Anyone know if it is possible to make a border crossing between Israel and Syria?
Or do you have to go via Lebanon?
Israel to Syria
Nope, neither of them, only land borders with Egypt and Jordan.
You might be interested in checking the LP section which pretty much has all the details.
Sorry
I suspected that might be the case for Syria - thought you could get into Lebanon though.
Do you think its possible to get into Syria via Jordan?
Also you would have to go to Israel after Syria, as if you have an Israeli passport stamp you will not be allowed entry in to Syria.
It's possible to cross from Jordan into Syria; get a shared taxi from the bus station in Amman to Damascus. It takes 3-4 hours.
Quoting HafJafMark
I suspected that might be the case for Syria - thought you could get into Lebanon though.
Do you think its possible to get into Syria via Jordan?
Lebanon rejects anyone who has an Israeli stamp in their passport, and trust me they do flip through it rather thoroughly to check. Even if you do manage to get the Israelis to stamp it on a separate piece of paper, suspect border crossings might give you away, e.g. the King Hussein/Allenby bridge crossing from Jordan to Israel.
Its very easy to get from Jordan to Syria, but again, anyone who has visited Israel will be turned away. From Amman the easiest way is to take a shared taxi (servees) that crosses the border to Damascus in Syria, and this should cost around 15 dollars for a seat and takes 4 hours including time to clear immigrations. Frequent buses also run to Damascus from Amman.
Another word of caution is to get your Syrian visa beforehand as people who just turn up have been turned away, but if you have no Syrian representation in your home country, you can get a visa on arrival at the Syrian side.
Quoting HafJafMark
I suspected that might be the case for Syria - thought you could get into Lebanon though.
Do you think its possible to get into Syria via Jordan?
Lebanon rejects anyone who has an Israeli stamp in their passport, and trust me they do flip through it rather thoroughly to check. Even if you do manage to get the Israelis to stamp it on a separate piece of paper, suspect border crossings might give you away, e.g. the King Hussein/Allenby bridge crossing from Jordan to Israel.
Its very easy to get from Jordan to Syria, but again, anyone who has visited Israel will be turned away. From Amman the easiest way is to take a shared taxi (servees) that crosses the border to Damascus in Syria, and this should cost around 15 dollars for a seat and takes 4 hours including time to clear immigrations. Frequent buses also run to Damascus from Amman.
Another word of caution is to get your Syrian visa beforehand as people who just turn up have been turned away, but if you have no Syrian representation in your home country, you can get a visa on arrival at the Syrian side.
- oops sorry for the double post... had some problem with the website...
[ Edit: Edited on 09-Jul-2009, at 22:56 by itenerant ]
Thanks for the advice.
My problem is that I fly into and out of Tel aviv. I have both a British and Irish passport though - If i were to use my British one to get into Israel, then my Irish one to get into Jordan and Syria might that work? i could tell the Syrian authorities that i had a return flight from amman. Do you think that might work?
And how do you propose to get an "entry into Jordan at amman airport" entry stamp into your Irish passport if you cross into Jordan overland?
The Syrians and the Lebanese officials aren't stupid, they know all the tricks by now. They will check your passport on where you entered Jordan and Egypt. If you got stamps of any of the 4 border crossing points with Israel in it or cannot prove that you flew in or used the ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba you are screwed.
If I was you I would change my (entry) flight from Tel Aviv to Cairo. Enter Egypt using the Irish passport. Then go overland to Israel for 3 weeks with your British passport. Travel around Israel, then go back to the Sinai peninsula, entering Egypt again on your British passport. Take the ferry from Nuweiba to Aqaba, but make sure the Egyptians stamp your Irish passport when you leave. Use your Irish passport for entering Jordan and Syria.
This is one way to hide your stay in Israel.
Another variant would be (if you cannot change your initial flights) to fly from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, entering Turkey on your Irish passport and then continueing on your Irish passport to Syria and Lebanon. From Syria you can then go on to Jordan and Israel, either using your Irish or British passport for Jordan and your British passport for the crossing into Israel.
Ive just had a look at my passport - none of my stamps saythe port of entry into a county. Are you sure the Jordanian ones say this?
I guess I should have bookedflights to Jordan rather than Tel Aviv
Ive just had a look at my passport - none of my stamps saythe port of entry into a county. Are you sure the Jordanian ones say this?
I would have to look at my old passport (which I don't have right now) to be 100% sure, but IIRC they (both the Jordanians and the Israelis) do. I definitely remember the Ukrainian stamps stating points of entry and exit for the Ukraine.
And looking at my current passport the Russians, the Iranians and the Turkish all recorded my points of entry and exit.
I guess I should have bookedflights to Jordan rather than Tel Aviv
Which airline are you using? Flights to Amman are generally expensive, that's why I suggested changing your flights to Cairo.
From Tel Aviv you should be able to get flights to Cairo and Istanbul without too many problems. For the flight to Cairo expect to pay around 200 USD, for the flight to Istanbul around 150 USD.
[ Edit: Edited on 13-Jul-2009, at 11:35 by t_maia ]