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Beirut
Pass by
9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut
Your driver meets the group at your hotel and heads north along the Mediterranean coastal highway toward Tripoli.
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Citadel Saint Gilles (Qal'at Sinjil)
30m · Admission ticket not included
Tripoli — Lebanon's medieval second city
Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles — nine centuries above the city
The 12th-century Crusader citadel built by Raymond de Saint-Gilles during the First Crusade — expanded by the Mamluks, further modified by the Ottomans — has commanded Tripoli's skyline for nine centuries. From the ramparts: panoramic views over the old city's minarets, rooftops, and the port of El Mina beyond. Your driver covers the full arc of Crusader, Mamluk, and Ottoman history that converges here.
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30m
Al-Mansouri Great Mosque & Taynal Mosque
Al-Mansouri — built on the site of a Crusader cathedral, the original Gothic portal still visible in the 14th-century Mamluk stonework. Taynal — two connected prayer halls where Gothic arches and Mamluk architecture exist side by side in the same building. Two mosques, two examples of how Tripoli layers civilisation upon civilisation in the most architecturally compelling way.
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Souk Al-Harajb
1h
Souk Al-Harajb — one of the most authentic medieval markets in the Arab world
A full hour in stone-vaulted alleyways where gold merchants, spice vendors, fabric traders, and artisan workshops have occupied the same spaces for centuries — entirely real, entirely unchanged, and entirely unlike the renovated souks of Beirut. Your driver navigates with genuine local knowledge.
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15m
Khan el Masriyin — traditional soap factory
A brief stop at the historic Egyptian merchants' khan — home to a traditional olive oil soap factory that has been producing here for centuries. A craft that supplied markets across the Ottoman Mediterranean world from these very rooms.
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1h
Hallab 1881 — founded in the Ottoman era, still the best
Founded in 1881 — the most celebrated pastry and dining institution in Lebanon. Knefeh, baklava, and mamoul made to recipes unchanged for over 140 years. Optional and at your own expense — but the kind of stop that becomes the most talked-about part of the day.
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15m
El Mina Port — Tripoli's ancient waterfront
A brief stroll along El Mina — Tripoli's historic fishing port with colourful boats, Ottoman-era mansions lining the corniche, and a pace of life that has barely accelerated in centuries. The natural transition between medieval Tripoli and the Phoenician coast ahead.
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Batroun
30m
Batroun old town — founded by the Phoenicians, still going
Arrive in Batroun — one of the oldest Phoenician cities in the world, continuously settled for over 3,000 years and today one of Lebanon's most charming and most photogenic coastal towns. Stone-paved streets, Ottoman houses, ancient churches, and seafront cafés with the Mediterranean right there.
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Phoenician Wall
20m
Phoenician Sea Wall — 3,000 years old and still functional
A natural rock barrier shaped by Phoenician hands over 3,000 years ago to protect the ancient harbour from Mediterranean waves — still standing on the beach today, still doing exactly what it was built to do. One of the most quietly extraordinary ancient structures in Lebanon and a testament to Phoenician engineering that has outlasted every empire that came after them.
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5m
Hilmi's House of Lemonade — the only way to finish
Freshly squeezed lemonade at Batroun's most legendary local institution — cold, sharp, and made to a recipe that has been refreshing this corner of the Lebanese coast for generations. The natural and only appropriate close to a full day in Lebanon's north.
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Beirut
Pass by
Return to Beirut — approx. 5:30–6:30 PM
Drop-off at your Beirut hotel — Tripoli's medieval layers and Batroun's Phoenician coast covered exclusively at your own pace.
