 | WARNING:No travel to Syria should be attempted. Please see warnings in the Syria article and War zone safety. Aleppo is under the control of the Syrian government, but the front lines are not far away. The situation could change at any time. |
Government travel advisories | |
| (Information last updated Mar 2020) |
Northwestern Syria is the region around Aleppo, Syria. It contains the Dead Cities as well.
Cities
- 1 Afrin - Large town in the northeastern corner of Syria.
- 2 Aleppo - Second largest city in Syria, packed with history and culture despite being severely damaged during the civil war.
- 3 Idlib
- Major agricultural center
Other destinations
- 1 Dead Cities – A series of towns which once formed part of Antioch. They have long since been abandoned but make an interesting stop for tourists. Al Bara boasts pyramidal tombs and formerly grand archways set on modern farm land. Serjilla is another famous dead city.
Understand
The vast majority of the population in the Afrin CantonDistrict, the northwestern corner of this region, are Kurdish. Kurdish is commonly spoken there, and the culture is much like that of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Get in
Get around
See
Do
Eat
The people of Aleppo are famed for their love of food and visitors will find a great variety of excellent Syrian dishes for a very reasonable price.
One dish which is particular to Aleppo is muhammara, a delicious, tangy, spicy red paste of olives and roasted peppers which is eaten warm with warm flatbread.
For excellent fresh, flame-cooked lamb kebabs, try the kebab cart near the clocktower.
Drink
Alcohol is available only in the Christian quarter of the city where you will find beers and wines (mainly from Lebanon) and imported spirits. The drinking culture in the Christian Quarter tends to be quite mediterranean, with drinkers sharing a bottle of wine at a table with or after food.
There is an excellent fresh juice stall near the clock tower
Stay safe
See Syria article for more detail. In summary travel here is completely not safe.