Miscellaneous, Damascus

Location
The University is located close to the modern city centre. The semester courses are conducted in a calm residential area called Mezzeh. Both locations are easily accessible by taxi or minibuses. You will find a student café and fast food joints close to where you have your lessons.

Leisure
Internet cafés are easily found in the old town around Bab Touma and Bab Sharqi and in the modern city centre, for example in Salahiye and Shalan. You can also find internet cafés in Mezzeh and other areas. There are a number of cafés offering wireless internet.

The Opera House in Damascus is located close to Damascus University, at Al Umawiyeen Square. It is well worth passing by to check out their monthly programme. Concerts with international and national musicians of high standards are often held, as well as theatrical performances.

The house of Moustafa Ali in the old quarters of Damascus (on the street Tal Al-Hijara, between Bab Sharqi and Al-Amin street) is a centre for sculptors and other artists. Cultural events such as poetry readings, art exhibitions, and music sessions are common in the evenings. The setting in an old Damascene house is beautiful and the atmosphere familiar.

International cultural centres such as the French Cultural Centre (located in the modern down-town area, nearby Souq Sarooja street) and the German Goethe Institute (located in Adnan Malki street) offer lectures, cinemas, art exhibitions, and other cultural events open to the public.

If you want to explore Syrian cuisine, there are plenty of restaurants in the old town of Damascus, especially around Bab Touma and Bab Sharqi. The entrances are often discrete doors, hiding beautiful open-air restaurants in the court yards of old Damascene houses and on their roof-tops. Cooking classes are also offered in Syrian families or at well-known restaurants in Damascus. You can apply to take part in such a course prior to your departure or during your stay in Damascus.

Syria offers interesting destinations for all visitors. Excursions are arranged on a regular basis. A designated coordinator organizes excursions in the area around Damascus, to other towns and locations in Syria, and to neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon.

Getting around Damascus
Minibuses (locally called servis or micro) are little white vans carrying passengers on set routes around Damascus. The destinations are written in Arabic on the front of the minibuses. If you are uncertain about the destination, make sure to tell the driver where you are heading. You can ask the driver to stop anywhere along his route (by saying ila al-yamin, to the right, when you want to get off). Taking a taxi is usually a faster way to reach your destination, and at quite affordable prices. All licensed taxis carry meters. It is best to insist that the driver puts on the meter (the word for meter, al-'adad, can be used to pass the message).

Airport transfer
It is about a 40 minutes taxi ride from the airport to downtown Damascus. We can arrange for you to be picked up from the airport and we do recommend this as we want you to arrive comfortably.

For more information on Syria, please see Useful information about Syria.