• Beirut - 9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut
  Your private guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel in Beirut and head southeast into the Chouf Mountains. These pine-covered ridges rise steeply above the coastal plain as you ascend towards Beiteddine.
• Beiteddine Palace - Arrive at one of the Arab world’s most magnificent palaces, constructed over three decades by Emir Bashir II, the influential leader who unified Lebanon’s divided communities under a single rule in the early 19th century. The palace features three grand interconnected courtyards adorned with hand-cut geometric tilework, intricately carved cedar-wood ceilings, and elaborately painted reception halls, showcasing the extraordinary ambition and craftsmanship of this mountain retreat. Beneath the palace, an underground museum houses Lebanon’s finest collection of Byzantine mosaics, with vibrant floor panels recovered from archaeological sites across the country. Your guide will bring Emir Bashir’s remarkable story to life within these walls.
• Deir el Qamar - Travel down to Deir el Qamar, meaning “Monastery of the Moon,” one of Lebanon’s most enchanting and best-preserved villages, and the country’s first capital under the Ma’an dynasty. The central square is surrounded by honey-stone mansions from the 17th and 18th centuries, a Druze palace, and public buildings that highlight the village’s former political and commercial significance. A mosque and a church, just steps apart, quietly tell the story of Lebanese coexistence at its most harmonious.
• Fakhreddine’s Mosque - Make a brief visit to the 17th-century mosque built by Fakhreddine II, the visionary Druze emir considered one of the founding fathers of modern Lebanon, before ascending to the hilltop Maronite church with sweeping views over the Chouf valleys below. Two places of worship, meters apart, sharing the same hillside, capture the essential spirit of Deir el Qamar.
• Deir el Qamar - Lunch in Deir el Qamar — optional

Before descending to the coast, enjoy an optional lunch at one of Deir el Qamar’s mountain restaurants, featuring stone-vaulted dining rooms serving generous mezze spreads with views of the Chouf valley. A perfect mountain pause before the coastal finale.

• Crusaders Sea Castle - Arrive in Sidon, one of the world’s oldest cities, and begin at its most iconic landmark. The 13th-century Crusader sea castle sits on a small island just off the coast, connected to the shore by a narrow stone causeway, with its towers rising directly from the Mediterranean. As you explore its vaulted halls, your guide will recount the dramatic history of Crusader occupation, Mamluk sieges, and the Phoenician harbor that once made Sidon one of the most powerful trading cities of the ancient world. The sea views from the ramparts are among the finest on the Lebanese coast.
• Sidon Souks - Enter one of Lebanon’s most authentically preserved traditional markets, with narrow stone-vaulted alleyways where spice merchants, goldsmiths, and artisan workshops have occupied the same spaces for centuries. Unlike the restored souks of Beirut, Sidon’s old market is a genuine, living, breathing entity, offering a true glimpse into Levantine commercial life that has changed very little since the Ottoman era.
• Soap Museum - Saida - Visit the world’s only museum dedicated to the ancient art of olive oil soap-making, a Sidonian craft practiced continuously for over a thousand years. Housed in a beautifully restored khan within the old city, the museum traces the full journey from olive grove to finished soap cake, with exhibits showcasing the traditional pressing, cooking, and cutting methods that made Sidon’s soap famous across the Mediterranean world and as far as Europe.
• Khan al-Franj - Conclude your time in Sidon at the grand 17th-century caravanserai commissioned by Emir Fakhreddine II to accommodate European merchants trading along the Silk Road. Wide arcaded courtyards, elegant vaulted galleries, and carved stone facades make Khan el Franj one of the finest examples of Ottoman-era architecture in Lebanon, providing a fitting final image of a city that has been at the crossroads of Mediterranean trade for three thousand years.
• Beirut - Return to Beirut — approx. 5:30–6:00 PM

Travel north along the coastal highway back to Beirut with drop-off at your hotel, completing a day that transitioned from mountain palace to Ottoman village to ancient coastal city, entirely at your own pace.

• Tour Leader
• Hotel Pick up & Drop off
• In-vehicle air conditioning
• Comfortable Private Transportation

• Lunch
• Gratuities

Explore three distinct Lebanese landscapes in a single private day trip from Beirut, featuring a mountain palace, a well-preserved Ottoman village, and one of the world’s oldest coastal cities. This journey forms a picturesque triangular route through the Chouf Mountains and down to the ancient Phoenician coast.

Start in the mountains at Beiteddine, a stunning 19th-century palace renowned in the Arab world, constructed by Emir Bashir II. It boasts grand courtyards, intricately carved cedar ceilings, and an underground Byzantine mosaic museum. Continue to Deir el Qamar, Lebanon’s first capital, a charming honey-stone village where a mosque, a church, and historic mansions share a cobblestone square. Finally, head to the coast and reach Sidon, one of the oldest cities globally, featuring a Crusader sea castle, the unique soap museum, a grand Silk Road caravanserai, and a vibrant medieval souk. Experience a day transitioning from mountain splendor to coastal history, all at your own pace.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.