Food & Wine Tour of Lebanon

(7 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis)
Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Chouf Mountains, Baalbek, Byblos, Batroun

On this private culinary tour of Lebanon, experience the wonderful flavors of Lebanon’s celebrated food and wine through private cooking classes and tasting tours, and enjoy private touring of the country’s cultural highlights with your own guide and driver.

Begin in Beirut, a sophisticated city with excellent restaurants, cultural sites and nightlife. During a private cooking lesson at a local restaurant, learn to prepare typical Lebanese dishes. Also enjoy a private street food tour with a culinary expert, stopping at Beirut’s best places for bites of falafel, shawarma, kafta and other treats. During flexible private cultural touring with your expert guide and driver, visit Beirut’s most interesting neighborhoods, museums and monuments. Tour the superb National Museum of Beirut, which has an impressive collection of archaeological artifacts, and the Sursock Museum, which exhibits modern and contemporary art in a beautiful historic villa. Explore the Beirut Central District, a revitalized area with Art Deco-style buildings, Roman ruins, and cafes and shops. See local landmarks such as the clock tower, the Lebanese Parliament, Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, and Maronite and Greek Orthodox cathedrals. Visit top boutiques in Saifi Village and other neighborhoods to browse for local handicrafts such as carpets, jewelry, kaftans, slippers and housewares. See additional city highlights such as iconic Pigeon Rocks and the leafy campus of the American University of Beirut according to your interests. Also, enjoy reservations at the top restaurants in Beirut.

One day, take a private excursion along the coast south of Beirut to visit two port cities made wealthy in antiquity through trade in glass and the rare purple dye prized by royalty. First, visit Sidon (also known as Saida), which is famous for some of the best Arabic sweets in Lebanon. Stop in local confectioners and bakeries to sample Arabic sweets such as knafeh, maamoul, baklava and sanioura, a cookie that’s a specialty of Sidon. During private cultural touring of the once-powerful Phoenician town, also see the Crusader-built Sidon Sea Castle, the Khan el-Franj caravanserai, the Musee du Savon museum of soap and crafts shops in the well-preserved souks. Continue to Tyre (Sour), a historic port city and UNESCO World Heritage Site with a wealth of remains from the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Arab civilizations that controlled the town over the centuries. Tour the archaeological zones to see the extensive ruins of a Roman city, including one of the largest Roman hippodromes in the world, as well as artifacts from Byzantine and other periods.

Next, take a private excursion into the beautiful Chouf Mountains, passing Druze villages and terraced farms along the way. Enjoy a private cooking class with local women at a historic hillside palace. Then, visit iconic Beiteddine Palace, an 18th-century complex built on a hill overlooking a rural valley. Inside the palace—the summer residence of the Lebanese president—see spectacular decor such as stained-glass windows, Byzantine mosaics, and intricately carved wooden walls and ceilings. Also visit Deir al-Qamar, a centuries-old traditional hill town with mosques, palaces and a historical synagogue. Time permitting, also enjoy flexible hiking among the centuries-old Lebanese cedars of the Barouk Cedar Forest.

During a private excursion to the Bekaa Valley, visit a local food specialist known for sfiha spicy lamb pastries and other dishes. Also see the impressive Roman ruins of Baalbek, the most important archaeological site in Lebanon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk through the remains of the colossal Temple of Jupiter and the well-preserved Temple of Bacchus, and explore the various courtyards and other architectural elements. En route back to Beirut, stop at Chateau Ksara, Lebanon’s best-known winery, to taste some of the acclaimed red and white wines (and arak) they produce in the Bekaa Valley.

Next, board a private charter boat to cruise along the coast to the fashionable and ancient port city of Byblos, where the first alphabet was invented. Enjoy lunch at a top seafood restaurant in town, and then tour the UNESCO-listed clifftop archaeological site, which has fascinating ruins from around 3000 B.C. through the Middle Ages, including temples, royal tombs and a Crusader castle. Continue to the ancient fishing village of Batroun. Walk through the souks, and sample famous local specialties such as fresh lemonade made from fruit grown in nearby orchards. Also visit a microbrewery creating some of Lebanon’s best beer or sample wines at one of the wineries in the hills outside Batroun.