To rent a car in Syria as a foreign visitor you need a valid driving licence from your own country, your passport, and to be 23 or over. We take no deposit, prices are in US dollars, and we deliver free to Damascus International Airport. Before you travel, check entry requirements and official travel advice for your nationality — those questions belong to your government, not to us.
More visitors are coming back to Syria than at any time in the last fifteen years — archaeologists, writers, business visitors, people with Syrian friends, people who have wanted to see Aleppo and Palmyra for half their lives. A good number of them want to drive. This is the checklist we would give each of them across the counter.
What we ask for
A driving licence. Issued in any country, valid on your dates. There is no nationality condition and no minimum time you must have held it. Bring the physical card; a photograph on a phone is not a licence.
Your passport. You will have it with you anyway.
Age 23 or over, for every person who will drive.
Every driver's name on the agreement. This is the one rule we never bend. If your travelling companion will take a turn at the wheel, add both names to the booking. An unnamed driver is not covered by the hire's insurance, whatever the circumstances.
That is the whole list. We have written separately about what an International Driving Permit is and is not, and about the wrinkles that differ by country of residence.
What we do not ask for
A deposit. None — no cash, no card hold, no promissory note. In much of the world a rental company blocks hundreds of dollars on your card; here nothing is held.
A card at booking. Reserving a car on our site holds it. Nothing is paid until you collect it, and cancellation is free.
A local address or a local sponsor. A hotel is fine.
Money
Prices are in US dollars, and the figure on your booking is the figure you pay. Daily rates start at 55 USD for an economy car such as the Nissan Sylphy, and every rate includes 150 km a day; the full list is in what a rental car costs in Damascus. Fuel is full to full.
Bring cash for the rest of the trip. Syria still runs largely on cash, card acceptance outside the larger hotels is limited, and fuel stations expect paper money. We wrote about the practical side of fuel and cash on a road trip.
Arrival
Damascus International Airport is about 30 km southeast of the city. Delivery there is free: send us your flight number when you book, and the car meets you outside arrivals. Your flight number matters more than your arrival time, because it lets us follow a delay without a chain of messages. Landing at Damascus Airport walks through it step by step.
If you are arriving overland from Beirut or Amman instead, the car cannot cross the border with you in either direction — collect it on the Syrian side. Delivery anywhere in Damascus is free, so it can meet you at your hotel.
The first day behind the wheel
All our cars are automatic, which is one less thing to think about on unfamiliar roads. Driving is on the right. Damascus traffic is dense in the morning and evening peaks, horns are a language rather than an insult, and road signs on the main routes are usually in Arabic and English. Outside the cities the motorways are open and straightforward.
Our calm account of driving in Syria covers checkpoints, fuel, parking and the rhythm of the roads. Read it before you land, not in the car park.
Where the car can go
Anywhere in Syria on paved roads. Not across a border, and not off-road: both are outside the hire's cover. A one-way hire is possible — collect in Damascus, leave the car in Aleppo or on the coast — if you arrange it when you book.
The questions that are not ours
We will always tell you exactly what our contract covers. Three kinds of question belong to others:
- Entry and visas — ask the Syrian embassy or consulate in your country.
- Whether and where to travel — read your own government's official travel advice for Syria and check it close to departure.
- What the law requires you to carry while driving — ask the body that issues International Driving Permits where you live.
A short list before you fly
- Licence (physical), passport, every driver aged 23 or over.
- Every driver's name on the booking.
- Flight number sent with the booking.
- Cash for fuel and the rest of the trip.
- Official travel advice and entry rules checked for your nationality.
- Route planned on paved roads inside Syria.
Questions before you book go to the counter, which is staffed around the clock: +963980436125.
