Lebanon Spring Tour

Friday 26th February – Beirut

Morning

• Arrive at your convenience into Beirut, the capital city and most populated city in Lebanon which is well connected from many countries.
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of the Plaza Hotel Beirut at 8:30am to discuss the tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• Begin the tour with a walk downtown to learn more about the politics, financial crisis, civil war, and the mass protests that brought down the government (Lebanese Revolution).
• Take a stroll down Zeituna Bay and Ain Mraisseh to visit the most expensive district in Lebanon and talk civil war, politics, and view the assassination spot of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri on Feb 14th 2005.

Afternoon

• We’ll have a lunch break downtown nearby.
• Visit Moukhtara Palace, the private residence of one of Lebanon’s most influential political families – the Joumblatt family, originally hailing from Aleppo, Syria. You will visit the many reception rooms and, most people’s favourite, the extensive library filled with hand-selected books from the family. The grandfather of the family is said to have read all the books inside.
• Enjoy a quick hike around the Al-Chouf cedar reserve – the largest nature reserve in Lebanon making it 5% of all Lebanese territory. The Lebanese cedar is an important symbol and is featured on the Lebanese national flag. The importance of cedar wood goes back to the Phoenician times, where they used cedar wood to build the best fleet of trading ships.
• Visit the small, charming village of Deir El Kammar, where the Ottoman ruling princes ruled Lebanon.
• Return to Beirut
• Dinner, drinks and overnight in Beirut

Saturday 27th February – Jeita – Harissa – Byblos

Morning

• Breakfast in hotel.
• We will start our day with the Mystical Jeita grottos. The caves were discovered in 1836 by an American missionary while on a hunting expedition looking for wild boars. His discovery of the lower cave lead to the subsequent discovery of the upper caves approximately 100 years later. The caves were voted as a finalist in the new seven world wonders of nature competition. You’ll explore the upper caves by foot and lower caves by boat.
• Head to Jounieh, where the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon sits. Religious stuff aside, there you will be able to find one of the nicest views in Lebanon. To add a little adventure to your journey, you will have the option to pay on the spot and paraglide back down.

Afternoon

• Local lunch in Byblos
• Begin making our way to Byblos, which claims to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world – over 9000 years. Here you will see the Byblos Crusader Castle, the surrounding Phoenician archaeological sites, Roman archaeological sites, the old souk which has been modernized, and finally the Phoenician Harbor.
• Byblos is famous for its relaxed vibes and cool beachside bar culture, so we will go check it out!
• Overnight in Beirut

Sunday 28th February – Tripoli – Batroun 

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• Depart to Tripoli – the second largest city in Lebanon, situated north of the country. The journey is approx 90 minutes, stopping for photos and refreshments along the way.
• See the port where the blast occurred on August 4th 2020. It was caused by a fire on a storage facility containing ammonium nitrate and resulted in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the world.
• On arrival, we will first visit the 12th-century citadel. It was built in 1102-1103 on top of a Fatimid period Shiite cemetery. The construction of the castle was started by Raymond de Saint-Gilles, one of the First Crusade commanders, to reinforce Tripoli city.
• Explore the old souk and see the many examples of Mamluk architecture and visit the Mansouri great mosque. It was built in the Mamluk period, from 1294 to 1298.
• Peek into the Al-Abed hammam, the last hammam still in operation in the city and meet the owner. We will continue through the winding streets and see the vegetable and meat markets. Vendors here are really friendly – you will often hear them yell ‘Welcome to Lebanon’ or ‘Welcome to Tripoli’ as we pass by.
• See two khans or caravanserais – the soap khan (Khan El Saboun) and the Egyptian Khan. We will also pass trough the Khan Al-Khayyatin (tailor’s khan) and had some good street food, including moghrabieh, a sandwich with couscous and chickpeas.
• Finish the eventful city tour by walking to Hallab for some incredible sweets. It is a specialist of oriental pastries since 1881!
• Head to the unfinished Tripoli International Fair (Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Centre), one of the largest ensembles built by the Brazilin architect Oscar Niemeyer. It is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and World Heritage in Danger List. The fair was the flagship project of Lebanon’s modernization policy in the 1960s. In terms of scale, it is considered by UNESCO as one of the major representative works of 20th century modern architecture in the Arab Near East.

Afternoon

• Quick stop at Tripoli’s former train station, that was abandoned during the war. Make sure you ask your guide about the current (non existent) railway system in Lebanon!
• Drive south to Batroun – a beautiful seaside Mediterranean town that is a must-see for visitors to Lebanon. In the last couple of years due to the decrease in international tourism, this town is often quiet.
• See the Saint-Stephen Cathedral, built between 1900 and 1906 on the ruins of an old crusader church. Its architecture is characterized by a combination of Byzantine and Roman art, influenced by the Gothic art.
• Next we will visit the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church of Our Lady of the Sea. This Church is is located on the waterfront with an incredible view of the Phoenician Wall.
• The Phoenicians founded Batroun a millennia ago (it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world) and we can still see the remains of the “Phoenician wall” by the sea. The Phoenicians used this wall as protection against sea storms, tidal waves and invaders/ enemies, and it functioned as a quarry until Roman times.
• If open, we will visit one of the more quirky sites Batroun has to offer – the wax museum which hosts interesting figures. From Lebanese household names to scorned World Leaders, this place is definitely an interesting (yet bizarre) visit!
• Finish the day with a beer at the Colonel Microbrewery before driving back to Beirut. 
• Dinner, drinks and overnight in Beirut.

Monday 1st March – Baalbek – Anjar – Chateau Rayak

Morning

• Breakfast in hotel
• We now head for a true trip highlight and one of the more difficult places to get to in Lebanon, Baalbek!
• Visit the Ruins of Anjar. These ruins dates back to the Umayyad Caliphate, at the beginning of the 8^th century. The Umayyads were headquartered in Damascus and wanted to expand their sphere of influence into the Bekaa Valley by building this new city on the crossroads of an important trade route. Since then the city became deserted and fell to ruins.
• Explore Baalbek where you’ll see the Stone of the pregnant woman – one of many gigantic stones used in building the temples of Baalbek. Situated inside a Roman quarry a few kilometres away from the temples of Baalbek, the stone of the pregnant woman weighs a whopping 1,000 tons and held the title as the world’s largest hand carved limestone block up until 2014, when a second stone behind it was discovered. The weight of the new stone which is partly excavated is 1,673 tons!
• After viewing the megaliths in the quarry and comprehending the effort that went into moving them, you’ll visit the three Roman temples: the temples of Venus (Goddess of Love Beauty and Fertility), Bacchus (the God of wine and parties), and Jupiter (God of all Gods). The Temple of Jupiter is the world’s largest ever-built Roman temple, with the world’s largest Roman columns.

Afternoon

• Lunch and feast on the famous lamb meat pies of Baalbek (sfiha).
• We’ll meet with the local wine maker Elias of Chateau Rayak. This will give you the chance to taste 7 different wines and Arak (the national drink of the Levant).
• Dinner and overnight in Beirut

Tuesday 2nd March – Beirut

• Breakfast at hotel
• Tour concludes – YPT is also able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for flights.
• Group members for our Syria Spring tour begin the drive to the Syrian border, which will take about two hours. We’ll stop on the way for breaks and road snacks consisting of croissants and various other Lebanese snacks.