An epic Places to Visit in Beirut awaits you. Lebanon’s capital Beirut satisfied us with everything. Let me be frank, we did not expect that we would have so much fun and leave here so happy.. Beirut impressed us a lot with its historical sites, natural beauties and nightlife.. When Beirut is mentioned, the concept of a classical Arab country may come to mind, but after seeing Beirut, you will destroy this prejudice.. Let me put it this way, especially in terms of nightlife (details below), the guys are literally at the top.

Beirut is a city that has unfortunately survived many dramatic events historically.. The Arab-Israeli Wars, conflicts between Christians and Muslims, and the latest 2020 Beirut Port explosion have seriously affected the city.. Beirut is a city that still survives despite all this.. Places to visit, natural beauties, historical texture and nightlife are quite impressive.. In this article you can find Lebanon Beirut Attractions with all details (with map). Before you go to the places to visit, I list the things you need to know before you go to Beirut.

KNOW THESE BEFORE YOU GO TO BEIRUT !

A healthy itinerary plan before each trip ensures that your trip goes smoothly.. The more research, the better the results.. The following topics will be very useful before you go to Beirut. All titles are personally experienced. We did not have any problems as a result of this information, I hope you will not have any problems.

CHEAP FLIGHT TICKETS TO BEIRUT HOW TO FIND ?

First of all, let me state this. There are direct flights from Turkey to Beirut, Lebanon.. Flights are made with aircraft belonging to Pegasus, THY and Middle East Airlines. The departure point of Beirut planes is generally Istanbul and Adana.. The name of the airport in Beirut, Lebanon is Rafik Hariri International Airport. If you want to find cheap flights to Beirut, the best thing I can suggest you is to read my article titled Ways to Find Cheap Flights. The tactics here really work. If you find a ticket, especially during the campaign period, I would say don’t miss it.. We flew to Beirut with Pegasus Airlines without any problems.. Direct flights from Istanbul to Beirut take approximately 2 hours.

NOTE: Within the scope of Covid-19 measures, when purchasing a flight ticket to Lebanon, you should follow the announcements of the official authorities. follow closely. Entry to the country, situations such as quarantine after entering the country should not be a problem for you.. You can follow the latest developments regarding pandemic measures on the official page of our Embassy in Beirut.

DO YOU NEED A VISA TO BEIRUT ?

Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, does not require a visa from Turkey. So you can visit Beirut without a visa.. On the plane to Beirut, they give you a form like an entry form, you just fill it out.. Then you show this form to the officer at the border gate.. We did not have any problems in entering the country at the border gate.. At the border, as always, classic questions such as Why Did You Come, Where Will You Stay, What Do You Do> are asked.

It is very advantageous in terms of cost to visit places without a visa.. After all, when you consider the value of Turkish Lira against exchange rates, saving is very important in international travels.. For List of Visa Free Countries from Turkey outside Lebanon, you can check this link.

HOW IS THE TRANSPORTATION IN THE CITY IN BEIRUT?

There are 2 important issues at the urban transportation point in Beirut. One is UBER and the other is Offline Maps. We have always used UBER for urban transportation.. UBER makes a lot of sense in terms of cost and not getting ripped off. Thank God everyone is a taxi driver in Beirut. Wait somewhere, all the taxis are honking and asking if you are coming.. Traffic is a mess. It’s like all the drivers came out of Tokyo Drift. my God. Let me point out that if you are not a drifter, do not rent a car in Beirut. 🙂

Uber does a lot of work in terms of urban transportation, but this is valid for the center of Beirut.. If you want to go to places far from the center such as Baalbek, Byblos, Harissa and Jeitta Groto, you should get there by tour companies or intercity buses.. It’s a good idea to check out this link for a detailed article about UBER, and this article about Offline Maps, which is your important savior abroad!

WHAT IS THE CURRENCY OF LEBANON BEIRUT ?

