Syria, cash and foreign currencies

for public transport must have syp liras
For restaurants,souv stores etc you can pay in euros and dollars
Do not bring large notes best 20,50 and 100

depends what you mean by 'fair' - i got totally bored by the LP Syria advice to keep haggling til you had ground some taxi driver down by 40 pence ...

it's Syria. You are rich and they are poor. Try not to pretend you are worrying about nothing money that we all waste at home and lord it over the locals for the sake of a pound, dollar or euro.

some hotels and other things that tourists prioritise like museums do foreign. and the souk sellers delighted with it.

but if you're on a bus, try not to pay 30 cents with a $50 note. It's embarrassing.

Just pay for everything in SYP and forget about "nasty" foreign currency. It's easier, and thinking in the local currency gives you a richer experience

Almost everything in Syria can be paid for in SYP, with the exception of some hotels above the budget range. I think you'd be better off bringing Euros to Syria instead of USD, but I used both on different occasions. For example, the Afamia Hotel in Damascus (listed in LP) only accepted Euros when I was there three weeks ago. At a different hotel I paid in USD (though I think they also accepted SYP). Service vans were happy to take Euros or USD when they were unwilling to break the SYP1000 notes I was stuck with on a couple of occasions.

In Euros or Dollars I'd bring a couple of 50s, several 20s, a couple of 10s, and a couple of fivers. A few one and two Euro coins could be useful as well. Try to bring only crisp, un-torn and unblemished notes if possible.

Use your ATM card to get SYP and travel with the local currency. You will get the bank exchange rate and save yourself the hassle of carrying around cash. I have lived in Damascus for a year now and use ATMs all the time. Bank Audi has the most reliable ATMs depending on which card you use. I don't think bringing small USD or Euro notes is necessary as you can just use SYP everywhere and save yourself the hassle of getting bad exchange rates. I do keep some USD (100 dollar notes) and Euros on hand for emergencies though, as well as for smaller towns / day trips depending on how well you budget in advance when you withdraw SYP to carry with you. I personally use SYP for everything when I travel here.

I think cortex is right in saying that hotels vary in what they accept. Hotels can exchange money for you if you run out of SYP and cannot get to a bank to exchange money. Don't expect to use Visa much, depending on the places you stay and the type of travel you are interested in.

However, for last minute shopping, the Anat shop on Straight Street accepts Visa. Shops on the street give good prices in SYP and it is very easy to haggle here as there are almost no touts and very friendly shop keepers who are almost never pushy.

Hardly any store accept euros metal coins if any one does you be slugged a 20% discount/penalty to the vaulue of the coins.
indeed you can use syp almost anywhere except of 4/5 stars hotels which are governed by law to take only foreign currency and credit/debit cards payments.and of course if you want to buy airlines ticket.
post 5 thanks for your observation on the friendly stores keepers in Syria

Hi ghirello,

I left Syria a few days ago after a week of travelling around. My accommodation was always in budget hotels and not a single time I was quoted the price /asked to pay in other than SYP. I used ATMs (Bank Audi as mentioned in another reply was quite reliable) to withdraw money (with a Spanish-issued Visa) but just in case i had also Eur and USD with me - although it was mainly for another country i was visiting later.

You don´t mention your country or how you enter Syria (visa already arranged?). Be aware of VOA regulations and if you qualify and enter overland, you will have to pay 28 USD for a single entry visa. When leaving, there is a 500 SYP departure tax that I paid in USD in the border with Turkey.

Euro coins are only extra weight :)

Cheers,

Jose

Thanks everybody for the pain taken.
I'm always reluctant to rely exclusively on cards as this means ending up paying from 5 to 10 % commission between the commission fixed by your bank, another one for the local bank that you don't know, a fee per transaction and an exchange rate you never know in advance. However I use cards occasionnally when other options are limited.
By the way, as José mentions a tax paid when leaving the country, does anybody know whether you're supposed to pay such a tax when leaving Turkey overland to Syria, and when leaving Syria overland to Jordania?