Syria's gold-mosaic mosques, Roman desert cities and crusader castles evoke a rich history. It is a country where visitors are treated as individuals and greeted with interest and great hospitality. To best enjoy its rich cultural heritage, leave the tourist hordes and their organised trips behind, and explore in peace.

Always consult the Foreign Office before travelling.

ALEPPO

MARTINI DAR ZAMARIA HOTEL
Hatab Square, Aleppo (00 963 21 363 6100; www.darzamaria.com). Located in the heart of the Old City, the hotel has an 18th-century courtyard hung with jasmine and was once the house of a rich Aleppan merchant. It has bedrooms leading off the courtyard, which is now glassed over and used as a dining area. The sound of the fountain adds to the calm atmosphere. The staff are friendly, the food superb, and the bustle and noise of Aleppo is banished beyond its sheltering walls. £

DAMASCUS

BEIT AL MAMLOUKA
Al Qaimariyya Street, Damascus (00 963 11 543 0045; www.almamlouka.com). This hotel is the pioneer of the transformation of old Damascene houses into intimate boutique hotels. Authentic, elegant and exquisite, it is the place to stay in the Old City. Each of the eight rooms is unique. £

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL DAMASCUS
Shukri Al Quatil Street, Damascus (00 963 11 339 1000; www.fourseasons.com/damascus). Located in a smart downtown area outside the Old City, the Four Seasons has the usual five-star trappings: spa, gym, business centre, superb staff and great restaurants. £££

TALISMAN HOTEL
116 Tar El Hijara Street, Damascus (00 963 11 541 5379; www.hoteltalisman.net). The Talisman Hotel was once a Jewish palace, which was then restored into a traditional Arab house. It is now a boutique hotel, laid out around a pool. £

PALMYRA

ZENOBIA HOTEL
Palmyra (00 963 31 912907; www.zenobia-camp.com). This hotel was built in the 1920s in French colonial style and is very comfortable, as well as being extraordinarily situated in the ruins. It has 26 rooms and a sister property - a camp in the desert. £

CAFES
In Damascus, the Old City is good for cafés - the kind of places that do light lunches, carrot juice, mint tea, sticky cakes and water pipes, often in the courtyard of an old restored house.

ALBAL CAFE & GALLERY
Shaweesh Street, Damascus (00 963 11 544 5794). Albal has a young, bohemian vibe and is very female-friendly.

AL NAWFARA COFFEE SHOP
Al Qaimariyya Street, Damascus. Located at the western end of the street near the Umayyad Mosque, al Nawfara is a traditional teahouse with a largely male clientele.

RESTAURANTS
Damascus is home to some classic Middle Eastern cuisine, with an extensive variety of meze and grilled meats. The best meal in town is almost always less than £10 per head, including wine. Not all restaurants serve alcohol, however, so check first if you want wine. Speaking of wine, Lebanese Ksara is excellent.

ELISSAR
Al Dawamneh Street, Damascus (00 963 11 542 4300). A classic Damascene restaurant in a large restored house in the Christian Quarter, close to Bab Touma. The best table is near the fountain out in the courtyard. Boisterous and fun.

LEILA'S
Kabakbia Street, Damascus (00 963 11 544 5900). Located opposite the south-east corner of Umayyad Mosque, Leila's has another lovely courtyard with a glass roof, through which you can see the minarets of the nearby mosque. No alcohol, but everyone makes up for it with water pipes. Fantastic meze.

OLD TOWN
Al Assiyeh Street, Damascus (00 963 11 542 8088). This was the first of the restaurants to inhabit a traditional house in the Old City. Good atmosphere and good food.

MARMAR
Al Dawamneh Street, Damascus (00 963 11 544 6425). Signposted only by a couple of squiggles for the name, Marmar is packed with a good-looking young crowd at weekends when it's a late-night dance bar. Earlier in the week they have classical music, too.

OXYGEN
Bab Touma Street, Damascus (00 963 11 544 4398). Stylish, cool and (relatively) inexpensive, Oxygen appeals to a more grown-up clientele. There is a good restaurant, and a bar where you can sit and smoke a water pipe, sip a beer and listen to Arab trance.

ALEPPO

Aleppo, which along with Damascus claims to be the oldest inhabited city on earth, still feels like a hub of the Silk Route. All day and half the night, goods that have been traded here for centuries pass through the souks: silk, spices, tea, cloth, jewels, herbs, rope. The ancient caravanserai (large inns), with their carved arches and shady courtyards are still the storerooms of the souks. As you wander through the cobbled streets, you could be in any time since Mohammed. Head north of Aleppo to the Qala'at Samaan, the church built on the site where St Simon Stylites spent 38 years on top of an 18-metre pillar, around AD400.

BOSRA

One of the most interesting things about Bosra is the way in which layers of history have been, literally, welded together: pieces of Roman stone are incorporated into the sixth-century Christian cathedral whose architecture is believed to have provided the model for the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem; fragments of the carved cornice of the cathedral have found their way into the minaret of the Mosque of Fatima next door. Visit Bosra's Arab citadel, largely built in the 13th Century to defend the Ayyubids from the crusaders. Make your way through the massive outer walls, climbing huge boulder steps and you will eventually emerge into the sunlight in what should have been a 13th-century keep, but instead is the gods of a Roman theatre. Centuries of sand have preserved one of the finest and largest theatres in the Roman world - it seated 6,000 people with standing-room for 3,000.