The Lebanese Pound as the currency in Beirut ( LBP) is used. So the currency of Lebanon is Lebanese Pound. As of May/2021, the date I updated my article, 1000 TL = 178655,91 LBP. Carry dollars with you when you go to Beirut. If you want to change money here, I would say don’t use the airport.. Because the exchange offices at the airport exchange foreign currency at a lower rate.. Instead, it would be useful to choose the inner city for currency exchange.

HOW MANY DAYS TO VISIT BEIRUT & BEIRUT ‘HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I SPEND ?

For me, 3 full days are enough for places to visit in Beirut.. We divided our Beirut itinerary into 3 days.. On the first day, we toured Beirut city center in detail.. On the second day we visited Baalbek Ancient City and on the third day we visited Byblos, Harissa and Jeitta Groto. even 3. At the end of the day, we fit the Beirut National Museum and the Mineral Museum into the end of the day.. In summary, 3-4 days is more than enough for Beirut.. Of course, you need to start the 3 full days I mentioned earlier in the morning to complete the places to visit.

TO BEIRUT WHEN TO GO ?

Beirut is a city dominated by the Mediterranean climate.. So it’s pretty hot in the summer. Therefore, the best time to go to Beirut is spring. We went to Beirut in February.. The weather was a little cold but still fine. In summary, the best time to go to Beirut to avoid being scorched in the summer heat of Beirut is spring.

BEIRUT NIGHT LIFE

Beirut has an amazing nightlife. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said that Beirut nightlife is unexplainable.. We experienced a place in the evening of every day we spent in Beirut.. Look, I’m not exaggerating, these guys really know how to have fun.. We give 10 points out of 10 for all venues, from their meals to their appetizers, from their entertainment to their services.. You can find all the details about Beirut nightlife in our article titled Beirut Nightlife: Best Restaurant Recommendations. This post contains a high dose of advice and fun. 🙂

WHAT IS BEIRUT, IS IT EXPENSIVE? ?

What’s Beirut Like ? By summing up all our experiences in Beirut, I can comment on this beautiful city: Beirut is an incredibly beautiful place.. Baalbek in particular blew us away. If you go to Beirut, you will definitely not regret in terms of places to visit and eating and drinking.. Such comments are certainly relative, but we were satisfied with everything we experienced.. Therefore, I recommend you to go to Beirut, Lebanon.

NOTE: We went to Beirut before the explosion in 2020.. Therefore, everything I write in this article is about our experiences before this explosion.

Is Beirut Expensive ? Our comment on this issue is as follows; Beirut is an expensive city in general.. Especially if you want to visit places far from the city center (Baalbek, Byblos, Harissa and Jeitta Groto), you pay a lot of money for transportation.. Well, is it worth it, especially for Baalbek?. I recommend you to read my article titled How to Travel To Cheap: 11 Most Effective Ways by coming to your rescue on the subject of expensiveness.. If you try the tactics in the article, you will save a lot.

BEIRUT PLACES TO VISIT

See the Beirut Attractions Map below. Sorting was made according to the proximity of places to visit.. You can zoom in on the map.

Beirut Places to Visit List:

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THATS TO WATCH IN BEIRUT

Yes, we are now starting our list of Beirut places to visit. Places to visit in the center of Beirut are close to each other. If you start your day early, you can easily complete these places and flow into Beirut nights in the evening.. It will be much more logical if you choose your accommodation in the center of Beirut.. The Orient Prince Hotel where we stayed was located close to the center. If you get tired while traveling in Beirut, call Uber and it’s okay.. Beirut is probably the city with the most taxis we’ve seen so far.. I don’t know if half of these taxis are pirated, but there is an average of 5 taxis per person in Beirut. 🙂

Roman Baths

After arriving in Beirut center by UBER taxi, our first stop was Roman Baths. The Roman Bath of Berytus is among the state buildings of Beirut and is a place that is being tried to be unearthed.

