Quick Tour of Lebanon

A private 5-Day Tour
Beirut • Byblos • Tyr • Sidon
Choose your own arrival date • Daily/Year Round

Give us five days and we’ll show you the highlights of Lebanon. You’ll visit the throbbing and charming Beirut, and explore the key sites both within Beirut as well as nearby. 

Day 1: Arrival in Beirut – This is a private tour, choose your own arrival date
You fly in over the blue Mediterranean and see clusters of trading vessels of every size and shape in the great curve of the port and bay of Beirut sheltering under green mountains. Our local representative will be on hand to greet you, and to assist with entry formalities. Visas are issued upon arrival to a limited number of nationalities such as citizens of the USA, Canada, the EU, Japan, Australia, NZ and several other nations. We’ll see you to your hotel. The remainder of the day is yours to relax, recuperate from your travel, stretch your legs, and make your first discoveries of Beirut. Our representative will be pleased to suggest a restaurant, an informal café, or a night club, depending on whether you prefer music into the wee hours, fine cuisine, or an authentic Arab meal…  you’ll find it all in Beirut.

Day 2: Byblos – Jeita – Harissa – Beirut (BL)
Breakfast is included daily at your hotel. We head this morning toward the Jeita Caves, a vast limestone complex south of Byblos and north of Beirut, inhabited in prehistoric times. The caves hold the world’s largest known stalactite, and shelter a river that supplies water to Beirut. Continue on to Byblos, one of the oldest inhabited cities anywhere, well worth the day we spend appreciating its many layers. Phoenician temples remain from thousands of years before the time of Christ, while a castle and the Church of St. John the Baptist bespeak the ebb and flow of the Crusades through the city. But Byblos is more than history. Its seaside location and backdrop of mountains make it a favorite locale for browsing, shopping, and lingering over a repast and beverages on terrace with views to ships, slopes, and treasured buildings. Later in the afternoon we’ll stop at the hillside and ride the cable car to visit Our Lady of Lebanon at Harissa, high above the city of Jounieh, noted for its statue with a chapel inside, as well as for spectacular views. By nightfall, we’ll find ourselves back in Beirut. Lunch is included today enroute (pre-set menu) served at a charming local restaurant.

Upper Jeita Grotto. Photo by kcakduman | Wikimedia Commons

Day 3: Tyre – Sidon – Beirut (BL)
Full day in South Lebanon. The visit starts in Tyre, 85 km from Beirut. Tyre is the greatest of the Phoenician city-states. Its golden age came during the reign of Hiram, the most famous Tyrian kings who cultivated close ties with the Hebrew kings Solomon and David and contributed to the construction of the temple of Solomon by sending cedars wood and skilled workers. Today UNESCO lists Tyre as world heritage site.

Drive back to Sidon or Saida, one of the most important Phoenician city-state, its wealth came from the murex trade and glass manufacture, which was the best in the world at the time. Today Saida is a rapidly-growing town, the administrative and commercial capital of the south, where you can have a stroll in the old souks and visit the Crusader Sea castle, Khan El Franj, the Great mosque and many other interested places. Lunch is included today enroute (pre-set menu) served at a charming local restaurant.

Day 4: Deir El Qamar – Beiteddine Palace – Beirut (BL)
Drive to the Chouf Mountains to visit Deir El Qamar which translates literally as “monastery of the moon”; this charming village was choosing by Fakherddine as the capital of Lebanon in the 17th century.

Continue to Beiteddine Palace built in the 19th century over a period of 30 years by Emir Bechir II Chehabi around a former Druze hermitage. Today the palace is considered as the greatest surviving achievement of Lebanese architecture.

In the afternoon we will visit the capital of Lebanon: Beirut – a city of contrasts. Beautiful architecture with small houses nestling in the shadow of tall modern buildings. You will visit the down town, the corniche, and the pigeon grotto. Lunch is included today enroute (pre-set menu) served at a charming local restaurant.

Day 5: Beirut – Departure (B)
Your private chauffeur will call for you after breakfast, and we are off to the airport – of course with a private air-conditioned vehicle. Bon Voyage! If you would like to extend your tour into Jordan and Petra, please click here.

High Season Supplement:
For June-Sep and Dec 15-31 please add 25% to any of the listed rates.

Your tour includes: 

• All transfers on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.
• Hotel accommodations, including tax and service charges, and continental breakfast daily .
• Meals as indicated with preset menu (B = continental breakfast, L = Lunch ).
• Sightseeing as listed including all entrance fees and always based on a private air-conditioned vehicle .
• You will always be escorted on your tours in Lebanon by your own private guide.
• Visa issued upon arrival for a limited number of nationalities such as:  American, Australian, EU, Japanese, Canadian passport. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond arrival date. To allow us to secure your visa, please e.mail us a legible scan of your passport info page at least 30 days prior to your arrival. Important visa information: Lebanon will not issue visas for any passport holder that may carry any stamp or visa for Israel.

Not Included:

• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance (please see your own insurance agent or check online ).
• Personal expenditures, hotel extras, mini-bar charges and beverages, etc..
• Tips to guide and driver.
• Airport taxes if applicable and whenever not included in your international ticket .
• International air fare from /to your home country

Recommendations and conditions:
Every effort is made to adhere to the planned itinerary, however, for reasons beyond our control, it may be necessary to change routings, sequence of visits, and departure times.