Top Lebanon Transportation - page 2

Lebanon compresses thousands of years of history into a remarkably small stretch of coastline north of Beirut. This private day tour captures three of the most remarkable stops on that stretch — each one completely different, each one extraordinary in its own right. Begin at Nahr el Kalb — the Dog River canyon — where the limestone walls have served as the world's oldest billboard for over 3,000 years. Egyptian pharaohs, Assyrian kings, Roman emperors, and French generals all carved victory inscriptions into these cliffs as they passed through on their conquests — creating an open-air archive of ancient military history that is unlike anything else on earth. Then descend into Jeita Grotto — one of the most spectacular cave systems in the world and a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. End the day in Byblos — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, where a Crusader castle, Phoenician royal tombs, and an ancient fishing port sit within a single walk.

Some places in Lebanon stop you in your tracks. The Qadisha Valley is one of them — a UNESCO World Heritage gorge so deep and so ancient that Christian monks have been hiding in its cliff-face monasteries since the 4th century. The Cedars of God above it are another — a grove of cedar trees so old that some were already ancient when the Phoenicians cut their neighbours to build the ships that founded Carthage. This private full-day tour from Beirut takes you to both, along with the mountain town of Bcharre — birthplace of Khalil Gibran, Lebanon's most celebrated poet and author of The Prophet — and his intimate hilltop museum, which holds his paintings, manuscripts, and the tomb where he chose to be buried. With a private vehicle and guide entirely at your disposal, the day moves at your pace — lingering at the valley viewpoint, exploring Bcharre's stone streets, and walking quietly among trees that have stood for over a thousand years.