Countrywise
Flag of Syria

Syria

سوريا · Suriya

Ancient cities, Crusader castles and Roman ruins in the desert.

01Free

The 30-second card

CurrencySyrian Pound · £ · SYPSource: Unicode CLDR · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
DrivingOn the rightSource: Wikidata · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Visa · United States passport
Visa neededSource: U.S. Department of State · Checked 25 Oct 2026 ↗
Visa · United Kingdom passport
Visa neededSource: GOV.UK · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Water at restaurantsRestaurants serve water free of charge.Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Apps locals use
Yallago: ride-hailing app for booking taxis, usually cheaper than haggling on the street.
Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Cards or cash
Mostly cashMostly cards
Step 1 of 5: Almost everything is paid in cash, so carry enough.Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Money in Syria
Syrian Pound · £ · SYP
Carry all the cash you will need, ideally in US dollars; euros can be changed too.
Under 26? An international student card can cut site entry fees to 10% of the full price.
Do not take more than US$3,000 in foreign currency out of the country per year.
At internet cafés, check the hourly rate with a local before sitting down.
Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗ Collect Syrian Pound in CointryOur sister app for coin and banknote collectors · cointry.appOpen
Public holidays in the next 12 months
Tue, 8 Dec 2026 · Liberation Day يوم التحرير
Fri, 25 Dec 2026 · Christmas Day عيد الميلاد المجيد
Fri, 1 Jan 2027 · New Year's Day عيد رأس السنة الميلادية
Mon, 8 Feb 2027–8 Mar · Ramadan (expected date)
Tue, 9 Mar 2027 · Eid al-Fitr (expected date)
Thu, 18 Mar 2027 · Syrian Revolution Day عيد الثورة السورية
Sun, 21 Mar 2027 · Mother's Day عيد الأم
Sun, 21 Mar 2027 · Newroz عيد النوروز
Sun, 28 Mar 2027 · Easter Sunday عيد الفصح غريغوري
Sat, 17 Apr 2027 · Independence Day عيد الجلاء
Sat, 1 May 2027 · Labour Day عيد العمال
Sun, 2 May 2027 · Easter Sunday عيد الفصح اليوليوسي
Sun, 16 May 2027 · Eid al-Adha (expected date)
Source: Nager.Date · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗Source: Umm al-Qura calendar (computed with ICU) · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
02Free

Safety today

Germany, the US and the UK publish their travel advice openly. Here is what those that cover Syria say, side by side, checked daily.

German Foreign Office says
Travel warning
Calm
Caution
Serious
Don’t go ●
Source: Auswärtiges Amt
Updated 23 Oct 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026
Official page
U.S. Department of State says
Do not travel
Calm
Caution
Serious
Don’t go ●

Level 4 of 4

Source: travel.state.gov
Updated 22 Oct 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026
Official page
UK Foreign Office says
Advises against all travel
Source: GOV.UK
Updated 2 Sept 2026 · Checked 24 Oct 2026
Official page

Countrywise is a summary. The official page is authoritative.

03Free

Health

Routine shots, hepatitis A and B, typhoid; rabies and cholera: ask a doctor. Altitude sickness in some areas.
Vaccinations

Be current on routine shots; hepatitis A, hepatitis B and typhoid are recommended, with rabies and cholera worth discussing with a doctor.

Altitude

Altitude sickness can be a risk in some parts of the country.

Talk to a travel clinic 4–8 weeks before you go.
Source: CDC
Checked 24 Oct 2026
Official page

Summarised from the CDC’s Travelers’ Health pages. Using them does not mean the CDC endorses Countrywise.

04Travel layer

In the app: the travel layer

The travel layer

Read a country like someone who’s been there.

What’s different from home, and what’s the lawMust-see places, free entry and World Heritage sites20 words to remember, with pronunciationStrange and surprising factsThe anthem and national symbolsSaved for offline use
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Must-see · 1Damascus

The capital, often called the oldest city still lived in.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
Strange & surprising · #1

At roundabouts, cars entering have priority and cars already going round must give way.

Source: Wikivoyage · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
National anthem: Humat ad-Diyar. The lyrics, translated, and the story are in the app. Source: Wikidata · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗
6 World Heritage sites in Syria, each with a photo and its story, in the app. Source: UNESCO World Heritage List
05Free

Deep facts

Population
Population25.6 millionSource: World Bank · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Median age24.5 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2025 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Life expectancy74.8 yearsSource: The World Factbook (archive) · 2024 figures · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
ReligionsMuslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Geography
Area187,437 km²Source: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Climatemostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in DamascusSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Terrainprimarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in westSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Government
Type of governmenttransitional presidential republicSource: The World Factbook (archive) · as of 2025/26 · Checked 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Calling code+963Source: libphonenumber · Checked 24 Oct 2026 ↗

About the data

Written from the sources we link, and checked against them before each release. Countrywise summarises public sources. We are not an official source. For safety and entry rules, always follow the official page we link to.

From your foreign ministry when it publishes its advice openly (Germany, the US, the UK). Otherwise we show those three side by side. Checked daily, with the date next to every entry.

Flag artwork from flag-icons (MIT licence).

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