The Roman Bath was discovered in 1968-1969 and started to be unearthed in the mid-1990s.. The Roman bath was used as a meeting place for all citizens at the time.. There were 4 main bath complexes in total in the bath and the temperatures of these rooms were changing.. The understanding of the baths of the Romans always caught our eye in many ancient cities we visited in Turkey.. While visiting these places, you understand very well that the Roman Empire was the great state of its time.. The location of the Roman Baths, located in the beating heart of Beirut, is here.

Grand Serail (Government Palace)

The Grand Serail, also known as the Government Palace, is known as the residence of the Lebanese Prime Minister. The Grand Serail building is an Ottoman-made building.. This historical building, which is the most important of the three Ottoman monuments on the Serail hill, where it is located, has an important place in the history of Lebanon.. Two other important structures are the Construction and Reconstruction Council and Hamidiyyeh Clock Tower. What you can do here is to take pictures or see and tangent to this place.. The location of the Lebanese Government House is here.

Star Square ( Place De I’Etoile Square)

Designed after Beirut was captured by the French in 1929, the Star Square makes you feel like you are in Paris. The square is quite beautiful and spacious.. There is a tall clock tower in the center of the square.. The brand of the watch in the clock tower is Rolex. This watch was a pre-war gift from the Lebanese-Mexican billionaire Michel Abed in the 1930s.

There are many nice cafes around Yıldız Square, very close to the Roman bath ruins.. If you want, you can take a break and have a drink here.. In terms of security, there were soldiers at many points of the square.. Maybe it happened to us, but this situation went to our weird.. Oh, and there were a lot of birds in the square.. It can be a good idea to feed the birds and take pictures.. The location of Star Square is here.

Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque

The most important symbol of Beirut, the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque located in Martyrs Square, is a very magnificent mosque with its size and deep blue dome. The mosque looks old but it was opened in 2008. The mosque has four minarets 65 meters high. Lebanon’s former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, played a major role in the construction of the mosque.. In addition, Refik Hariri’s tomb is located here.

Mohammad Al-Amin mosque built by Rafik Hariri is also known as the blue domed mosque. The interior of the mosque, which was inspired by Ottoman architecture, is as beautiful as the outside.. The tiles were brought from Iznik and the magnificent chandeliers were brought from Istanbul.. Be sure to add this place to your itinerary.. The location is here.

By the way, there is a large church just behind the mosque.. Lebanon is a country where Muslims and Christians live together. Although they clashed from time to time in history, Lebanon has come this far with its differences.. You can easily see this cultural diversity in Beirut.

Place Des Martyrs

We said Beirut, the city of differences, here is the proof of it in this square. Located very close to the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, Martyrs Monument (Place Des Martyrs) was used as the border line dividing the city into two during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990).. This place is called Martyrs Square. There are still bullet marks from the civil war on the Martyrs Monument.. They do not intentionally repair these scars in order not to forget what happened and the bitter face of the war.. It is impossible not to be impressed by seeing the bullet marks.. Martyrs Square is preferred if there will be a general demonstration in Lebanon.. The location of the square is at this link.

Beirut Souks

The most modern place in the list of places to visit in Beirut, Beirut Bazaar is a large shopping area that hosts world-famous stores. If you want to shop while you are in Beirut, and you probably don’t, you can choose this place.. If you say you can’t do without a Hermes bag, I don’t know.. If you are looking for an affordable price, I would say do not enter here at all.. Prices are in to the moon mode. 🙂

We stopped by Beirut Bazaar to take a break and get some rest.. In our research before we went to Beirut, there was a famous fast food restaurant called Kabab-Ji. We saw the branch in Beirut Souks and continued on our way after having a snack here.. The location of Beirut Souks is here.

Zaitunay Bay

I can call Zaitunay Bay, the marina area, the most luxurious area of ​​Beirut. In Zaitunay Bay, there are many restaurants lined up among luxury yachts and skyscrapers.. Mashallah, I don’t know if it happened to us, but the cafes were packed.. The people of Beirut, whom we observed during our trip, like to eat and have fun.. As we can see from the photos, this place has very nice lighting in the evening, if you wish, you can come to the restaurants here for evening pleasure.. After seeing Zaitunay Bay, enjoying the beautiful weather, we walked along the Corniche towards Pigeon Rocks.. Location here.

