Private Byblos & Baalbek Tour from Beirut: All Tickets Included

From 7,000 years of layered stone to the heaviest blocks ever moved: two worlds in one day

A private day tour from Beirut to Byblos and Baalbek, with all entrance tickets included and a live guide in English or Arabic. You start before the crowds arrive at Byblos (a 7,000-year-old city where Crusader castle, Phoenician tombs, and Roman columns sit within a single archaeological site), then drive east through the Lebanese mountains to Baalbek, where the Temple of Bacchus is larger than the Parthenon and the Temple of Jupiter stands on stones weighing over 800 tonnes each. Hotel pickup and drop-off in Beirut bookend the day. Lunch in Baalbek is optional at your own expense.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time at each

1. Byblos1h · entry included
2. Baalbek1h 30m · entry included

Visit Byblos and Baalbek from Beirut

• Depart from Beirut at 8:30 AM
• Arrive early in Byblos
• Explore Crusader castle and archaeological site
• Walk through the old souk
• Visit ancient Roman quarry and Stone of the Pregnant Woman
• Tour Baalbek's Roman temples
• Optional lunch in Baalbek
• Return to Beirut by early evening

The experience

Departure is 8:30 AM from your Beirut hotel, and the 45-minute drive north to Byblos is timed so you arrive in the early morning quiet. Before the day warms up and the crowds arrive. The Crusader castle was built in the 12th century from stones recycled from Phoenician temples and Roman buildings, and your guide reads every layer aloud: Neolithic foundations from 5000 BC, Bronze Age temples, Phoenician royal tombs carved into the bedrock, Persian-era remains, Roman colonnaded streets. Byblos gave the world its alphabet: the Phoenician script developed here became the foundation of Greek, Latin, Arabic, and every modern alphabet descended from them. After the archaeological site, you walk the old souk, where Phoenician-inspired jewellery glints in workshop windows and antique dealers display centuries of accumulated finds.

The drive east into the Bekaa Valley brings you to Baalbek, where the scale is something photographs cannot prepare you for. Before entering the temples, you stop at the ancient Roman quarry to see the Stone of the Pregnant Woman: a single limestone block 21 metres long and weighing an estimated 1,000 tonnes, still lying where it was cut 2,000 years ago and never moved. The Temple of Jupiter was built on Trilithon stones each weighing over 800 tonnes, moved and placed by Roman engineers using methods that still puzzle archaeologists. Six of its original 54 columns still stand at 22 metres tall. The Temple of Bacchus (larger than the Parthenon and almost entirely intact) is the best-preserved Roman temple anywhere in the world. Your guide brings every layer of Baalbek's story to life, from its origins as a Phoenician sacred site to its transformation into Rome's greatest eastern sanctuary.

You return to Beirut around 5:30–6:00 PM with drop-off at your hotel. Lunch in Baalbek is optional and at your own expense. If you choose to eat, local restaurants serve hearty Bekaa Valley mezze, grilled meats, and fresh flatbread. All entrance tickets to both sites are included, so there is nothing to arrange on the day itself.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off in Beirut.
• private air-conditioned vehicle with driver.
• live guide in English or Arabic.
• full guided exploration of both Byblos and Baalbek.
• entrance tickets to both archaeological sites.
• stop at the Stone of the Pregnant Woman quarry.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 07:30

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Arabic

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 7 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats available

Operated by Lebanon Tours & travels

Is this one for you?This is a private tour with a dedicated guide, so the pace and the focus stay entirely with you: ideal if you want to linger at a particular layer of Byblos or ask questions about the engineering of Baalbek's stones without waiting for a group. The early morning start at Byblos is what gives you the site almost entirely to yourself. If you prefer a later departure, check whether other options are available.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Arabic.

What is the Stone of the Pregnant Woman at Baalbek?

The Stone of the Pregnant Woman is a single limestone block 21 metres long and weighing an estimated 1,000 tonnes, still lying in the Roman quarry where it was cut 2,000 years ago and never moved. The Romans planned to use stones even larger than this in their temple platform, and standing beside it makes that fact genuinely difficult to process.

How old is Byblos and what can you see there?

Byblos is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with over 7,000 years of occupation. The archaeological site contains Neolithic foundations from 5000 BC, Bronze Age temples, Phoenician royal tombs carved into the bedrock, Persian-era remains, and Roman colonnaded streets, all within a Crusader castle built in the 12th century from recycled stones.

Why does the tour visit Byblos so early in the morning?

The 8:30 AM departure from Beirut gets you to Byblos in the early morning quiet, before the day warms up and the crowds arrive. The best possible time to experience a city this old and to have the ancient stones almost entirely to yourself.

What makes the Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek remarkable?

The Temple of Bacchus is larger than the Parthenon and almost entirely intact, making it the best-preserved Roman temple anywhere in the world. It stands as part of a complex that has occupied the same site for two thousand years, from its origins as a Phoenician sacred site to its transformation into Rome's greatest eastern sanctuary.

Is lunch included in the tour?

Lunch in Baalbek is optional and at your own expense. Local restaurants serve hearty Bekaa Valley mezze, grilled meats, and fresh flatbread, and stopping to eat is a fitting pause before the drive back to Beirut.

What time does the tour return to Beirut?

The tour returns to Beirut around 5:30–6:00 PM with drop-off at your hotel, completing a ten-hour day that moves from the world's oldest city to the world's greatest Roman temples.