Private Qadisha, Cedars Hike & Baalbek | May–Oct · Local Guide

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• Beirut (Pass by)

  8:30 AM — Departure from Beirut Your driver meets the group at your hotel and heads north along the coastal highway before climbing steeply into the Lebanese mountains toward the Qadisha Valley.

  Admission ticket free
• 1
  Qadisha Valley

  Qadisha Valley — UNESCO World Heritage photo stop Pull over at the rim of the Qadisha Valley — sheer limestone walls dropping hundreds of metres to the valley floor below, dotted with ancient monastery caves carved into the cliff face over seventeen centuries. Qadisha means "Holy" in Aramaic. Your driver points out the monastery caves visible in the rock face and explains who chose these inaccessible cliffs as their spiritual home. Multiple photo stops along the rim.

  1 hour • Admission ticket free
• Bcharre (Pass by)

  Bcharre — Gibran's village, drive-through Drive through Bcharre — the mountain village above the Qadisha gorge, birthplace of Khalil Gibran and home to the museum that holds his original paintings and manuscripts. Your driver points out the key landmarks as you pass through on the way to the Cedars.

  Admission ticket free
• 2
  The Cedars of God

  Cedars of God — one-hour hike through a UNESCO-protected grove Walk among the Cedars of God at 2,000 metres above sea level — a UNESCO-protected grove where some trees exceed 1,000 years and trunks measure more than 14 metres in circumference. These are the descendants of the forests that built Phoenician ships, Solomon's Temple, and Egyptian palaces. A one-hour hike along the marked trail at your own pace — easy terrain, suitable for all fitness levels. The mountain air is clear and cool and the sense of scale — ancient trees, high altitude, Qadisha Valley below — is genuinely striking. From here, the mountain road opens east toward Baalbek. ~1 hr easy hike · Comfortable shoes recommended

  1 hour • Admission ticket free
• 3

  Stone of the Pregnant Woman — the quarry that sets the scale Before the temples — a stop at the ancient Roman quarry where the Stone of the Pregnant Woman lies exactly where it was cut 2,000 years ago. A single limestone block, 21 metres long, weighing an estimated 1,000 tonnes, never moved. Your driver explains the engineering logic — and why standing next to this unfinished block prepares you for the scale of what you are about to enter.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 4
  Temples of Baalbek

  Baalbek Temple Complex — specialist local guide Enter the greatest Roman temple complex on earth — with a specialist local Baalbek guide who has spent years studying and interpreting these extraordinary structures. The Temple of Jupiter on Trilithon stones each weighing over 800 tonnes. The Temple of Bacchus — larger than the Parthenon and almost entirely intact — the best-preserved Roman temple in the world. The Temple of Venus completing a complex that took three centuries to build. A local guide knows the details, the stories, and the angles that visiting guides routinely miss — making this one of the most informed and most memorable Baalbek visits available.

  1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 5
  Baalbeck

  Lunch in Baalbek — optional Local Bekaa Valley mezze and grilled meats in a town that has been feeding travellers for two thousand years. Optional and at your own expense. Your driver knows where to go.

  1 hour • Admission ticket free
• Beirut (Pass by)

  Return to Beirut — approx. 6:30–7:30 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel — a UNESCO gorge, a thousand-year-old cedar grove, a mountain crossing that only exists for six months, and the world's greatest Roman temples with a guide who knows every stone. Only possible between May and October.

  Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Specialized infant seats are available
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

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