Corniche (Coast Path)

Corniche, a very nice walking spot with a wonderful view of Beirut. A very good alternative to enjoy beautiful Mediterranean evenings. In Beirut, everyone takes their hookah and rushes here. 🙂 If you come to Beirut, you can have a pleasant walk here, especially in the evening.. We compared this place to İzmir Kordon Length.. It was very pleasant to walk with the sea breeze.. We reached the Pigeon Rocks from Zaitunay Bay by walking on this road.. The location of the Corniche is here.

Pigeon Rocks )

Let me tell you right away, if you’ve been to Beirut, you should definitely see the Pigeon Rocks. I must admit that there was no place that blew our minds in the places we visited on the first day in Beirut.. Naturally, the scenery we saw when we came here, the colors the sun paints the sky and the soft sunset gave us the most beautiful moment of the day..

Pigeon Cliffs, also known as Raouche Rock, on the shores of Raouche is a very popular destination for locals and tourists alike.. Legend has it that the Rocks of Raouche are the remains of a sea monster that the Greek hero Perseus killed to save Andromeda.

down at Pigeon Rocks you will see a path descending, we wondered how the cliffs would look from there, and we went down.. We did it, you don’t. 🙂 The cliffs from the back do not look very nice.. The best photos are taken from the top. Take a private boat tour around the pigeon cliffs. Surely someone will come to you and offer you a boat tour.. If you are going to do a boat tour, do not forget to negotiate the price.. It was really enjoyable for us to watch the sunset here. You can evaluate the cafes here for dinner.. Pigeon Rocks location is here.

We spent our first day in Beirut at Pigeon Rocks we completed with. To Beirut National Museum and Mineral Museum 3. we went at the end of the day. The reason I write these two places here is that both places are located in the center of Beirut.. When planning from the map above, you can add these two places to the first day if you wish.. But I say definitely and definitely not to return from Beirut without seeing these two places.. Both museums were very impressive for us.

National Museum of Beirut Beirut)

One of the most important places to see in Beirut, Beirut National Museum is a museum that will exceed your expectations. Over 100,000 pieces from the Bronze Age, Phoenicians, Hellenistic (Alexander the Great and Seleucid), Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods are exhibited in the museum.. The artifacts in the museum are exhibited with extreme care and are beautifully illuminated visually.

The National Museum of Beirut consists of 3 floors.. In the museum building, which was completed in 1937, artifacts from the excavations of Beirut, Byblos, Sidon), Sur (Tyre) began to be exhibited since 1942.. On the ground floor of the museum; mosaics, monumental works made of marble and sarcophagi are on display.. The most important artifact on this floor is the sarcophagus belonging to the king of Byblos, Ahiram.. On the top floor, artifacts from the prehistoric, Bronze, Arabian and Ottoman periods are exhibited.. The most crucial part of the museum is the bottom floor. We got goosebumps as we entered this section.. I remember how impressed we were, even as I was writing, that they created a really impressive area. On this floor, artifacts related to funeral and burial are exhibited.. Listed here are the 31 Egyptian-like human-faced terracotta sarcophagi found in Sidon.. In order to see the faces of the sarcophagi, they placed a row of mirrors above them.. The last section of this floor displays three mummies found in a cave in the Qadisha valley, as well as workers’ clothing and various objects.. There is a ban on photography in this part of the museum.. But of course, we filmed it surreptitiously. 🙂

If you come to Beirut, I would definitely say visit this museum.. The national museum is at the top of the must-see places in Beirut. The entrance fee to the National Museum of Beirut is 5,000 LBP per person. Fee for students and children 1,000 LBP. The visiting hours of the museum are from 09:00 in the morning to 17:00 in the evening. The location of the museum, which is closed on Mondays, is here.

Mineral Museum ( Mim Museum)

There is a place you can’t find in many Beirut travel guides and you should definitely go when you come to Beirut.. This is the Mineral Museum located very close to the National Museum. we loved it here. We couldn’t believe that these stones came out of the earth. A magnificent museum.

