy river through
rocky mountains, passing through steep valleys with river
and road far below. The train reaches an arid plateau,
and passes through Afyon, reaching Konya late at night.
Adana is reached next morning
(pictured, left), followed a few hours later by a dramatic
descent through the Taurus mountains to Fevsipaşa station.
Here, the sleeping-car to Aleppo is uncoupled from the rest
of the train, which waits patiently to continue to
Gaziantep. The Syrian sleeping-car is (usually) shunted onto two
Turkish seats cars and a long line of goods wagons, then
it leaves Fevsipaşa and completes
the descent out of the mountains onto the plain hundreds of
feet below (see the pictures below). It soon reaches the Turkish side of the
frontier at Islahiye, where you need to
get off the train to have your passports checked and stamped
in the police office at the side of the station building.
After what seems a long wait, the train finally moves off
across the plain, soon passing through the heavily-patrolled
barbed-wire fence marking the actual frontier between Turkey
and Syria. A little while longer, and it arrives at
the Syrian border station of Meydan Ekbez. Here, passports
are collected and taken away for checking. You can
stretch you legs outside the sleeper while the Turkish
locomotive and coaches are removed, and a Syrian locomotive
and one Syrian Railways seats car attached. After a long wait, the
passports are returned. The Syrian border police are
friendly, and the formalities are not a problem.
Finally
leaving Meydan Ekbez, the train starts climbing out of the
plain into the Syrian hills, arid and rocky hillsides broken by
large groves of olive trees. Stopping at several tiny
wayside stations and passing many many olive groves, the
Istanbul-Aleppo sleeping-car finally arrives at Aleppo
station somewhere between 18:00-19:30. Hopefully you'll find a room available at
the excellent and historic
Barons Hotel, 15 minutes walk or a short taxi ride from
the station...
Pictured, left: The 'Toros
Express' descends from Fevsipaşa into the plain below,
heading for the Syrian border. The view is amazing...
Rachel Davis travelled from Istanbul to Aleppo on
the Toros Express in January 2008: "We
booked our tickets with ease through Tur-ISTA Tourism
Travel Agency and picked them up when we arrived in
Istanbul. The train left on time, it does indeed
travel on a Sunday morning at 8.55am. The sleeper
carriage was fully booked, everyone was very friendly,
there was a good mix of people despite it being winter
and the Syrians on the train were super friendly, they
gave us food, tea and Arabic lessons. We took lots of
food with us which I would definitely recommend as
there was little opportunity of getting any though the
journey. The cabin was comfortable, very warm and had
a little sink with hot water. I have travelled in
similar sleeper cabins in Egypt and this wasn't a
clean and smart but it was much more fun. The train
seemed to change engines frequently and at some point
early evening it struck a truck on a level crossing
which delayed us for a few hours (no-one was hurt, to
be honest we only felt a sharp jolt but it did require
another engine). After we got our passports
stamped out of Turkey, some of the guys were invited
to ride in the engine for a few kilometres. We
didn't arrive in Aleppo til after 6pm the next day,
the border crossing was very straightforward. We
didn't need to leave the train. It was an amazing
journey, the best train I have travelled on, great
fun.
Simon Crerar travelled from Istanbul to Aleppo on
the Toros Express in October 2007: "Booked
as you describe via Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency.
Paid a total of £48, which I believe was around 38
quid for ticket plus £10 booking fee. Service
departed on time, one Syrian sleeper carriage tacked
on to the regular Turkish sleeper. The Syrian
sleeping-car was pretty full, and included a Canadian
family of four on a round-the-world trip, an English
couple residing in Germany, a Swiss father and son, a
Jordanian on his way home, a reclusive German couple
who only appeared at the border and a Syrian gentleman
and his wife, who never appeared, even at the border.
We had some issues in the night (though I slept for
eight hours so missed them) and consequently didn't
leave Islahiye until after 13:00. Border was easily
negotiated but more engine problems meant we didn't
arrive in Aleppo until just before 21:00, a full 36
hours after departure. All good though. We had a
couple of Syrian railway gents looking after us, with
an extra chap making tea and looking for minimal
baksheesh.
