Detailed travel budget for damascus, syria
Sources
1. "The Best Lodging in Damascus, Syria." The 10 Best Damascus Hotels. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294011-Damascus-Hotels.html
2. "Damascus Transportation." VirtualTourist.com. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Syria/Muhafazat_Dimashq/Damascus-1814868/Transportation-Damascus-TG-C-2.html#page=1&tgCount=0&themes=Bus
3. "Cost of Living in Null, Syria." Cost of Living in Null. Prices in Null. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Syria&city=Damascus –
4. "Stores, Malls, or Markets in Syria." -Shopping. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Syria/Shopping-Syria-MISC-BR-1.html -
5. "Damascus Tours." Damascus Tours. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.whl.travel/damascus-tours
1. "The Best Lodging in Damascus, Syria." The 10 Best Damascus Hotels. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294011-Damascus-Hotels.html
2. "Damascus Transportation." VirtualTourist.com. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Syria/Muhafazat_Dimashq/Damascus-1814868/Transportation-Damascus-TG-C-2.html#page=1&tgCount=0&themes=Bus
3. "Cost of Living in Null, Syria." Cost of Living in Null. Prices in Null. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Syria&city=Damascus –
4. "Stores, Malls, or Markets in Syria." -Shopping. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Syria/Shopping-Syria-MISC-BR-1.html -
5. "Damascus Tours." Damascus Tours. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.whl.travel/damascus-tours
Budget Summary
The prices in Damascus, Syria are considerably smaller than in the United States. The national currency in Syria is the Syrian Pound, or SYP. One Syrian Pound is worth 0.0053 of a U.S. dollar, while a single U.S. dollar is worth 188.79 of a Syrian Pound. Dollars can be traded in for Syrian Pounds at ATMs near the airport. The total cost for getting to Damascus and back home is $1452.48. Three hotels have been selected as the most affordable options for lodging in the city, all with free breakfast and prices that round up to $4,000 for all seven nights. The touring agency Ghazal Tours has a reasonable price of $1,676 for a complete tour of the city. Food and transportation are extremely cheap in Damascus, requiring only $125 for food and $5 for transportation. Shopping at the local markets can be a little bit sketchy, so travellers should not spend more than $100 on souvenirs. In case of injury or sudden illness, tourists are advised to bring about $125 for emergency health care situations. With all of these prices combined, the grand total for the budget of one tourist travelling to Damascus is at $7,483.48.
Airfare
The total cost of the recommended flight to Beirut is $1,175.70, including taxes. The cost of renting a car for travelling to Damascus from Beirut is $276.78. Overall, the cost of travelling from Miami, Florida to Damascus, Syria and back is $1452.48.
Lodging
There are three main hotels that are quite affordable in Damascus, Syria. The Albal Hotel is a four star hotel with free wi-fi and free breakfast. The average nightly stay here is around $533 a night. A cheaper but nonetheless equally accommodating hotel is the three star Al-Madinah hotel, which provides free breakfast and medium sized rooms for $495 a night. The final recommended hotel is the Beit Akbik hotel, a four star hotel with free breakfast and rooms offered at $525 a night. Overall, the price range for a seven night stay at any of these hotels is from $3,465 to $3,731. Altogether, the approximate money allocated for hotel expenses should be around $4,000. All of these hotels accept American currency payment.
Tours
Ghazal Tours is a local touring organization in Damascus. This group of expert tour guides is well recommended and requires a total price of just $1,676 (316412.04 SYPs) for one traveler to receive a fully guided tour of the city, including all the notable historical sites.
Food
Since all of the hotels provide free breakfast, travelers would only have to worry about lunch and dinner. There are several fast food vendors as well as various inexpensive restaurants that could provide tourists with fairly affordable lunch, usually around $6.00 (1132.74 SYPs) per meal. Dinner would be most affordable from mid-range restaurants. A three course meal for just one person from any of these restaurants is around $10.93 (2063.47 SYPs). Food can be bought from the local markets, but tourists should keep in mind that vendors tend to exaggerate the appropriate prices. On average, produce does not exceed $0.50 (94.4 SYPs). Bread, milk, dozens of eggs, and pounds of cheeses don't go beyond prices of $3.00 (566.37 SYPs) in the market as well. Meats are actually less expensive, averaging at about $2.55 (481.42 SYPs). Altogether, tourist would be wise in allocating approximately $125 (23598.75 SYPs) for the purchase of food.
Transportation
The recommended form of transportation in the city of Damascus is by mini bus. Mini bus fares are around $0.26 (50 SYPs), for every hour of driving. Taxis can also be used as well, although the prices are much higher. The average price for an hour of driving in a taxi is $6.00 (1,132.74 SYPs). The amount of time a tourist spends using these forms of local transportation depends on the travelling details in the tourist's itinerary. Most of the notable sights and activities in Damascus are close together, meaning that no more than one or two hours use of local transportation each day is required. Over a course of seven days, the total range for mini bus prices would be from $1.82 to $3.64 (343.6 to 687.2 SYPs). On the other hand, the total range for taxi fares would be from $42.00 to $84.00 (7929.18 to 15858.36 SYPs). Evidently, the advised choice of action would be to use the mini buses. This means that tourists should save about $5.00 (943.95 SYPs) for mini bus transportation.
Shopping
There are various markets in the city of Damascus, referred to by the locals as souqs. The souqs are crowded with vendors who sell all types of products, from produce to jewelry and clothing to elaborate pieces of art. The prices for these products depend on the vendors, who tend to exaggerate the prices far above the value of the products. Due to this wide and unpredictable range, no approximate amount can be calculated for expenditure on merchandise. When shopping here, tourists must take caution in how much is spent from the travel budget on these products. A safe and reasonable amount of money for spending would be around $100, or 18,879 SYPs.
Emergency Health care
Health care has been rather unreliable in Syria due to the tolls of the internal conflict, but emergency medical assistance can still be provided to tourists in Damascus. All travelers should have a complete health insurance plan before coming to Damascus, and approximately $250 (47197.5 SYPs) should be kept just in case of a medical emergency.