Things to see and do in Beirut

Dan promises that he is being impartial. “If I were to speak completely objectively...” he says. “Go on,” we say. “If I were being completely objective: any person that comes to Beirut falls in love with it.”

Dan Nader, who works with our specialist operator Explore, has operated tours of Lebanon for 25 years. He clearly loves it. “It’s not a beautiful city,” he qualifies, “It’s not very well organised but it has a charm.” It’s this charm that makes trips to Lebanon book up fast. “It’s one of our best-selling trips,” Naomi Jackson, from our travel specialist Explore, told us, “Lebanon goes like hot cakes.”

Beirut’s popularity – and its charming disorder – belies its size. The city is less than 20 square kilometres all told, in a country the size of Jamaica. Whilst Lebanon’s villages all have a local speciality, Beirut has every cuisine, all at once. It’s chaotically cosmopolitan. People in Arab and European dress pass each other on the cornice. There are bad drivers on the roads, cats on the pavement, and scars on the buildings, “There are still quite a lot of buildings in Beirut with visible bullet holes, but there’s a lot of regeneration there as well,” Simone Flynn, from our Responsible Travel offices, travelled to Beirut in November 2019, when anti-government protests still occupied the city’s main square. It wasn’t the best time to travel – as a border control guard politely told her – but, as Beirut has shown time and time again, you can visit in less than ideal circumstances, and the charm will still be there – day or night.

“Bars and restaurants are busy all through the week,” Naomi says. “The theory, if you ask them, is that they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” This bravado makes the city feel reckless, when it’s actually very secure – as Dan is keen to point out: “A woman walking alone at 3am doesn’t have any problems. We don’t have robberies or pickpockets. When people arrive they can feel it immediately: it’s safe.” The only peril then, as Dan says, is that you might just fall in love.

It’s strange in December to see a huge Christmas tree set up outside Beirut’s largest mosque. When the Blue Mosque, which stands right in the heart of central Beirut’s commercial district, opened in 2008, several critics said it was too big for a multi faith city in such a small country. After all, it does have 65m high minarets. Its design, with its four minarets and blue-tiled dome, is often compared to Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia – a bit unfair, as Beirut’s mosque is significantly smaller and a whole lot younger. It’s properly named ‘Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque’ and is built from stone from Saudi Arabia. Inside, a colossal chandelier holds sway, as does an overriding sense of peace. The mosque sits on Martyr’s Square, which has long been an important public space for protest: over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, and more recently over the state of the economy and government corruption.

Take advantage of Beirut’s seafront position – the Beirutis do. Whilst Ramlet Al Bayda is not the cleanest city beach in the world, an hour here shows you the capital at its leisure. The long corniche that runs alongside the Mediterranean is a local haunt, not least because there are very few parks in the city. Men swim off the shore, dodging the lines cast by rock-straddling fishermen. Sunset is particularly busy. A walk will take you past vendors selling almonds and sweetened black coffee, and on to the view over Beirut’s free standing Pigeon Rocks, which look rugged compared to the shore-scraping high rises. Behind the rocks, the sun is setting – reminding you that dinner hour is fast approaching.