Guided Full-Day Private Tour to Jeita Grotto, Byblos and Baalbek

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Jeita Grotto

  The Jeita Grotto, a system of two separate, but interconnected, karstic limestone caves which have formed over millions of years, is the longest cave complex in the Middle East. It is located 300 metres above sea level and has a height difference of 305 metres. The Jeita upper cave has an overall length of 2,130 metres and contains a great concentration of a variety of crystallized formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, mushrooms, ponds, curtains and draperies. The lower gallery which has an overall length of 6,200 metres is located 60 metres below the upper gallery. It is traversed by a smooth underwater river and a lake.

  1 hour • Admission ticket not included
• 2
  Byblos

  Byblos, one of the oldest Phoenician cities. Inhabited since Neolithic times, it has been closely linked to the legends and history of the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. Byblos is also directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet.

  1 hour • Admission ticket free
• 3
  Byblos Castle

  Byblos Castle, a restored 12th-century Crusader castle surrounded by a 10m-wide dry moat is located just inside the Byblos' atmospheric archaeological site that contains the ruins of the Temple of Baalat Gebal and the Temple of the Obelisks. It's an impressive building that offers an excellent perspective over the ruins from the top of its foursquare keep. A series of Bronze Age dwellings is clearly visible below the walls as you look towards the sea. Inside the castle, there's a small museum and a room with information panels outlining the city's history.

  30 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 4
  Old Souk

  Byblos old souk is an old market where tourists can shop for souvenirs and antiques, or simply stroll along the old cobblestone streets and enjoy the architecture.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 5
  Byblos Port

  Byblos Port is an ancient port in Byblos and is believed by the Lebanese to be the oldest port in the world. Around 3000 BC, Byblos Port was the most important timber shipping center in the eastern Mediterranean

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 6

  Baalbek, is home to the Baalbek temple complex which includes two of the largest and grandest Roman temple ruins: the Temple of Bacchus and the Temple of Jupiter. It was inscribed in 1984 as an UNESCO World Heritage site. This Phoenician city, where a triad of deities was worshipped, was known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period. It retained its religious function during Roman times, when the sanctuary of the Heliopolitan Jupiter attracted thousands of pilgrims. Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.

  1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 7
  Temples of Baalbek

  The complex of temples at Baalbek is located at the foot of the south-west slope of Anti-Lebanon, bordering the fertile plain of the Bekaa at an altitude of 1150 m. The city of Baalbek reached its apogee during Roman times. Its colossal constructions built over a period of more than two centuries, make it one of the most famous sanctuaries of the Roman world and a model of Imperial Roman architecture. Pilgrims thronged to the sanctuary to venerate the three deities, known under the name of the Romanized Triad of Heliopolis, an essentially Phoenician cult (Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus).

  1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 8

  The Stone of the Pregnant Woman is a worked Roman monolith in Baalbek, Lebanon. Together with another ancient stone block nearby, it is among the largest monoliths ever quarried. The two building blocks were presumably intended for the nearby Roman temple complex, and are characterized by a monolithic gigantism that was unparalleled in antiquity.

  30 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

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