Willem Masman travelled from Istanbul to Aleppo and
back in August 2007:
"We bought tickets in advance via the Tur-ISTA travel
agency you recommend on your website. This
worked perfectly, everything was arranged by email, we
paid by credit card in advance. The travel
agency is in the old centre of Istanbul and the people
working there are friendly and helpful. We paid
20 euro for the reservation service for two tickets in
a two bed sleeper. The sleeper was fully booked
(several western travellers had used seat 61!).
The journey was very pleasant, we were provided with
one bottle of water by the train staff. Tea,
coffee and hot water were available. The air
conditioning works only for some parts of the trip,
but it was OK. Due to extensive border controls
and waiting for a train to pass, we arrived in Aleppo
at nine in the evening. We went to the train
station the next day to buy our tickets for our way
back. Apparently there is only one guy at the
train station that is allowed to sell tickets for this
train, and he only works in the morning from 8 am to
11am. At first they told us that is only
possible to buy a ticket one week in advance, but they
eventually gave us a reservation, or rather, they
wrote down our names on a list and gave us a piece of
paper with the information (unofficial). We came
back to Aleppo one day before the train left and went
to the ticket office again. At first they told
us that the train was full, and that our reservation
did not count. After some talking they allowed our
reservation and put our names on the more definitive
list. they could not sell us tickets until the next
morning when the "special guy" would be in again. We
heard from some other people that they were told that
reservations are not possible and that they should
come back at the day the train leaves. The
morning the train leaves, the booking clerk makes his
last and final list, only then were we were able to
buy tickets."
Peter Lemmey in May 2005
reports: "The Syrian sleeping cars (we had
different ones out and back) were well maintained and
very clean: hot water and air conditioning all
functioning properly. The car was about half full on
each leg, and the attendant allowed us use of the
empty adjacent compartment via the internal connecting
door. We bought tickets for the southbound
journey via Tur-Ista travel agency (erdemir@tur-ista.com)
in Istanbul. Arrival in Aleppo (where the
sleeper ended its journey, it did not go on to
Damascus) was 4 hours late, at around 18:00."
Another traveller in May 2005 reports that on his trip
the sleeper was full. He advises to take plenty
of food with you as there's no restaurant, although
tea can be obtained from the sleeper attendants.
Also take some spare loo roll for when the Syrian
supplies run out..!
A
traveller in September 2004 reports he had no trouble
getting a sleeping-berth on this train from Istanbul
to Aleppo booking the day before departure. The sleeper was comfortable,
and almost full of friendly Syrians returning home.
Another traveller
in October 2004 reports no problems getting a
private sleeper from Istanbul to Aleppo, booking the
day before departure. Only two of the other
compartments were taken on that departure. The
Syrian sleeper attendant was very friendly, although a
torch would have been useful as the coach only had the
basic emergency lighting operational on that run(!).
Arrival in Aleppo was a few hours late, at 19:45.
If you use this train and have any
further feedback, please
e-mail me!
Agatha
Christie's novel, 'Murder on the Orient Express',
doesn't start in Istanbul, or on the Orient Express.
It opens on the platform at Aleppo, next to the two
blue-and-gold Wagons-Lits sleeping cars of the Taurus Express
bound for Istanbul. The Taurus Express was
inaugurated in February 1930 by the Compagnie Internationale des
Wagons-Lits, the same company that operated the Orient
Express and Simplon Orient Express, as a means of
extending their services beyond Istanbul to
the East. It ran several times a week from
Istanbul Haydarpaşa station
to Aleppo and Baghdad, with a weekly through sleeper to
Tripoli in Lebanon. After the second world war,
the Wagons-Lits company gradually withdrew and
operation of the Taurus Express was taken over by the
Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi state railways. Up
until the late 1980s, a twice-weekly Istanbul-Baghdad
service was maintained, with weekly through seating
cars from Istanbul to Aleppo. For political
reasons, the through service to Baghdad was suspended
and the main train curtailed at Gaziantep, but the
weekly through seats cars Istanbul-Aleppo were
maintained. In 2001, the Aleppo portion of the
Toros Express was speeded-up and given a proper
Syrian sleeping-car instead of the two very basic
Turkish seats cars.
You can once again travel in the security and comfort
of a proper sleeper from Istanbul to Syria, and it's a
great way to go...
This
option runs daily, and is the best option while the
weekly Istanbul-Aleppo train remains cancelled.
