Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away
TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesArabic, English
Group sizeUp to 10 travelers
Pickup offeredSee the meeting and pickup details below
Overview
The Bekaa Valley does not mess around. In a single day from Beirut you can walk through a ghost city abandoned by the Umayyad Caliphate 1,300 years ago, stand inside the greatest Roman temples ever built, and finish the afternoon drinking Lebanese wine in Roman cave cellars beneath one of the oldest wineries in the Middle East. Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites and one very good wine tasting — all before dinner.
Anjar is the hidden gem — the only surviving Umayyad palatial city in the Levant, built by Caliph Walid I and abandoned after just a few decades, its colonnaded streets and palace walls still standing in the middle of the Bekaa plain. Baalbek needs no introduction — the Temple of Bacchus alone is larger than the Parthenon. And Ksara rounds out the day with 2 kilometres of ancient Roman cave cellars and a tasting of their iconic wines.
What's included
Knowledgeable English-speaking driver
Hotel pickup and drop-off in Beirut
Private air-conditioned vehicle
Lunch (your driver can recommend options in Baalbek or Zahle)
Gratuities (optional)
What to expect
Beirut
Pass by
9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut
Your driver picks you up from your Beirut hotel and heads east on the Damascus highway — climbing through the Lebanese mountains as the Bekaa Valley opens dramatically below. First stop is Anjar, about an hour away.
Umayyad Ruins of Aanjar
45m · Admission ticket not included
Anjar — the ghost city nobody talks about
Most people have never heard of Anjar. That is their loss — and your advantage. The Umayyad ruins of Anjar are the only surviving example of a complete Umayyad palatial city in the entire Levant — built in the early 8th century by Caliph Walid I, the same ruler who commissioned the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, then abandoned just decades later after a political upheaval and never reoccupied. Walking through Anjar today feels like walking through a frozen moment of 8th-century Islamic urban planning — colonnaded streets dividing the city into four quarters, a grand palace with over 40 towers, a mosque and bathhouses, all still standing in the middle of the Bekaa plain. Most people visiting Baalbek drive straight past without knowing this is here. You will not make that mistake.
15m
Stone of the Pregnant Woman — before you get to the temples
Before entering the temple complex, stop at the ancient Roman quarry where the Stone of the Pregnant Woman — a single limestone block 21 metres long and weighing an estimated 1,000 tonnes — still lies exactly where it was cut 2,000 years ago and never moved. It is one of the heaviest objects ever worked by human hands. Standing next to it reframes everything you are about to see. If this is what they left behind in the quarry — what on earth did they actually use?
Baalbek Temple
1h 30m · Admission ticket not included
Baalbek Temple Complex — bigger than the Parthenon
The greatest Roman temple complex on earth — and it is not close. The Temple of Jupiter stands on Trilithon stones each weighing over 800 tonnes — the largest dressed stones in human history. The Temple of Bacchus next door is larger than the Parthenon in Athens and almost entirely intact — a complete Roman temple standing exactly as it did 2,000 years ago. The circular Temple of Venus completes a complex that has outlasted every empire that built, conquered, and worshipped here. Your driver knows the stories and brings the scale of what you are looking at into perspective — because without context, Baalbek can be overwhelming in the best possible way.
Baalbeck
1h
Lunch in Baalbek — optional
Baalbek has been feeding travellers for two thousand years and it shows — the local restaurants around the temple complex serve some of the heartiest Bekaa Valley food you will find anywhere. Fresh mezze, grilled meats, flatbread straight from the oven, and cold local drinks. After a morning of Umayyad ruins and Roman megaliths, sitting down to eat in a town this old feels completely right. Optional but highly recommended.
Beirut
Pass by
Return to Beirut — approx. 5:00–6:00 PM
Back to Beirut along the Damascus highway — completing a day that covered two UNESCO sites, a 1,000-tonne stone, and a Roman wine cellar in eight hours flat.
Chateau Ksara
1h · Admission ticket not included
Chateau Ksara — Roman caves, Lebanese wine
After a morning of Umayyad ruins and Roman megaliths, the afternoon ends underground again — in a very different way. Chateau Ksara is Lebanon's oldest winery, founded by Jesuit monks in 1857, and the highlight is not the wine — it is the 2 kilometres of Roman cave cellars beneath the winery where the wine ages at a naturally constant temperature year-round. Ancient tunnels, discovered by the Jesuits in the 19th century, now filled with thousands of bottles quietly doing their thing in the dark. Walk through them, then sit down to taste Ksara's iconic Cabernet-Syrah blends, their crisp Blanc de Blancs, and the famous Sunset Rosé. A genuinely great way to end a day that started with a 1,300-year-old ghost city.
Meeting and pickup
Pickup details
We pick-up travelers from any Hotel, Airbnb or Residence in Beirut
Additional information
Specialized infant seats are available
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
