Hama

Get in

Hama is on the M5 motorway between Damascus and Aleppo.

See

Souq - which seems to have a lot of shoes for sale. Old town - you still see many of the destroyed buildings of the bombardment of the Hama massacre in 1982

Eat

Eat possibly the best felafel in the Middle East at Ali Babas near the Cairo Hotel. This small and simple restaurant is recommended by the guidebooks and consequently has a menu in English. There are numerous fast food and juice stands in the area around Ali Babas.

Al-Baroudi restaurant on Shoukri al-Quwatli is a good bet for barbequed chicken but be careful what you order. If you are not precise, they will bring a huge meal of half a chicken each plus three or four dips, bread, salad and a large plate of rice. While all the food is excellent, and perhaps just the ticket if you are starving, smaller meals are available for a proportionally smaller cost.

If you would like a quiet place to sit and have a tea, walk along al-Buhturi street and there you will find a couple European-style cafes selling pastries, ice cream and a wide selection of bread as well as serving all kinds of hot and cold drinks. They are quite popular with women.

Camel steaks!

Around Shari' al-Quwatli are many bakeries selling the famous Halawaat Al-Jibni, a refreshing sweet cheese treat. Give it a try if you haven't done so yet.

Stay safe

See the warning on the Syria article for information on the security situation.

Connect

Several internet cafes have sprung up around Hama. Space Net on Abual-Feda is near the Al-Nouri mosque while Happy Net is just one option near the Cairo and Riad hotels. Both hotels also offers internet access to its guests on a computer in the lobby. The cost is the same as the internet cafes, and the speed is quite good, despite the connection being a dial-up one.

A post office is right next to the clock tower in the city center.

Go next

Hama makes a great base for exploring a lot of the north-east of Syria

The following can be done as a half day trip from Hama, but you could string a few together for a long day! Serjilla and Al-Bara - locations of the so-called 'Dead Cities' Ma'arat an-Nu'aman - for the Mosaic Museum Apamea - site of some well preserved Roman ruins Qala'at Sheisar - ruined castle overlooking steep river valley Qala'at Musyaf - another crusader castle about 45 minutes west of Hama. (To get there take a service take to Musyaf. The castle is right in the city center, you can't miss it. Service taxis run back to Hama until at least 17:00.)

A little further afield you could get to the Krak des Chevaliers as a day trip - but this would be a bit of a shame, as staying the night near the Krak and spending some time to explore this gem of Syria is well worth the time and effort.

Riad and Cairo hotels can arrange private transport to all these.