Destination: Syria
LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Souqs & Shopping
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The souqs of Lebanon and Syria are a shopper’s paradise.
You can find elegant nargileh at the Ottoman-era souqs in Tyre, luxurious Oriental soaps and unique hammam products at the Musée Du Savon in Sidon. Back in Beirut, you can buy high-quality handicrafts and home décor at the Artisans du Liban et d’Orient by the Ain al-Mreisse seashore.
The Princesse and Sultan Artisanat, in Achrafiye, has colourful arabesque drink coasters influenced by the floor-tile designs of Lebanese houses! Nearby, CD-Thèque has the best selection of CDs and DVDs, and books on Middle East photography and visual arts. Scour the restored Byblos souq for retro souvenir guidebooks to the town and ruins, and buy ancient fish fossils at Mémoire Du Temps. Tripoli and Aleppo offer more of a traditional souq shopping experience: olive soap, textiles, spices and sweets. The souqs in Damascus provide the ultimate Oriental shopping experience: frankincense, perfumes, hand-crafted wooden inlaid furniture, backgammon boards-cum-chess sets and boxes, copper and brass coffeepots and trays, colourful carpets, Damascene tablecloths, brocades and silks, unusual antiques, gold and silver jewellery, and curly Aladdin slippers.
Make sure you don’t leave town without a kitsch box of the Syrian version of Turkish delight from Al Ghraoui Confiseur Chocolatier, ‘purveyors to Queen Victoria’.
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