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Offered languages
- English
South Lebanon covers 5,000 years of history across three destinations — and this private tour covers all of them in a single well-paced day from Beirut. 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 archaeological complex reveals one of the most complete Roman urban landscapes in the Mediterranean — visited here with a specialist local guide who knows the site in depth. Maghdouché: a hilltop sanctuary where the Virgin Mary is held to have waited while Jesus preached in Sidon, revered by Christians and Muslims alike for two millennia.
Knowledgeable local driver throughout. Specialist local guide joins at Tyre — the site where expert interpretation makes the greatest difference. Entrance tickets payable on site.
What's Included
Meeting and pickup
we pick up travelers from any Hotel, Residence or Airbnb in Beirut.
Itinerary
-
Beirut (Pass by)
9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut Your driver meets the group at your hotel and heads south along the Mediterranean coastal highway toward Sidon.
Admission ticket free -
1Crusaders Sea Castle
Sidon Sea Castle — Crusader fortress on the water A 13th-century Crusader fortress built on a small island just off the coast, connected to the shore by a narrow stone causeway with the Mediterranean on both sides. Vaulted halls, rampart views, and the full story of a harbour that Phoenician traders were using 3,000 years before the Crusaders arrived. Your driver covers the complete history of Sidon's waterfront from the castle ramparts.
30 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
2Sidon Souks
Sidon Old Souks — a living medieval market A full hour in stone-vaulted alleyways where spice merchants, goldsmiths, fabric traders, and artisan workshops have operated continuously for centuries — entirely real, entirely unchanged, and entirely unlike the renovated souks of Beirut. Your driver navigates with genuine local knowledge.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
3
Soap Museum — the only one of its kind in the world Sidon has been producing olive oil soap for over a thousand years — and this museum, the only one of its kind anywhere in the world, tells the complete story from olive grove to finished bar. Housed in a beautifully restored khan in the old city. A genuinely fascinating and entirely unexpected stop.
30 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
4Khan al-Franj
Khan el Franj — the Silk Road caravanserai Built by Emir Fakhreddine II in the 17th century for European merchants trading along the Silk Road — wide arcaded courtyards, vaulted galleries, carved stone facades. One of the finest Ottoman buildings in Lebanon and a fitting final image of Sidon before heading south.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
5Al-Bass Archaeological Site
Al-Bass Archaeological Complex — specialist local guide joins Arrive in Tyre and meet your specialist local guide — someone who has spent years studying this extraordinary site and who knows its stories at a level that visiting guides cannot match. The Al-Bass complex opens with a triumphal arch still standing after two thousand years, leads along a colonnaded street flanked by ancient sarcophagi, and culminates at the Tyre Hippodrome — one of the largest in the Roman world, seating 20,000 spectators on a 480-metre track. Your local guide places every structure — the starting gates, the turning posts, the necropolis lining the approach road — in its full Roman and Phoenician context. The difference between seeing an impressive site and genuinely understanding one.
1 hour • Admission ticket not included -
6Tyre
Lunch in Tyre — optional Fresh Lebanese mezze and seafood at a local Tyre restaurant — steps from the Mediterranean, the ancient city as backdrop. Optional and at your own expense. Your driver recommends the best local options.
1 hour • Admission ticket free -
7
Basilica of Our Lady of Mantara — where she waited Mantara means "the one who waits" in Arabic. Christian tradition holds that the Virgin Mary waited in a cave here while Jesus preached in Sidon below — a sanctuary that has drawn pilgrims for two millennia, revered equally by Christians and Muslims. The Basilica of Our Lady of Mantara stands above the ancient cave. The panoramic views over the southern Lebanese coast from this hilltop are among the finest in Lebanon. A quiet and genuinely moving close to a day that covered 5,000 years of history along the southern coast.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
Beirut (Pass by)
Return to Beirut — approx. 5:30–6:30 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel — Sidon's Phoenician-Crusader-Ottoman layers, the Roman world of Tyre with a local expert, and the pilgrimage sanctuary of Maghdouché, covered exclusively in a single private day.
Admission ticket free
Additional info
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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