Lebanon Travel Forum

HELLO FRIENDS..I AM PLANNING TO VISIT SYRIA AND LEBANON NEXT APRIL ON THE SECOND HALF FOR AROUND 9,10 DAYS..COMING FROM ISTAMBUL.I HEARD THERE IS A TRAIN TO ARRIVE TO ALEPPO IN SYRIA RIGHT? CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY ADVICE ABOUT TRANSPORTS..ACCOMODATION..EATING..CUSTOMS..ANYTHING WHO CAN HELP ME IN THIS TRIP?
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ADVICE

TONI

Hi,

In Lebanon, you can take a Taxi from Damascus to Beirut for around 80 USD $ or take a shared Taxi and that would be around 15 USD$.

It is true there is a Train from Turkey to Aleppo but you will need someone from Aleppo to inform you with all the specific details.

You can find all Western food in Lebanon, average price for a club sandwich platter is around 5 USD $, a can of pepsi or Coke is less than 1 USD $.

But you will enjoy Lebanese food for sure, and it wouldn't be traveling if you don't try something new.

Some Lebanese food is Less than 10 USD $ and that is for a decent meal.

You can find all the Hotel's and their prices in Beirut and other area's in Lebanon in this site : http://www.beirut-hotel.com/search.html

Lebanon is a very open minded place so there isn't much Taboo to fear from and 5 out of every 10 people you meet in Lebanon will speak either english or french.

Hi Toni, my name is Georgie, I live in Istanbul. There is a train, Taurus Express, that leaves Haydarpasa Train Station (Asian side of Istanbul), every Sunday,you can just 'turn up' but my advice is to arrive in Istanbul a day or so earlier and book at the station for your trip. (I did this trip last year!), depending on the customs/border crossings and train time tables it can take up 36 hours...as it did for me and the guests on the train, but it's great and inexpensive. It arrives Halep, (Allepo). I paid 100YTL for a single couche, if you don't mind sharing it's cheaper of course, it departs at around 09.00, but you need to check as the time table changes...and...be prepared for delays...this is Turkiye!! I recommend you take food and drink with you for the journey, sometimes...a guy comes around with cay, (tea), also, they do stop at various stations where they are bufes (station cafes), the food is usual for these stops, it's fine, but if you want more take it with you, always better if there are delays. I can recommend a hotel in Halep if you need and anything else that I can help you with for Suriye and for Turkiye, my home country. I'm guessing you are female?? Suryie is safe and easy to travel around as is Turkiye. If you need any further help here's my non-vt email, as I don't access here that much, tonite was off chance!! lucky for you eh! anyways, georgie_dicker@yahoo.co.uk. I hope this has helped you, Hos Geldiniz Turkiye!! Selam, Suriye!! by the way, I'm also planning a return trip to Suriye, Jordan in May, as I did last year, this time, also visiting Lebanon and, hopefully Palestinian Authority..insallah....

Take care, chat soon maybe

Georgia