Private Beiteddine, Deir el Qamar & Sidon Tour | From Beirut

9:00 AM — Hotel pickup Your driver meets the group at your Beirut hotel and heads southeast into the Chouf Mountains toward Beiteddine.

Beiteddine Palace — the presidential palace of Lebanon Built between 1788 and 1840 by Emir Bashir II — the ruler who unified Lebanon's mountain communities. Three interconnected courtyards with hand-cut geometric tilework and elaborately carved cedar-wood ceilings. Beneath the palace: Lebanon's finest collection of Byzantine mosaics in an underground museum that most visitors walk straight past. Today the official summer residence of the Lebanese President. Your driver covers the full story of Beiteddine and Emir Bashir throughout the visit.

Deir el Qamar — Lebanon's first capital Meaning "Monastery of the Moon" — a honey-stone Ottoman village that served as Lebanon's first capital under the Ma'an dynasty, one of the most perfectly preserved historic villages in the country. The cobblestone central square is framed by 17th and 18th-century mansions unchanged for centuries. Your driver covers the dynastic and political history of this remarkable village.

Fakhreddine Mosque & Saydet el Tallé Church The 17th-century mosque of Emir Fakhreddine II — the Druze ruler who built an empire from the Bekaa to the Sinai — and the hilltop Maronite church with panoramic views over the Chouf valleys. A mosque and a church metres apart, four centuries of coexistence in a single view. The vehicle waits whenever the group is ready to move.

Lunch in Deir el Qamar — optional Lebanese mountain mezze at a local restaurant — grilled meats, fresh bread, Chouf valley views. Optional and at your own expense. Your driver recommends the best spots. Worth the stop before heading to the coast.

Sidon Sea Castle — Crusader fortress on the water A 13th-century Crusader fortress on a small island off the coast, connected to shore by a stone causeway with open sea on both sides. Phoenician traders were using this harbour 3,000 years before the Crusaders built here. Your driver covers the full layered history from the castle ramparts.

Sidon Old Souks — not renovated, not curated, just real Stone-vaulted alleyways where spice merchants, goldsmiths, and artisan workshops have traded continuously for centuries. Your driver points out what makes Sidon's market different from every other souk in Lebanon. At your own pace — the vehicle is waiting.

Soap Museum — the only olive oil soap museum on earth The world's only museum dedicated to olive oil soap — telling the complete story of a craft Sidon has practiced for over a thousand years. Housed in a beautifully restored khan in the old city. A stop that most travelers did not know they wanted until they are inside it.

Khan el Franj — the Silk Road caravanserai A 17th-century caravanserai built by Emir Fakhreddine II for European Silk Road merchants — arcaded courtyards, vaulted galleries, carved stone facades. One of the finest Ottoman buildings in Lebanon and a fitting close to a day that covered Lebanese mountain and coastal history from the same century.

Return to Beirut — approx. 6:00–7:00 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel. A presidential palace, Lebanon's first capital, and Sidon's Phoenician-to-Ottoman layers — mountain and coast covered privately in a single day. Done properly.