Firstly, thank you for making the journey to Lebanon for our wedding, we really appreciate it and we would love you to make the most of your time in the country. As such, below we have shared some places that you might like to visit.

Ehden

This is the town that the wedding is! The wedding will take place at Grand Hotel Abchi [GHA] in Ehden, but there are many options in terms of places to stay, please refer to the "Travel" tab. Ehden is in the north of Lebanon, circa 2 hours by car from Beirut airport. Regarding things you might like to do in Ehden, it is a beautiful town in the mountains, with most residents only living there from June to September. The main square is lively and has some nice bars and restaurants. There is a beautiful natural reserve, called Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve Ain el Bayad Visitor Center which is worth visiting if you like hiking. Ehden has very nice Sunset bars, Aden, Barvu and Le Bro - great places to go for a drink for sunset with a lovely view of the mountains. In terms of cuisine, you should all try Kebbe, the people of Ehden are known for it - there are many options to try it: Al Jawze (near Aden it has a lovely view), Ferdaous, Beit sitte, Taj in Mist Hotel and Hanin. There are also many international cuisine restaurants in the town.

Beirut:

It’s the capital of Lebanon, the city has typical Mediterranean weather and its on the sea, but unfortunately you will not be able to swim in the sea, you can only swim in pools near the beach. We recommend that you visit the old neighbourhood of Beirut, mainly Gemayze, Sursok and downtown Beirut. You have a lot of options for hotels/air bnbs in Beirut, we strongly recommend the neighbourhoods mentioned previously. The city has been destroyed many times throughout history and unfortunately even in recent times, with the explosion of the harbour of Beirut in 2020. The city is like many big cities such as Paris, you need to be careful at night from thefts sometimes but its still fine for people to go out late. Especially that the city has a lot to offer in terms of nightlife, you should go out clubbing there. At night Gemayze street and Mar Michael Street are very popular for night life with many bars open along the two streets. We have been to Artscene, Cyrino, Paloma, Import Export, Standard, 13 mm, Butlers, Dragonfly, Lost....

The city has many museums for those who would like to learn about the history of the country. There has been civilisations that occupied Lebanon and each one has left their imprints. I strongly recommend you visit the national museum and the museum of Sursok.

You can go to a tasty restaurant called Bayrock, its facing the famous Pigeon Rocks (in Lebanese it is called Raouché, its a mixed up from the French word Roché 😊). You have plenty of options of restaurant in Beirut for all cuisine (Lebanese, Italian, Asian, international cuisine…). For transportation in Beirut its easy just use Uber, it’s very efficient. For Lebanese restaurants, I can recommend Beit Kanz, Abdelwahab, Enab, Loris, Mayrig (Armenian and Lebanese fusion), Boubouffe, Babel…

Batroun:

Batroun is a city on the coast - a very lively city with a lot of bars, restaurants and beach places. We recommend you check Airbnb for your stay in Batroun and make sure its in the old city center as its nicer. In the old city the souks are really nice to walk through, with lots of bars and restaurants there. Even though legally beaches are supposed to be free for all in Lebanon, its unfortunately not the case. Many beaches are privatized, see suggestions below. Because in Batroun the real public one is very small it is worth it to pay an entrance fee for some of the private places - you usually geta chaise longue, and you can order food and drinks. We like to go to Colonel, you can walk there from the old city centre, it is small but it has a nice vibe, and they do their own beer. Another thing to note is that the beaches in Batroun are rocky, they are not sandy. Bolero is another place that is nice to have a drink in th evening that is in the centre. We also recommend Solt, it’s a nice place to relax and enjoy a drink. Almaza Bay opened few years ago and its kind of THE place to go - at night it has a very nice ambiance and DJs play there and the place accepts credit card. Another option a little bit out from the centre is Butlers.

Also 15 min by car from Batroun center, there is a beautiful IXSIR Winery, where you can do wine tasting and have lunch.

