Aleppo is close to the main border crossing with Turkey. You will need a visa to enter into Syria. It is typically more convenient to secure a visa in your home country as the consulates in Turkey do not usually issue tourist visas. How you get the visa varies by country so check with a travel agent or consult. Citizens of the predominantly Arab nations, as well as Turkish citizens as of 2009, do not require a visa.
At the border, most nationalities can secure a 2 week transit visa in 20-30 minutes. American passport holders, however, will have to wait between 3 to 10 hours to secure a transit visa, as the border guards must fax Damascus to check with Syrian intelligence, and may be turned away. A transit visa is US$16, payable in USD or SYP. Each border post has a branch of the Central Bank of Syria to exchange currencies. There are no facilities for credit/debit cards. Travellers cheques are also not accepted.
Remember that there is a departure fee of 500 SYP.
Aleppo has quite extensive public transport connections with Turkish cities just north of the border. There are at least two daily bus/minibus services from Antioch 3hr, costing S£250 bus service or S£350 minibus. Gaziantep, on the other hand, has twice weekly trains to Aleppo 5hr, departing from Gaziantep at 8:30PM on Tuesdays and Fridays and arrive five hours later in Aleppo, at an inconvenient 1:29AM after midnight, costing â¬12.75 pp one-way. There is also a once-weekly train service from Mersin on Turkish Mediterranean coast, also calling at Adana. Trains depart from Mersin at 11PM on Fridays and call at Adana station around midnight. They arrive in Aleppo at 8:10AM next morning and cost ⬠14/⬠13 pp from Mersin/Adana respectively.
