Not required for the visa any more, still the best money most visitors spend. What a guide is really for, and what to settle in advance.
A guide is no longer a visa condition for most nationalities, but most visitors still use one. You are buying current road and security knowledge, checkpoints handled calmly, language, local prices and access. Agree the price, the route and what is included in writing before you pay anything.
A guide is no longer a visa requirement for most nationalities, so this is a choice rather than an obligation. Most visitors still make it, and the reason is simple: a good Syrian guide knows things that are not written down anywhere, and some of them matter for your safety.
Current road and security knowledge, which changes week to week and is the part you cannot research. Driving and checkpoints handled without stress. Language, when little English is spoken outside the cities. Local prices rather than visitor prices. Access to people, workshops and courtyards that you would never find alone. And someone to call if something goes wrong.
A licensed operator handles the whole trip, including the visa approval document if your airline demands one, and carries accountability if something goes wrong. An individual guide is cheaper and more personal, and is a good option once you are confident about the rest of the logistics. For a first visit, the operator is usually the better trade.
Put it in writing, by message if nothing else. The full price and what it includes: driver, fuel, entry fees, meals, accommodation. The exact route and which sites. Waiting time and daily hours. What happens if a road closes or a site is shut. The cancellation terms. And whether the guide is licensed.
Pay a deposit rather than the whole amount up front, and settle the balance at the end. Tip separately, and generously if the trip went well: five to ten dollars a day is a fair baseline, more for a guide who looked after you.
Anyone promising access to areas our safety page lists as off limits. Anyone who will not put the price in writing. Anyone who dismisses safety questions rather than answering them. And anyone selling a Syrian eVisa, which does not exist.
Not for the visa, in most cases. Independent travel is possible. Most visitors still use a guide because it solves roads, checkpoints, language and local prices in one go.
It varies by operator, route and group size, and longer trips usually bring the daily rate down. Agree the full price and what it includes before you commit, and treat any quote that will not be put in writing as a warning sign.
Yes, and it is expected. Around five to ten dollars a day is a fair baseline, more for a guide who has gone out of their way. Tip separately from the agreed price, in cash.
Ask for the licence, ask for recent references, and ask what they will not do. Our page on choosing an operator sets out the checks in more detail.
A licensed operator can obtain the approval document some airlines demand before boarding. That is not the same as a visa, which most nationalities now collect on arrival.