Budget/Backpacker Travel Guide: Damascus
Experience authentic local culture on a shoestring budget with hostels, street food, and public transport
Daily Budget: $28-71 per day
Complete breakdown of costs for budget/backpacker travel in Damascus
Accommodation
$15-35 per night
Budget beds cram the lanes around Damascus's Old City: tiled floors, stairs that pinch and climb, shared bathrooms. Forget backpacker dorm culture, here you rent a plain private room, not a bunk.
Browse budget/backpacker accommodation →Food & Dining
$8-18 per day
Eat on your feet. Falafel crackles to gold at corner stalls, shawarma is shaved from slow-turning spits, ful medames gleams with olive oil, and flatbread leaves wood-fired ovens in rising steam. When you sit, pick a worker canteen in the Old City souks where cumin and charcoal hang in the air.
Transportation
$2-6 per day
Microbuses rattle the main corridors, city buses handle longer hauls, and your own feet finish the job inside the compact Old City where every budget sight is minutes away.
Activities
$3-12 per day
Walk solo: stone lanes stacked in layers, the roofed Hamidiyah Souk, the Christian Quarter, the ancient Straight Street. The National Museum of Damascus asks a token fee. The markets cost nothing.
Currency: SYP Syrian Pound, USD is widely accepted and used as a reference currency in tourist-facing transactions across Damascus; you'll still need local notes for street food vendors, public transport, neighborhood bakeries, and market stalls.
Money-Saving Tips
Buy your falafel two streets deeper. The same sandwich served beside the Hamidiyah Souk entrance costs markedly more than the identical one from a neighborhood stall a short walk inside the Old City.
Walk the Old City first. The core is compact, every major site lies within a 20-minute radius, so you'll skip needless taxis and get far more from a paid guide once you already know the layout.
Ride shared microbuses and city buses for longer crossings. Private taxis charge several times the same fare.
Carry Syrian pounds on the street. USD works at guesthouses and tourist shops, but bakeries, produce stalls, and market vendors price in local currency and will round up if you don't.
Call Old City guesthouses direct. Intermediary booking platforms often stack on markup that vanishes when you deal with the property yourself.
Sightsee at dawn. Cool air helps in summer, and early entry draws fewer tour groups, cutting the informal pressure to hire extra guides or pay unofficial add-ons.
Common Budget Mistakes to Avoid
Don't land expecting the hostel density of classic backpacker hubs. Damascus runs on thinner tourism infrastructure. Travelers without booked beds often face scarce, overpriced rooms near the Old City.
Don't default to taxis. The city sprawls beyond the historic core, and private cabs for every hop will silently devour your daily budget. Shared rides and walking cover almost every tourist distance.
Do not skip the paperwork. Entry rules, visa steps, and currency logistics need more pre-trip homework than most places. Arrive unprepared and you'll swallow airport exchange rates and last-minute fees.