My boyfriend and I are planning on travelling through Morocco for 2 weeks in November this year, then heading over to Egypt where we will spend 3 weeks, and hopefully make our way up through Jordan and Syria too. Is it ok to just backpack on your own in these countries, or is it advisable to do a tour?? How does the language barrier go and is there sufficient public buses and trains that are safe to travel on??

Any advise about this or 'must see' places to visit would be great!

Thanks!

By definition, it is okay to backpack in these countries - backpacking is pretty much universal after all, the point being that it works in just about any environment, provided the place is reasonably secure (which these four countries certainly are). There are plenty of buses and trains which are... okay; as ever safety on public transport is mixed because of poor driving and old vehicles or trains, but that is hardly a problem specific to these countries.

If you have no Arabic, language could be an issue in Syria but in Egypt and Jordan there is a reasonable tourist infrastructure staffed by English-speaking locals, while in Morocco you can of course use French if you can speak that.

As for must-sees, well as you know, all those countries have many really famous sights and you'll be able to get more ideas of where to go from various guidebooks.

Richard

English was not a problem in Syria. French is also spoken. You will find that people there love foreigners, and will be very helpful.

Syria is also very inexpensive and modest hotel rooms can be $10 US a night. You also need to understand that Syria is a police state. So, you will be safe from crime. Just be very careful to avoid political topics.

I would also recommend the Sinai region in Egypt. There are many wonderful camps on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. I stayed at "Jasmina" which cost $20 US a night, including all meals. You will likely travel through here to get to Jordan from mainland Egypt.

Thanks for the info! We have booked our flights, so its all getting very exciting now! We have decided to do Morocco, Egypt and Jordon on our own without a tour. And are not going into Syria anymore. We are then flying out of Jordon for Colombo, Sri Lanka where we will have 3 nights. Does anyone know any good 3 day tours from Colombo??

Hi I have just come back from traveling from Sharm - Egypt, along the Sinai through to Jordan independantly and it couldn't have been easier. Drop a note if you want to know anything including contacts we made along the way.

Ali