South Lebanon is the part of the country most first-time visitors skip — and the part that most experienced Lebanon travelers say they wish they had gone to sooner. This private day trip covers three destinations that together span 5,000 years of Phoenician, Crusader, Roman. At your own pace, with an expert local guide at the site where it matters most.
Sidon: a 13th-century Crusader sea castle, the world's only olive oil soap museum, a living medieval souk, and a Silk Road caravanserai. Tyre: a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Al-Bass complex — triumphal arch, colonnaded necropolis street, and a Roman hippodrome built for 20,000 spectators — is explored with an expert local guide who knows every stone. Maghdouché: the hilltop sanctuary where Mantara — "the one who waits" in Arabic — marks where the Virgin Mary is held to have waited while Jesus preached in Sidon below, revered by Christians and Muslims for two millennia. Private vehicle throughout. Tickets payable on site.