Baalback:

In my opinion, this is the most beautiful Roman Ruins that Lebanon has. The city of Baalbak has been unfortunately hit by the recent war but luckily the ruins are still standing there. We recommend you do the typical day tour from Ehden or from Beirut, it will take the same amount of time. If you go from Ehden, you should rent a car, don’t expect to find Uber in the North of Lebanon. You could go through the Cedars area and up the Mountains to then drive to the Plateau of Bekaa, the famous area for Wineries and other stuff :P. When you arrive to Baalbek city, get a guide to have a better understanding of the ruins and their history. Apart from the ruins, you can go to Palmyra hotel to have a drink and eat Sfiha Baalbakieh. After that, you could go to either of two very famous Wineries, Ksara or Kefraya. After the wine tasting, you could go to Zahle, there is a village called Berdaoune, any of the Lebanese restaurants there are great so it could be a nice place to stop for lunch on your trip.

Byblos:

It’s a lovely old Phoenician city; it is well kept and the old ruins are much better protected than in Beirut. There is the old fortress which is worth visiting with a Guide. The old souks are also really nice to walk through, and there are some nice bars and restaurants there and specifically fish restaurants. Near the city there are many beach resorts worth going to, if you would like to relax at the beach. Good news, the beaches are sandy in Byblos, you can go to Edde Sands it’s a very big beach resort.

Jeita Grotto is a must in Lebanon, it’s a very beautiful cave (it was a candidate for the 7 wonders of the world 😊). It is between Beirut and Byblos in the mountains, 25 min by car from Beirut. During the same day, you can also visit the Church of Harissa, it has a superb view over the Bay of Jounieh and Beirut.

Chouf

This is an area which is one hour away by car from Beirut, it’s a nice green area with a famous natural reserve called Arz el Barouk for those who would like to hike. Deir el Amar is the old capital of Lebanon before the country was founded with the borders we know today. The village itself is well preserved as it kept the architecture of the buildings as it was originally built. Near this village, you can visit the castle of Beit el Din, a building inspired by the Italian style it was built by the Prince of Lebanon, Emir Bachir II Chehab in early 19th century. When we were there, we visited another “Kasr” (castle in Arabic, which the Kasr Al Moukhtara, which is actually inhabited by the druze politician Joumblat family, they allow you to visit their library which is quite impressive. There are many places to stay, we stayed at Bouyouti, it is designed in a very traditional oriental way, there is also Beyt el Jabal – Guesthouse, it is in the heart of Deir el Amar, we ate there and it was lovely.

Tripoli

For those who would like to visit a city which has more oriental Arabic style monument, you should go visit Tripoli. The city has an old souks, old mosques and churches, old hamam. I recommend you take a city Tour with Mira Guided Tour mirasguidedtours, she is from Tripoli, she does the tour in English. She plans two type of tours, one which is in the old city and another which is mainly related to an exceptional Tripoli international Fair, designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Please note that Tripoli known for having one of the best Oriental Pastries, the most known place is Halab in the heart of the city, you can have lunch and desert there. But its worth mentioning that Tripoli is a very poor city, it’s a conservative city thus for women, I would recommend you don’t wear shorts or skirts. It is safe during the day.

South of Lebanon:

As you may know the south of Lebanon has been hit hard during the last war, but for those who would still like to visit it, I say its worth it. We have 2 cities in the South which are interesting, from Beirut you can go to Saida, it has an old souk which has been renovated and worth visiting, in which you can also access the Debbane Palace and the museum of soap and they is the sea castle. They are also know for oriental sweets, you should try the Knefe 😊.

Then you continue to Sour / Tyr where you might see a lot of damage from the war but Tyr, in my opinion, has one of the most beautiful beaches in Lebanon and you can visit the Roman ruins. It has a small Christian village (this is what it is called), where you have bars, guest house and restaurants. For those who are crazier and would like to see the borders, for non-Lebanese you need to get permission in Saida at the UN office in order to be able to cross a certain checkpoint.