It involves a comfortable air-conditioned
sleeper train for a night and a day across great
scenery to Adana in Southern Turkey, a
hotel in Adana for the night, then daytime bus travel
from Adana to Aleppo in Syria. Total journey
time 2 nights, 2 days.
Istanbul ► Aleppo via Adana...
Step 1:
Travel from Istanbul to Adana by daily air-conditioned sleeper train,
leaving Istanbul's Haydarpasa station on the Asian
side at 23:50 and
arriving in Adana at 18:35 next day after a remarkably
scenic & comfortable journey across Turkey. This
train is called the Içanadolou Mavi
Tren, and it has a civilised
air-conditioned sleeping-car with 1 & 2-bed
compartments with washbasin,
reclining pullman seats &
a restaurant car. See above for fares.
You'll probably then need to stay overnight in Adana
before travelling on to Syria next day.
Alternative trains via Ankara: You can
also travel via Ankara if you prefer, indeed Ankara is
well worth a 24 hour stopover if you have the time. Take a modern
air-conditioned daytime train
from Istanbul (depart 11:00 daily) to Ankara (changing
onto a high-speed 250km/h train at Eskişehir, arriving
Ankara 16:40,
restaurant car available for lunch) then the Cukurova Mavi train
from Ankara
(departing 20:05 daily) to Adana (arriving 07:25,
sleeping-car and couchettes available with restaurant
car).
See the Train Travel in Turkey page for details of
each of these trains.
Step 2,
travel from Adana to Antakya then on to Aleppo by
air-conditioned bus: Buses run every hour
from Adana to Antakya (15 Turkish lira) where you
change onto another bus from Antakya to Aleppo (18
Turkish lira). There are at least 2 bus
companies running at least two daily buses each from
Antakya to Aleppo,
www.ozhanturizm.com &
www.hatayluksnurseyahat.com, although their
websites are only in Turkish. It's easy to buy
tickets at the bus station when you get to Antakya.
www.ozhanturizm.com have departures from Antakya
to Aleppo at 08:00, 11:00 & 13:00, journey time 3
hours. On their website, click 'seferlerimiz'
(timetables) then 'Tarifeli' (scheduled times).
Hergün means
daily, hareket saati is departure time, variş
saati is arrival time, dönüş
saati is return time (from Aleppo).
Or
travel by taxi: Alternatively, you can travel from
Antakya to Aleppo
by service taxi taking 3 passengers for around £5
each. The service taxis leave when they are
full, mainly in the early morning or afternoon, taking
3 to 4 hours to reach Aleppo including the border
crossing. Another seat61 correspondent
took a
taxi all the way from Adana to Aleppo and reports that it took
5-6 hours including 2 hours crossing the border and
cost $90 for all three passengers. In Aleppo,
buses & service taxis to Antakya depart from the bus
station at the end of Baron Street. If you have
any feedback,
please
email me.
Or
travel by (newly-reinstated) overnight train:
A Syrian train with comfortable 1st class seats & a
sleeping-car (1 & 2 berth compartments) leaves Adana
every Friday night at 00:05 arriving Aleppo at 08:20
Saturday morning. It calls at Meydan Ekbez for
frontier formalities 04:44-05:55. If its weekly
schedule fits your plans, this is the option to go
for. This train (which in fact starts in Mersin
in southern Turkey) was initially introduced in 2009
as a twice-weekly service, then it was discontinued,
and now it's been reintroduced again in June 2010 on
the weekly schedule shown here. It is not
possible to pre-book this train from anywhere except
the ticket office at Adana, but there will be plenty
of places available in both seats and sleeper, so just
turn up and buy a ticket on the day, the fare is 14
euros in a seat, and probably something like 25 euros
for a sleeper. Given the way they start these
international trains, then discontinue them, then
reinstate them, who knows how long this service will
last, but give it a try, if it works you'll save a
hotel bill in Adana and get to Aleppo in the morning,
if it doesn't you'll still end up in a hotel then
taking a bus or taxi next day. If you have any
more feedback,
please email me.
Step 1:
Travel from Aleppo to Antakya & Adana by daily buses:
There's a
daily direct Syrian bus from Aleppo's Karnak bus station to Antakya
& Adana, leaving at 05:00.