CRAK DES CHEVALIERS

On the road from Damascus to Aleppo, stop off at the Krak des Chevaliers, one of the finest crusader castles. It is an astonishing defensive structure with a keep surrounded by a precipitous slope of smooth rock (known to the attacking Muslims as 'the Mountain' because it was impossible to climb, as TE Lawrence discovered during a visit in 1909).

DAMASCUS

Said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, Damascus has a great number of sights to offer its visitor, including over 30 mosques. Be sure to see the following:

AZEM PALACE
An old Ottoman palace where you can see how old Ottomans lived.

DAMASCENE HOUSES
These are the hidden treasures of the city. Check out two of the best: Beit Nizam and Beit as-Sibai.

KHAN ASSAD PASHA
Probably the most magnificent building in Damascus - it will leave you breathless.

STRAIGHT
St Paul took his morning constitutionals on this street, which bisects the Old City. Laid out by Hellenic builders and upgraded by the Romans, it's also called Madhat Basha Street (the west end) and Bab Sharqi Street (east).

THE BAZAAR
Get lost in the prototype for the modern department store.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM
Packed with Greeks and Romans, it is an insight into Syria's classical heritage.

UMAYYAD MOSQUE
Older than much of the Old Testament, it is one of the grandest mosques in the world and one of early Islam's most impressive monuments. Its red-carpeted prayer hall is always filled with believers - women along one wall, men along the other. The Umayyad dynasty made Damascus the political, religious and cultural centre of early Islam. Explore on foot to witness the day-to-day goings-on of this bustling city.

PALMYRA

Anyone visiting Syria should take the opportunity to see the magnificent Roman ruins of Palmyra, a staging post on the old caravan routes in the desert, two hours' drive west of Damascus. Don't rush it: stay overnight and take a moonlit walk down its colonnaded high street. Other places of interest include the Temple of Bel and Qala'at ibn Maan, a 17th-century Arab castle located on a hill overlooking Palmyra.

SEDNAYA AND MAALOULA

Two predominantly Christian villages to the north of Damascus, Sednaya and Maaloula make a pleasant half-day excursion from the capital. Sednaya is home to the sixth-century Convent of Our Lady, where a miracle-inducing icon of the Virgin Mary, said to have been painted from life by St Luke, has drawn pilgrims for more than 1,000 years. Maaloula is one of the few places where they still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ. It is home to the Convent of St Tekla and the Greek Catholic monastery of St Sergius.

IN DAMASCUS
A hammam visit is a defining experience of Damascus:

NOUR EDDIN AL SHAHEER
Al Bazuriye Street, Damascus (00 963 11 222 9513). Nour Eddin Al Shaheer is also known as Damascus Hammam, and it has the complete works from cold to very hot, with a sauna, steam room and masseurs, in lovely marbled chambers. Men only, except on women-only Fridays. Costs around £2.50, including a massage.

HAMMAM AL BAKRI
Qanayet Al Hatab Street, Damascus (00 963 11 542 6606). This is the one for the ladies, it is open from 10am-4pm and the price, £2.50, includes a massage.

AHMAD AL NAKHAL
Al Qaimariyya Street, near the Jeron Gate, Damascus (00 963 11 541 3038). For textiles, kilims, rugs and cushions, try Ahmad Al Nakhal. Syria itself doesn't produce great work, but Ahmad has some wonderful stuff from Iran, the Caucasus and points further east at good prices. He restores rugs, too, so he knows his stuff.

GEORGE E DABDOUB
Outside Azem Palace, Damascus (00 963 11 221 6988). George E Dabdoub is known for the quality of its jewellery, brocade, carpets, brass and icons, as well as for itss courteous staff and fair prices.

KHALIL HADDAD
115 Bab Sharqi Street, Damascus. For inlaid boxes, chests and chess and backgammon board - a speciality of the city - try Khalil Haddad.

Winter is the best time to see Syria, when the heat is less of an endurance test. Beware of the hot, dusty Khamsin winds in late spring and early autumn.

AIPORT
Syria has two international airports, one is located 35km southeast of Damascus and the other is northeast of Aleppo.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Both BMI (0870 511 1666; www.flybmi.com) and Syrian Arab Airlines (020 7493 2851; www.syriaair.com) fly from London Heathrow to Damascus.

COX & KINGS
(020 7873 5000; www.coxandkings.co.uk). Cox & Kings has plenty of experience of Syria, and offers a range of group tours and bespoke, private trips. A four-night tailor-made trip, with accommodation at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus (see WHERE TO STAY) starts at £995 per person on a bed-and-breakfast basis, including return flights. A similar four-night break at Beit Al Mamlouka starts at £835 per person. 'Journey to Palmyra', and eight-night tour of Syria, including three-nights at the Cham Palace, Damascus, and visits to Aleppo, Palmyra, Crac des Chevaliers and Homs cost from £1,095 per person on a bed-and-breakfast basis, including return flights, all transfers and excursions.

Visas must be obtained from the Syrian Embassy (8 Belgrave Square, London SW1; 020 7245 9012). They cost £36, but you won't be able to get one if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

FURTHER READING

Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City by Brigid Keenan (Thames & Hudson, £24.95) is a lavishly illustrated evocation of the architectural gems of the Old City. The Rough Guide to Syria (Penguin, £11.99) has a great section on Damascus, as does Lonely Planet's Syria & Lebanon (£13.99).

Visit the website of the Syrian Ministry of Tourism at www.syriatourism.org.