You might find my TR helpful. I traveled overland from Aleppo to Hama to Damascus to Beirut to Damascus to Amman (where I joined a tour). See http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/my-mixed-bag-month-in-the-middle-east.cfm

I would recommend shared taxis rather than buses for trips involving borders as they're likely to be quicker, and they're not that much more expensive. You can visit Byblos from Beirut.

Nine days isn't very long for what you want to do, and I really think Petra is worth two full days, although a lot of people spend less time there.

thursdaysd,

Your trip report is wonderful and incredibly detailed; it will be of great use when I'm planning my day-to-day trip itinerary.

I am still hoping that you or some other good samaritan on this board can offer some insight as to the amount of time I should spend in the cities I identify above given that I have only 9 days to spare. For a 9-day trip, what would you cut and how would you split your time? Also, could someone please let me know how much time it takes to travel from place to place, by car or by bus?

Thanks again.

I usually schedule based on nights rather than days. Do you have 8 or 9 nights? Where are you traveling from and to?

9 nights -- I'm travelling from New York. One of the questions I had in my initial post was, where should I fly into and out of. My initial thought is to fly into Beruit and out of Amman. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for all your input.

That's not a bad idea. I'd spend at least three nights in Beirut (figure the first day is jet lag, then two days for day trips), three nights in Damascus, two nights in Petra, and one night either Madaba or Amman - the airport is closer to Madaba than Amman, and Amman is pretty short on good sights. I don't know whether you could do Palmyra as a day trip from Damascus, worth checking into.

I checked Lonely Planet - it's three hours by bus from Palmyra to Damascus. You could drop one night from Damascus for one night in Palmyra - I've read that you should really see the sunset and sunrise there. But you really can't count on making Petra from Palmyra - three hours to Damascus, change bus stations (note: service taxis go from the bus stations), and then maybe three to four more absolute minimum to Amman (LP says seven by bus, I did it in much less by service taxi). Then you'd have to find a taxi to go to Petra (too late for the buses) and it's another four hours.

I highly recommend spending some time with Lonely Planet's guides to Jordan and to Syria & Lebanon to work out the logistics.

Thank you so much, thursdaysd. Your input has been invaluable!

nobody should leave Lebanon without having paid a visit to the Jeita grotto.
www.jeitagrotto.com
Plan for half a day

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Hi Saudipinoy,

Your pictures are purely gorgeous! I have seen many Egyptian pictures, but yours are outstanding! May I know a few things. Your first Egypt picture (on the cover of the album)is very colorful. How did you make it to become like that? What did you do with your camera? What settings did you use?

Thank you!

Desidero, In March 2009 I visited Egypt, Jordan and Israel in about 13 days so I know your 9 day trip is doable. It did help to rent a car in Jordan and I only visited Jerusalem in Israel. I found my travels through The Middle East fascinating and will be interested to read about your experiences in Damascus and Beirut, two cities I would love to visit in the near future. My Middle East experiences and pictures are blogged at: www.dmbtraveler195.blogspot.com.

@hobbitthefoodlover: Thanx for liking my pics in egypt and syria. Actually I didnt shoot that cover pic. My egyptian friend just gave that photo to me for my album cover. Regards!

www.picasaweb.com/cnodora2005