Turkish company
www.ozhanturizm.com have departures from Aleppo at
12:00, 15:00 & 17:00 for Antakya, journey time 3
hours, fare around 350 Syrian pounds. On their website, click 'seferlerimiz'
(timetables) then 'Tarifeli' (scheduled times).
Hergün means
daily, hareket saati is departure time, variş
saati is arrival time, dönüş
saati is return time (from Aleppo). Or there are minibuses to Antakya with bus connection
to Adana, leaving from the small bus station down a
side street next to the Ramsis Hotel (opposite the
Baron's Hotel) for 800 Syrian pounds. The
minibuses leave a 05:00 and 14:00, journey about 6
hours 30 mins to Adana. If you catch a very
early bus, you may manage to connect in Adana the same
day, otherwise you'll need to overnight in Adana.
Alternative step 1: Travel from Aleppo to Adana
by train: A weekly train leaves Aleppo at
03:00 on Friday mornings, calling at Meydan Ekbez for
frontier formalities 05:51-07:00 and arriving at Adana
at 12:20 also on Friday. The train has two
Syrian 1st class seats cars and a Syrian sleeping-car
with 1 & 2 bed compartments. If its weekly
schedule fits your plans, this is the option to go
for. This train (which in fact goes through to
Mersin in southern Turkey) was initially introduced in
2009 as a twice-weekly service, then it was
discontinued, and now it's been reintroduced again in
June 2010 on the weekly schedule shown here.
Tickets can be booked on the day at Aleppo station,
there will almost certainly be placed available.
The fare is 14 euros in a seat, and probably something
like 25 euros for a sleeper. If you have any
more feedback about this train,
please email me.
Step 2:
Travel from Adana to Istanbul by daily air-conditioned
sleeper train: Take the Içanadolou
Mavi Tren to Istanbul, leaving Adana at 14:00
arriving Istanbul 08:58 next day. The Içanadolou
Mavi Tren has a very civilised and comfortable
air-conditioned sleeping-car with 1 & 2-bed
compartments with washbasin,
reclining pullman seats &
restaurant car,
see the Train Travel in Turkey page for details &
photos. It's a very scenic & enjoyable journey.
How much
does it cost?
Istanbul to
Adana by train costs just TL 73 (about £33 or $50)
sharing a 2-bed sleeper, TL 90 (£41 or $61) in a
single-bed sleeper, or TL 28 (£12 or $19) in a
reclining seat.
Adana to
Antakya by bus costs around TL 15 (£7 or $10).
Antakya to
Aleppo by bus costs around TL 18 (£8 or $12)
What is
the Istanbul-Adana sleeper train like?
The
Içanadolou Mavi Tren
uses modern air-conditioned 'TVS2000' coaches, as good
as any in western Europe. Quiet and smooth
riding, the train has reclining Pullman seats, a
sleeping car (shown below) with 1 & 2 bed compartments
convertible to a private sitting room for daytime use.
The air-conditioned restaurant car features
tablecloths, proper china & metal cutlery (do you get
that on a long distance bus or even a plane??), and
serves cheap hot meals, wine & beer as the train
snakes its way through the mountainous Turkish
scenery. There are photos of the
reclining pullman seats
& restaurant car on the Train
Travel in Turkey page. Highly recommended!
Light and
airy - a TVS2000 sleeping-car corridor, just like a hotel
corridor...
Private 2-berth
sleeper in daytime mode, beds folded away.
The same 2-berth
sleeper in night-time mode, with upper and
lower berths folded out. There is a washbasin in
the corner.
How to
buy tickets, southbound...
Buy your
Istanbul-Adana ticket when you get to Istanbul at the
station, preferably a few days in advance, especially
if you want a sleeper as these can sell out although
you'll usually find pullman seats available even on
the day of departure.
To be sure
of a sleeper, it's a good idea to buy tickets in
advance. To book from outside Turkey, contact
Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency,
Divan Yolu Caddesi No. 16/B, 34410 Sultanahmet, Istanbul,
Turkey. Telephone +90 (212) 527 7085 or 513 7119. Fax
+90 (212) 519 3792. E-mail
erdemir@tur-ista.com. I can personally recommend
their service. They are near the Sultanahmet tram
stop, a short way from the Blue Mosque.
Buy onward
bus tickets when you get to Adana..
How to
buy tickets, northbound...
Buy bus
tickets in Aleppo.
