No. A car hired from us in Syria cannot be taken into Lebanon, Jordan or any other country. Use outside Syria is one of the exclusions in our terms: if anything happens to the car across a border, the hirer is liable for the full cost. Plan a two-country trip as two separate legs, with a car on each side.
We are asked this more often than you might expect, usually by a family flying into Beirut or Amman with a plan to drive on to Damascus, or by someone in Damascus who wants a day in the Beqaa. The answer is short. The reasons behind it are worth a minute, because they explain why "just this once" is a bad idea.
What the agreement says
Our terms list the uses that are not covered. Driving outside Syria sits on that list next to driving under the influence, driving by someone not named on the agreement, off-road use and deliberate damage. In each of those cases the cover that comes with the hire does not apply, and the cost of any damage, theft or third-party claim falls on the person who signed.
That is not a technicality. A border crossing changes three things at once: the insurance that applies, the country whose police and courts would deal with an accident, and the paperwork the car itself would need to cross. None of those is something a rental agreement written under Syrian law can carry with it.
What it would cost if it happened anyway
Think about the worst ordinary day — a minor collision on a road in another country. The car is not covered there. The other driver's claim is yours. Recovering the vehicle back across the border is yours, and so is the time the car spends off the road. A trip that saved a taxi fare becomes the most expensive day of the year.
This is also the one area where we will not bend. We are flexible about delivery times, late flights and extending a hire by phone. We are not flexible about the car leaving the country.
How people actually do a two-country trip
The practical answer is to treat each country as its own leg.
Arriving through Beirut or Amman. Make the crossing into Syria by whatever means suits you, then collect the car on this side. Delivery is free anywhere in Damascus, so the car can meet you at a hotel or a relative's address the evening you arrive rather than at the airport. If you are flying in rather than crossing by land, delivery to Damascus International Airport is free too.
Leaving through Beirut or Amman. Return the car in Damascus before you cross. Book the return for a time that leaves a margin, because the grace period on a late return is two hours, and a border queue does not care about either.
A day trip from Damascus to the other side. Leave the car in Damascus and make the crossing without it. It is less convenient than driving yourself, and much cheaper than the alternative described above.
What you personally need to cross a border — visas, entry rules, documents — is a question for the relevant embassy or consulate, and for the official travel advice of the country whose passport you hold. Rules change, and they depend on your nationality, so we do not give answers on them.
Inside Syria, the map is wide open
The restriction is about the border, not about distance. Inside Syria the car goes where the paved roads go: Homs and the crusader castle in the hills, Hama and its waterwheels, the coast at Latakia and Tartus, Aleppo up the M5. If you are planning a long loop, the M5 route from Damascus to Aleppo and the Syrian coast by car are good starting points, and a one-way hire lets you leave the car at the far end instead of driving back.
A short list for a two-country trip
- Plan the crossing as a separate leg, without the rental car.
- Collect the car on the Syrian side, at a hotel or address in Damascus or at the airport.
- Return it in Syria with time to spare before you cross.
- Ask the embassy or consulate, not a rental company, about entry and documents.
- For long loops inside Syria, ask about one-way hire when you book.
Anything else about where the car can go is a question for the counter: +963980436125.
