Lebanon fits into day trips from Beirut.
Baalbek before the Bekaa heat arrives. The Jeita caves by boat. Byblos harbour at dusk, and the cedars on the slope above the Qadisha. Beirut is where the day starts.
The six drives that open Lebanon.
Nearly everything leaves from Beirut and comes back the same evening. North to the valley and the cedars, east over the Bekaa, south along the Phoenician coast, up into the Chouf.
Jeita, Harissa and Byblos in one day.
All 34 Jeita and Harissa trips →
The standard Lebanese day: an electric boat along the underground river at Jeita, the cable car up to the statue above Jounieh, then the old harbour at Byblos before the coast road fills up.
Cave, shrine and harbour in one sweep
Down into the lower grotto by boat, up the teleferique to Our Lady of Lebanon for the whole bay, then the crusader castle and the port at Byblos.
The same three stops, a driver for the day
The identical route without the pickup circuit at either end. It buys back an hour, and most of that hour goes on the Byblos souk.
Add Baatara and the Aaqoura lakes
The sinkhole waterfall runs hardest with the snowmelt in March and April; the lakes above Aaqoura hold their colour well into the summer.
Six columns still stand at Baalbek.
The Temple of Jupiter kept six of its columns. The Temple of Bacchus beside it kept nearly everything. Most trips add the Umayyad city at Anjar and an hour in the Ksara cellars on the way back over the pass.
What a day out of Beirut costs.
Every reviewed tour on the site, sorted by price. A guided day at Baalbek with lunch costs about what an airport taxi costs in most capitals.
Airport runs, the Beirut hop-on bus, the Raouche boat and the short half-days up the coast.
The circuits: Baalbek and Ksara, Jeita and Harissa, Sidon and Tyre, the Qadisha valley. Lunch is usually in the price.
A private car and driver for a full day, the long north-and-Bekaa combinations, and the multi-day loops.
The Qadisha valley and the grove above it.
Monasteries cut into the cliff face, a gorge that has sheltered hermits for sixteen centuries, and the last stand of Cedrus libani on the slope above Bcharre. The valley and the grove are inscribed together as one landscape.
All 18 Qadisha and Cedars trips →
The most popular tours in Lebanon.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else on the site, and each one earns the day differently.
1
Guided Small-Group Tour to Jeita, Harissa, Byblos with Lunch
Explore Jeita Grotto, Harissa, and ancient Byblos on an 8-hour Beirut tour with lunch, cable-car views, hotel transfers, and a small group.
From · $60
Read our review →
2
Paragliding Trip Over Lebanon – Jounieh Bay
from $100
3
Jeita Grotto,Harissa&Byblos Full-Day PRIVATE-CAR Trip from Beirut
from $75
4
Anjar, Baalbek & Ksara Day Trip – With Lunch (4G on Board)
from $95
5
Jeita Grotto – Harissa – Byblos Trip
from $37
6
Byblos, Jeita Grotto & Harissa Day Trip -With Lunch (4G on Board)
from $98
7
City Sightseeing Beirut Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
from $23
8
Baalbek – Anjar – Ksara Trip From Beirut
from $34
Three things Lebanon has and its neighbours do not.
Roman building at a scale nothing else kept, a cave you travel through by boat, and a wine cellar the Romans cut out of the rock.
The Temples of Baalbek
Three limestone blocks in the podium under the Temple of Jupiter weigh around 800 tonnes each, and how they were moved the few hundred metres from the quarry has never been settled. Six columns of that temple are still upright. The Temple of Bacchus next to it is the most complete Roman temple standing anywhere. Go on the early departure: the acropolis has no shade and the Bekaa heat lands by eleven.
- 1Anjar, Baalbek & Ksara Day Trip – With Lunch (4G on Board)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 181 reviews
- 2Baalbek – Anjar – Ksara Trip From Beirut★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 80 reviews
- 3Private Anjar and Baalbek Tour from Beirut with Departure Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 79 reviews
The Jeita Grotto
The upper gallery is walked and the lower one is travelled by electric boat, along an underground river that still feeds Beirut its drinking water. Cameras are handed in at the entrance, which is why almost nobody comes home with a picture of it. Heavy winter rain raises the water and closes the lower cave for weeks.
- 1Guided Small-Group Tour to Jeita, Harissa, Byblos with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 361 reviews
- 2Jeita Grotto,Harissa&Byblos Full-Day PRIVATE-CAR Trip from Beirut★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 222 reviews
- 3Jeita Grotto – Harissa – Byblos Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 169 reviews
The Ksara Cellars
Chateau Ksara pours in a Roman tunnel that Jesuit monks reopened in 1898 and then extended by two kilometres under the Bekaa. Wine has been made in this valley for around five thousand years, and the tasting at the end of the cellar tour costs less than one glass on a Beirut rooftop.
- 1Lebanon Wine Tasting Tour From Beirut★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 25 reviews
- 2PRIVATE Tour of Baalbek Temples, Umayyad Anjar & Ksara Winery★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 12 reviews
- 3Anjar, Baalbek & Ksara Winery★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 11 reviews
Sidon, Tyre and the palaces of the Chouf.
The sea castle on its causeway at Sidon, the soap museum, the covered souk. Then Tyre, where a Roman road runs between sarcophagi to a hippodrome and a colonnade goes down to the water. Inland it is Beiteddine and the stone streets of Deir el Qamar.
- 1Small-Group Adventure Tour to Sidon Tyre & Maghdouche-Day Tripfrom $65
- 2Sidon, Tyre & Maghdouche Day Trip – With Lunch (4G on Board)from $95
- 3Guided Small-Group Tour to Sidon, Tyre & Maghdouche with Lunchfrom $65
Book these before you land in Beirut.
Most of Lebanon can be arranged from the hotel desk the night before. These cannot. They run on weather windows, fixed seats and set departure dates.
- 01Paragliding Trip Over Lebanon – Jounieh BayFlights go on the morning thermals over Jounieh Bay and are called off for wind, so hold the earliest slot of your trip and keep a spare morning.
- 02Authentic Lebanese Cooking Lesson and Meal with Tania’s Family in BeirutThese are cooked in a family kitchen for a set number of seats. There is no walk-up and no second sitting.
- 036-Day Highlights of Lebanon Tour from Beirut with PickupMulti-day loops leave on fixed dates with one vehicle. Once the seats are gone the departure does not grow.
- 04Lebanon Wine Tasting Tour From BeirutThe Bekaa estates take visitors by appointment and the tasting is scheduled, not a counter you walk up to.
In March you can ski above Beirut and swim below it.
The Mount Lebanon range holds snow into April while the coast is already warm. Faraya runs its lifts through the winter, the Chouwen hike and the Baatara sinkhole are at their strongest on the melt, and a hard week of rain can shut the lower cave at Jeita.
By circuit — where the day actually goes
Jeita & Harissa34 tours
Baalbek and the Bekaa30 tours- Byblos30 tours
Qadisha & the Cedars18 tours
Sidon & Tyre15 tours
Beiteddine & Deir el Qamar12 tours
Tripoli & Batroun7 tours- Every review →
Seven days, starting and finishing in Beirut.
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