Buy your
Adana-Istanbul ticket when at the station when you get
to Adana. There are normally pullman seats
available on the day, and often sleepers.
If you're
sure of your return date, you could pre-book your
Adana-Istanbul tickets in advance. Contact
Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency,
Divan Yolu Caddesi No. 16/B, 34410 Sultanahmet, Istanbul,
Turkey. Telephone +90 (212) 527 7085 or 513 7119. Fax
+90 (212) 519 3792. E-mail
erdemir@tur-ista.com. I can personally recommend
their service. They are near the Sultanahmet tram
stop in Istanbul, a short way from the Blue Mosque.
You can collect the tickets as you pass through
Istanbul heading south to Syria, or they may be
willing to send the tickets to you for a fee.
Travellers' reports...
Traveller David Earley reports from a trip in 2008:
"The trains from Istanbul to Ankara and on to Adana
were excellent [Baskent Express then Cukurova Mavi
train]. At least 8 other people were travelling on the
train who had booked for the Toros Express. We took a
cab to the bus station at Adana and they put us on a
bus to Antakya. They were obviously anticipating
people wanting to travel to Aleppo, as they had two
taxis to meet us at Antakya. We were then driven at a
suicidal speed to our destination!
Interestingly, Turista seemed to be encouraging us to
take a bus all the way from Istanbul to Aleppo. I am
glad we did not do this as we heard from another
traveller that this is a dreadful experience and there
is nothing to see on the journey. We also
enjoyed the Aleppo-Damascus train service – really
excellent."
When you arrive in Aleppo, whatever your normal
budget, the most wonderful and historic
place to stay is the Hotel Baron, on Baron Street. Opened in 1909, it was one of the most famous
hotels in the middle east, used by Agatha
Christie, Roosevelt, Mutafa Kemal Attaturk, Lindbergh and T. E. Lawrence. It
will cost you all of $45 for a single room or $55 for a double to stay there,
an experience in itself! Email the hotel on
hotelbaron@mail.sy
or call Telephone (00 963) 21 211 0880.
For more information and booking, see TripAdvisor's
Barons Hotel page or
www.travelintelligence.net/wsd/hotels/htls_1074_Baron_Aleppo_review.html.
Above: The
Baron's Hotel, Aleppo
The lobby...
The bar...
Some rooms have now been modernised to western
hotel standards, other rooms have been restored with older
furniture and tile floors - ask for a restored room if
possible. The lobby,
lounge, bar and restaurant have not changed for decades, and
exude faded grandeur par excellence...
Lawrence of Arabia fans will want to book TE Lawrence's room, room
202. You may get to meet the larger-than-life hotel
manager,
Mr Walid, who can arrange visits or cars to local sites such
as St Simon's church (highly recommended), or even long-distance day trips to
Krak des Chevaliers or Palmyra (both unmissable).
If you need to
travel between Aleppo and Damascus, take the train.
It's fast, very comfortable, and unbelievably cheap. There
are several daytime air-conditioned trains between Aleppo
and Damascus, also an overnight train with a sleeping-car
with 1 & 2 bed compartments.
All the trains shown here run daily.
Aleppo ► Damascus
Damascus ► Aleppo
Train
number:
170
10
12
16
230
Train
number:
7
11
173
13
231
classes:
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
Sleeper
classes:
1,2
1,2
1,2
1,2
Sleeper
Aleppo
depart
03:50
05:40
10:10
16:45
00:10
Damascus
depart
06:50
15:10
16:50
20:40
00:01
Hama
arr/dep
05:40
07:05
11:39
18:10
02:12
Homs
arrive
09:14
17:40
18:51
22:55
03:13
Homs
arr/dep
06:26
07:46
12:30
18:59
03:28
Hama
arrive
10:04
18:33
19:29
23:43
04:10
Damascus
arrive
08:54
09:40
14:33
21:02
06:24
Aleppo
arrive
11:29
20:23
20:50
01:08
05:58
1,2 = 1st
& 2nd class with buffet car.
Sleeper =
Sleeping-car
with 1 & 2-bed compartments with washbasin, plus 1st &
2nd class seats.
Always double-check train times locally. Aleppo to
Damascus is 367 km (229 miles).
