The palace of Beit Ed Dine and other Lebanon Things to Do Tips

Beiteddine Palace (Palais Emir Bachir Chahabi) is a beautiful palace in the village of Beit Ed Dine in the Chouf Mountains. The palace was built in the beginning of the 19th century and Italian architects were used.
It is a very peaceful place to visit. The gardens and courtyards are lovely. Besides the palace itself there is a museum of Kamal Jumblatt and a collection of Byzantine mosaics.
It is really worth a visit!
Entrance fee: 7500 LL (in June 02)
To get there: I took a minibus from Cola station in Beirut to Damour (750 LL), at the junction there is a servis taxis waiting. The service to Beit Ed Dine is 3000 LL.
After visiting Beit Ed Dine I walked to Deir al Qamar (6 km) . That was a nice walk.
In the summer there is a festival in Beit Ed Dine. For more information about the festival have a look at:
www.beiteddine.org/

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Address: 50 km southeast of Beirut, Chouf Mountains

Jeita Grotto are very impressive caves with stalagmites and stalactites. The upper cave is the bigger one and there is a good walkingpath along the spectacular formations. In the lower caves you go by boat. The lower caves are closed in wintertime as the waterlevel is to high.
You are not alowed to take photos inside the caves.
Entrance fee: 18 000 LL (in June 2002)
How to get there: I took the Tripoli bus (1000 LL) from Charles Helou station and was dropped at the junction for Jeita. From there I took a service taxi to Jeita Grotto. I paid 2000 LL for the ride of 5 km.
It's more difficult to find a service taxi leaving Jeita grotta. There are taxis but it is very expensive. You can probably very easy get a lift with somebody else leaving the caves.

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Phone: 09 - 220 840
Address: 5 km off the road between Beirut and Jounieh
Website: www.jeitagrotto.com

In this old Khan as-Saboun soaps have been sold for centuries. Nowdays most of the soap is made in a factory outside Tripoli.
I was shown around in the Khan and was smelling on the differente lovely soaps. Couldn't buy so much as I was travelling around. Back in Lebanon I went back to Tripoli just to buy a lot of soaps. There are many differente scents, shapes and colours.

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Phone: 961-3-874483, 961-6-438369
Address: Souk al-Sayyaghin, Tripoli
Website: www.khanalsaboun.com
Other Contact: khanalsaboun@khanalsaboun.com

At Al-Bass archaeological site you can see the biggest Roman hippodrome in the world. It is really impressive and measures about 480 m. I have heard that during Sour festival they have performences at the Hippodrom.
By the sea there is another archaeological site (Al - Mina) worth visiting.
It is also nice visiting the fishingharbour while in Sour.

Entrance fee (Al -Bass): 5000 LL (June 2002)
How to get there: I took a bus from Cola in Beirut to Saida (Sidon) for 750 LL. In Saida I change bus and paid 1000 LL to Sour. The busfare depends on the kind of bus.

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The National Museum in Beirut is worth a visit. The museum was badly damaged during the war and is now newly renovated. When you enter, the ticketoffice and shop is to the left. To the right there is a room were a film about what happened to the museum during the war is shown. Don't miss this film!
In the museum there is an exebiton of things from Lebanons prehistoric time to the Mamluk period.
Whene I visited the museum (in June 2002) I was the only visitor. I hope more people find their way there.
Entrance fee: 5000 LL

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Phone: 01 - 380 810
Directions: In the corner between Museum Street, Damascus Street and Abdallah El Yafi Avenue.

At Harissa there is a big white statue of the Virgin of Lebanon and some churches. There is also a restaurant. From here there is a good view over the Jounieh Bay.
You can take the Téléphérique (cable car) from Jounieh to Harissa. It is quite scary as the cabins are small (for four persons) and the ascent very steep.
Returnticket with the Tél´phérique is 7500 LL (in June 2002).

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Phone: 09 - 914 324 (The Téléphérique)
Address: North of Beyrouth, Jounieh

Bcharré is a small town in the Qadisha Valley with red roofed houses and three churches. This is the town you pass through when you are going to The Cedars.
There is a nice museum of the Lebanese poet, novelist and painter Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931). It is worth visiting.
Entrance: 3000 LL
To go to Bcharré, minibusses are leaving Trablous from Abdel Hamid Karani Square (near the tourist office). The price is 2500 LL (June 2002).

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Address: Qadisha Vally, north Lebanon

The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned already in the Old Testament. By that time ceder forests covered big areas of the mountain slopes.
At The Cedars today, only a small grove of cedars are left. They are now well protected with a fence around the area and walking paths for the tourists. Some of the trees are over 1000 year.
There is no special entrance fee, but you will be asked to contribute to the maintenance of "The Forest of Gods Cedar", starting at 1000 LL.
In Bcharré I tried to find a service taxi to The Cedars. Coudn't find one so I paid 8000 LL for a taxi. If you want to walk back take the road past the Qadisha Grotto. Bring sunprotection and a lot of water as the sun is hot. The view is fantastic! There is not many cars going this way so if you want to have a lift you should take the other road.

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Address: Qadisha Vally, north Lebanon

The Hammam (bathhouse) at the palace of BeitEdDine. This is a beautiful Hammam with very nice marble decoration.
To go to BeitEdDine: Take a bus from Cola station in Beirut to Damour and from there a service taxi.

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Address: 50 km southeast of Beirut, in the Chouf Mountains
Website: www.beiteddine.org/

Jbeil is the modern name of the ancient Byblos. This place has been inhabited for about the last 7000 years. Byblos is a small picturesque town where you find small streets with souvenire shops, an archeological site, a small harbour and a public beach (south of the town).
The entrancefee to the archeological site is 6000 LL. Here there is a Crusader Castle, an Ottoman House and several ancient ruins of temples and an Roman theatre. The site lies beautifully by the see.
At the harbour you find fishingboats, touristboats and some cafés/restaurants. One of the restaurants is Byblos Fishing Club (Pepe's) which before the war used to be one of the most fashionable restaurants in the ME. From the harbour the Phonicians shiped cedertree to other parts of the world.
South of Byblos there are the public beaches Tam-Tam and Paradise.
To go to Byblos you can take any bus from Charles Helou Station, Beyrouth, going north to Trablous (Tripoli) and ask to be dropped at Jbeil. Summer 2002 the price was 1000 LL.
Byblos is 36 km north of Beyrouth.

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