Check into the Meridien Hotel where you spend the next three nights and meet your fellow tour members at a welcome cocktail party. Today take a full day tour of Damascus, the city that competes with Aleppo as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. This morning tour the National Museum which houses the treasures of Syria's rich past. Early morning drive to Maalula, a picturesque town where Aramaic is still spoken. Overlooking the strategic Homs Pass is the Krak des Chevaliers, a perfectly preserved storybook castle.
Lunch is at a local restaurant en route.
As you motor along the Mediterranean coast to the port town of Tartous, stop at a seaside restaurant for dinner. Continue on to Latakia for overnight at Meridien Hotel, your hotel for the next two nights. Dinner and overnight in Aleppo at Pullman Hotel, home for the next three nights. Upon return to Aleppo, explore the Suq where treasures of silk, carpets and gold can be found. Dinner in an historic Aleppo home.