Damascus Kadem station
is located 3-4 kilometres (2-3 miles) southwest of Damascus city centre, a taxi to
or from
the centre costs about 100 Syrian pounds ($2) and takes 25
minutes when traffic is busy. It's reported
that there's a free shuttle bus which leaves the Hedjaz station
an hour
before the departure of each Aleppo-bound train from
Damascus Kadem, but please confirm this at the Hedjaz station ticket
office.
Homs stations: It's reported
that Homs now has two stations, Homs 1 (nearer the centre) &
Homs 2 (on the outskirts), trains may serve one or other,
please check locally.
Fares
Aleppo-Damascus
by modern express (trains 7-13)
1st
class = 240 Syrian pounds
(£4 or $5)
2nd class = 200
Syrian pounds (£3 or $4)
Aleppo-Damascus
by older train (trains 170, 173)
1st
class = 180 Syrian pounds
(£3 or $4)
2nd class = 140
Syrian pounds (£2 or $3)
Aleppo-Damascus
sharing 2-bed sleeper (train 230 or 231):
505
Syrian pounds (£6 or $9)
How to buy
tickets...
You must buy
tickets in person at the station, you cannot buy them
online.
In Aleppo,
you can buy your ticket on the day of travel or the day
before (but not further ahead than this) at the main railway
station in the city centre. It's a three stage
process, so bring your passport and allow plenty of time.
The stages are: 1. Get your passport checked by an
official; 2. Buy your ticket; 3. Take your
passport and ticket to a security man who will check them
and write the details down in a book. Easy!
In Damascus,
you can buy your tickets the day of travel or the day before
tarvel (but not further in advance than this) at the ticket
window inside the old historic Hedjaz station in the city
centre, even though this station now has no trains (the area
at the back where the narrow-gauge Hedjaz Railway tracks
once were has been a building site for several years).
This saves you trekking all the way out to Damascus Kadem
station outside the city centre. Alternatively, you
can of course buy tickets at Damascus Kadem on the day of
travel, but allow plenty of time and expect to have to show
your passport.
New 100mph trains Aleppo-Damascus...
Trains 7 to 16
use new 100 mph air-conditioned diesel
trains delivered from South Korea in late 2006.
3-D tour of new train interior.
3-D photo of new train cafeteria. The number of
Syrians using trains is increasing: Passenger numbers
are up 25% in the first 6 months of 2009/10 compared to the
year before, and this year passenger numbers are expected to
be double those carried in 2006, at over 4 million passenger
journeys.
Above:
One of the new 100mph Syrian express trains at Damascus... Photo courtesy of Olly
Lambert
Above:
1st class seats in the new train...
Photo courtesy of Olly Lambert
Above:
The view from the driving cab... Photo courtesy of Olly
Lambert
Above:
Crossing the desert between Aleppo & Damascus... Photo courtesy of Olly
Lambert
Travellers' reports...
A recent traveller on the Damascus-Aleppo overnight
sleeper says, "I was a woman in her mid-twenties and
was a little conscious of travelling on my own. The
actual service was surprisingly good. I was ushered in
and told the procedure about tickets and not to open
my door for any other knocks till the morning. The
cost one way was 290 Syrian pounds (about £3), pretty good value considering I had the whole
room to myself for no extra cost."
On daytime trains, the air-con in first class is
almost too good, the armchairs are comfortable and
reclining with loads of legroom. A girl came
round soon after departure handing out a complimentary
sweet to each passenger.
If you have any further feedback, please
e-mail me!
Please double-check all train times locally. All train
are daily. There is some spectacular mountain scenery
on the Aleppo-Latakia route, with the best views from the
north side of the train.
Fare Aleppo to Latakia: On fast modern trains
41-45, Aleppo to Latakia is 135 Syrian pounds 1st
class,105 Syrian pounds 2nd class.
On older trains 242-246, Aleppo to Latakia 70 pounds 1st
class, 50 pounds 2nd class.
Bring your passport when buying tickets. As a
foreigner, it's reported that you may have to get your
ticket stamped at another ticket window after buying it.
Trains also run Damascus-Latakia, Latakia-Tartous, and Hama-Tartous - see
www.cfssyria.org for times and fares (in Arabic only,
but you can easily translate using
Google language tools).
In many ways, Aleppo is a nicer and
more relaxed city than Damascus, and it's a wonderful place
to spend a few days. Using the historic Baron's Hotel
as your base, explore the souks (covered market), the
citadel with its famous gateway, and the main mosque.
