Lebanon — where to go and when
2 destinations covered
A country you can cross in a morning, with mountains standing immediately behind the sea and a capital that stacks its history in a single street rather than in separate quarters — Lebanon is small in a way that changes what a week contains. Beirut occupies a headland pushed into the Mediterranean, where Ottoman houses, Mandate arcades, concrete towers and rebuilt facades share the same block, with a seafront promenade running the length of its western edge. An hour north, Byblos is the opposite of a capital: a small coastal town built around an excavated mound that drops straight into the water, where prehistoric foundations, Phoenician temples, a Roman colonnade and a Crusader keep sit inside one enclosure, a restored souk climbs inland, and fishing boats fill a horseshoe of harbour below. Cedar forests, Roman temples and mountain valleys are all short drives from either. The reservations are as plain as the appeal: services are irregular, power comes from private supply as much as public, much of the economy runs on cash in hard currency, and regional conditions shift — consult up-to-date official guidance before you book.
When to go
Five months qualify, April to June plus October and November, bracketing a summer that reaches 31.4 °C in August under heavy coastal humidity. Winter here is wet rather than cold: February is the low point at 16.3 °C by day, and December alone brings 160.7 mm to a shore that counts 68 rainy days a year, the highest total in this group. The mountains behind take snow while the coast stays green, which is the country's standing boast and is literally true in the shoulder weeks.
The places we cover, side by side
| Place | Favourable months | Warmest month, avg. high (°C) | Coldest month, avg. high (°C) | Rainy days a year (≥ 1 mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beirut | April, May, June, October, November | 31.4 | 16.3 | 68 |
| Byblos | April, May, June, October, November | 31.4 | 16.3 | 68 |
Figures measured at the weather station nearest each place, then averaged over the warmest and the coldest months of the year — not over a fixed calendar season. Each destination page carries its own month-by-month table, its station and its sample size.
Getting around
There is no passenger railway, so the coast road does everything. Shared vans running north and south from fixed points in the capital are the cheap way to use it: they leave when full and set you down wherever you ask. Taxis work as shared cars along a route or privately for a price agreed in advance, never afterwards. For the mountain valleys, steep and thinly signposted, most visitors end up with a car and driver. The airport is 8 km from the capital, 36 km from the coastal town.
Budget
Country price level compared with France : −61 %
Price index for restaurants and hotels, France = 1000, from European purchasing power parities. It is a country average: it says nothing about one hotel in particular.
Destinations in Lebanon
BeirutBeirut sits on a headland pushed out into the Mediterranean, with mountains rising immediately behind it. The city is built in layers rather than districts: Ottoman houses, French…
ByblosByblos is a small coastal town north of the Lebanese capital, built around an excavated mound that drops straight to the water. A crusader keep of pale stone…Frequently asked questions
How many days does the country need?
Five to seven, and they go further than that sounds because nothing is far. Two for the capital, one for the coastal archaeology north of it, one for the Roman temples in the eastern valley, one for the cedars and the mountain road, with a spare day for the one that overruns. Longer stays are about eating and returning to places rather than adding new ones.
Is cash genuinely necessary?
Yes, and in hard currency. Card acceptance is patchy outside larger hotels and the newer parts of the capital, exchange practices change, and small businesses quote in whichever currency suits the day. Bring more notes than feels comfortable, in small denominations, keep them split across bags, and confirm the price and the currency before a taxi ride or a guided visit rather than at the end of it.
Updated on 21 September 2026