Mineral Museum, opened in 2013. The museum exhibits more than 2000 minerals representing 450 different species from 70 countries, and this is considered one of the most important private metal collections in the world.. The MIM mineral collection was put together in 1997 by Salim Eddé, a chemical engineer and co-founder of the Murex4 computer company.. Salim Edde decided to open his collection to the public in 2004 and the stones began to be exhibited.. There are a thousand and one colorful stones in the museum.. In addition, videos of how some stones were removed are shown in the cinevision section of the museum.

Do not ask if the stone is exhibited in the museum, this place will blow your mind. You will watch fan fan stones. This is one of the most important places to see in Beirut.. Mineral museum entrance fee (1-Day Pass) $20. Free admission for children under 3 years old. Visiting hours of the museum are between 09.00 – 17.00. Location here. I say it again, definitely visit this museum !

Baalbek Ancient City

Lebanon Beirut places to visit. As an ancient city lover and a couple who did not leave an ancient city unvisited, especially in the Aegean Region, the most magnificent and beautiful ancient city we have ever seen was Baalbek Ancient City. We never expected that we would see such a magnificent place.

To Baalbek 2. we went today. Baalbek is located 85 km from the center of Beirut.. We went here with a taxi driver we met while walking around the center.. If you want to go to Baalbek and write it in the comment section, I can give you the number of the taxi driver.. You can contact via Whatsapp. If you can find it, it would be reasonable for you to go with 2-3 people.. We knew we would love this place on our way to Baalbek, but we didn’t know we would be so enthralled.. If you search Baalbek, you will see descriptions such as the oldest, most mysterious temple city in the world. One cannot help but think about how the stones weighing tons were carried at that time and how they were processed by human hands.. We spent about 4 hours in total in this ancient city, which we visited with admiration.

Baalbek is located in Lebanon, close to the Syrian border. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, Baalbek has many temples of various sizes.. Among these temples, the most well-known are the temples of Bacchus, Jupiter and Venus. Of these, Bacchus has survived to the present day, preserving most of it.

On the other hand, only 6 columns of the Jupiter Temple, consisting of 84 columns and 22 meters high, have survived.. Only a small part of the Temple of Venus, located at the entrance of the city, has survived.. The stones used in the construction of the temples weigh hundreds of tons.. These stones are known to have been brought from Egypt.. The city of Baalbek, an important point in terms of trade routes, was an important religious center of its time. an ancient city. The city was unearthed as a result of archaeological excavations carried out by the Germans during the Ottoman period in the early 1900s.

NOTE: On the way to Baalbek, thanks to our taxi driver, we were told that the world was in one piece. showed his biggest stone. This place is on the Baalbek road and very close to the ancient city.. The location of the stone is called Hajjar Al-Hibla (Stone of the Pregnant Woman). Finally, if you have time left from your Baalbek program, you can also visit Ksara and Anjar.. While there are ancient structures in Anjar, you can see vineyards and wine cellars in Ksara.

The entrance fee to the Baalbek archaeological site is 15,000 LBP per person.. Fee for students 10,000 LBP. If you want, you can also arrange a tour guide for a fee.. The location of the ancient city is here.

Jeita Grotto Cave

Our Baalbek dream took 1 full day in Beirut. On our third day, we arranged a private tour for the places we will go and we visited the Jeita Grotto Cave, Harissa and Byblos trio on this tour.. With our third day, we added unforgettable moments to our Lebanon trip.. We were particularly impressed by the Jeita Grotto Cave.. Yes, we also love ancient cities, but when we see such natural wonders, we take our breath away..

Jeita Grotto Cave is located in the Nahr al-Kalb valley 18 km north of Lebanon. Rock shapes, stalactites and stalagmites found in the cave are of unique beauty.. The Jeita Grotto cave consists of two parts and both parts were discovered at different times.. The lower part of the cave was discovered by Reverend William Thomson in 1836, and the upper part by Lebanese speleologists in 1958.. The stalagmites at the top are known as the largest stalagmites in the world.