The small ruined church of St Simeon, just outside Aleppo,
is well worth a visit for its windswept peaceful location on
a remote hilltop, with the ruins of St Simon's pillar in the
centre.
Hama
A pleasant town, famous for its 'nurias'
or waterwheels. It can be reached by train, on the
Aleppo-Damascus main line.
A nuria
(waterwheel) in central Hama.
The
entrance to the citadel of Aleppo.
Palmyra
The famous ruined Roman city in
the desert, and one of the highlights of a visit to Syria.
It can be reached by bus or by hired car and driver.
Krak des Chevaliers
This is the best-preserved
crusader castle in the Middle East, and one of the
highlights of a visit to Syria. British castles
tend to be either ruins or converted into stately homes, but
Krak is the closest you'll get to a castle as it was when it
was in use by the crusaders. It
can be reached by bus or taxi from Hama, or as a long-distance day
trip from Aleppo or Damascus with hired car and driver.
Fans of T E Lawrence will also want to visit - Lawrence
visited and studied the Krak during his pre-war tour of the
castles of Syria.
Above: Krak des
Chevaliers...
Above: Inside the
Krak.
Damascus
Syria's capital
is busy and grubby, but there's a fair amount to see.
Martyr's Square is the centre of the modern town, a short
walk from the souks leading to the ruins of the Roman Temple
of Apollo and the Umayyad Mosque. Visitors can enter
the mosque for 50 Syrian pounds. Outside the mosque is
the tomb of the crusader's most famous adversary, Saladin.
The Temple of Apollo.
The Umayyad mosque,
Damascus.
The tomb of Saladin.
No flying was involved in the
taking of these photos: All travel from London to
Aleppo & Damascus and back was overland by train...
There
is no railway to Beirut, but buses link Damascus with
Beirut (Charles Helou bus station), 115km, journey time 5 hours,
a whole range buses daily. Buy tickets and check exact
times locally, as the bus companies do not have any website.
Damascus to
Amman (Jordan):
There is a twice-weekly
Damascus-Amman train over the famous Hedjaz Railway (Mondays &
Thursdays at 08:00 arriving 17:00, if it's running), or
several daily buses taking about 4 or 5 hours. For times, fares
photos and information,
see the London
to Jordan page.
There is a weekly train with sleeping-cars and restaurant
car from Damascus & Aleppo via Lake Van in Turkey (where passengers
leave the Syrian train, take a ferry and join an Iranian
train at the other side) to Tabriz and Tehran in Iran.
Fares are not expensive. Times and fares are available
at
www.tcdd.gov.tr (click 'English' then 'passenger' then
'trains to the Middle East'). Also try
www.raja.ir
(click the house logo then 'English' top right) and
www.cfssyria.org. Between Syria and Lake Van the train
has 1- and 2-bed Syrian sleeping cars. Between Lake
Van and Tehran the train has Iranian 4-berth couchette cars,
all air-conditioned. There's a traveller's report on
this train on the Iran page.
Important update 2010:
This Damascus-Tehran train was cancelled from April 2010
onwards in both directions, due to track rebuilding work ion
Turkey. It is not known when (or for that matter, if)
it will resume.
Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable
It's probably the most adventurous timetable ever
produced... The famous Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable
has train, bus and ferry times for Syria, Turkey, Jordan, in
fact for every country in Asia, Africa, America and
Australasia. It is published every two months.
It's essential for every serious traveller, and an inspiration
for armchair travellers! In fact, this is the book which
first inspired me to take the Toros Express to Syria.
To
get the best out of a trip to Syria, you'll need a good
guidebook, and I've found the Lonely Planets and Rough
Guides to be about the best out
there for the independent traveller.
Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable
insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover
cancellation and loss of cash (up to a limit) and belongings.
An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
Columbus Direct or
Go Travel Insurance, or go to
Confused.com to run a price comparison on a whole range of
travel insurance providers for your dates of travel, seeing
their policy's features at a glance..
Get a pre-paid currency MasterCard from Caxton FX...
You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX currency card, available in euros, dollars or the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' card.
Find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up a £1,000 bill
in data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. It
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also works for laptop or PDA data
access. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If
you're resident in
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try
If you're resident in the USA or Canada, try