The entrance fee to the Jeita Grotto is 18,000 LBP per person.. Caves are closed on Mondays. It is strictly forbidden to take photos inside the caves.. There are lockers at the entrance of the upper cave, they want you to lock your camera and phones here. We took one of the phones with us and tried to take a few pictures without being noticed. :).

It’s hard not to be fascinated by the huge stalactites and stalagmites here.. After leaving the upper cave, you go down to the lower cave by walking.. A pond formed inside the lower cave and we took a short boat ride here.. It was a wonderful tour.. Even though we try to hide it from the attendant driving the boat, he sees our phone and lets us take a few pictures provided we don’t tell anyone.. These are always for you. 🙂 The lower cave can be closed in winter due to the rising water level.. The excursions to these two caves each take 90 minutes. The location of the Jeita Grotto Caves is here.

Harissa (Mary Mother’s Church)

If you want to watch Beirut from the top, you must come to the Church of the Virgin Mary in Harissa. Located on Harissa Hill, the Virgin Mary church was built in 1904 by one of the richest families of the country, Süleyman Yakup.. The Virgin Mary statue, 8.5 meters high and five meters in diameter, made by a Lebanese businessman living in Brazil using 13.5 tons of bronze, was gifted to the church..

The Church of the Virgin Mary is located approximately 650 meters above sea level. We went here by car and then went down by cable car.. You can also do the opposite.. So you can take the cable car from the beach to the area where the statue is located.. The fee for the cable car is 11.000 LBP.

You can go up to the Virgin Mary Church by spiral stairs. It’s nicer to watch the view from above. I recommend you to sit in the areas here and watch the view of Beirut.. We didn’t coincide, but I’m sure the sunset would be beautiful here. After visiting this place for us, the destination was Byblos.. The location of the Church of Our Lady of Harissa is here.

Byblos

A charming and historical city that makes us feel like we are in the Mediterranean Byblos. Byblos is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and there are many reasons that make it important.. The history of the city is thought to date back to 7000 years ago.. Byblos is known as the birthplace of the first linear alphabet and the place that gave the Bible its name.

Byblos was a Phoenicianport city. Since it is a port city, trade was very lively here at the time.. Especially here, papyrus was traded.. The people of Byblos also traded cedar trees, which were used in the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids in 2000 BC.

There is a Crusader Castle from the Crusader Templars, a church from the same period and a theater from the Roman period in the Byblos ruins.. There is also a typical Eastern Bazaar followed by a mosque from the Ottoman Period.. Home to many civilizations, Byblos has a beautiful covered market and port.. This is considered to be among the most touristic areas of Lebanon.. Especially in the port area, you can have a nice lunch break like us.. The location of Byblos on the map is here.

Let’s get to 3 in Beirut. the details of the tour we participated in today. We were very satisfied with the tour we arranged for the route Jeita Grotto, Harissa, Byblos. The name of our tour company is Lebanon Tours. They pick you up from wherever you want at 08:30 in the morning.. You set off with a 7-seater vehicle and your other tour mates with the pleasant explanations of the driver.. All entrance fees are included in the price you pay on the tour.. A tour with a professional guide in Byblos and lunch in a stylish restaurant are also included in the tour price.. The contact information of Lebanon Tours, which we are very pleased with, is below.. I highly recommend this tour with the recommendation of Bujuyollar.

Lebanon Tours Contact Information:
Web Site: https://www.lebanontours.info/
Phone: +961-70809737
Email: [email protected]

Lebanon Beirut We have come to the end of our list of places to visit. Especially on the second and third days, Beirut was engraved in our minds.. We really liked many of the places on our list.. Historically our favorite place was Baalbek, while in terms of natural beauty Jeita Grotto Caves was our favorite place. I hope it was a useful writing. Our most important goal is to make your job easier.. If you go to Beirut and discover different places, please share with us in the comments section.. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram. Happy travels. 🙂