INTRODUCTION
Beirut, capital of Lebanon, was once widely regarded as the ‘Paris’ of the Middle East. If not for the extended damages caused by the many years of civil war, it will continue to remain as so. In fact, I was shocked to see the damages caused by the civil war when I first tour the country.
Beirut had a very long history of inhabitancy, tracing back as far back as the Stone Age. It has been inhabited throughout the pre-historic period till now.
As with the other cities in Lebanon, Beirut had underwent numerous changes in ownership before becoming what it is today.
SPECIAL NOTES
The traffic condition in Beirut is definitely one of the most hazardous in the world. Extra care needs to be taken when trying to move across the road. The drivers on the road does not seems to notice the presences of people trying to cross the road, so please do not take for granted that he will stop to let you go. You will be very sorry if you try to assume that.
The road condition in Beirut is in terrible condition, with lots of potholes and cracks. Walking at night along the streets needs to be very careful, if not sticking your leg into one of those holes will not do you any good for the rest of your trip.
If you are planning to do some shopping, Beirut is definitely the best area in the whole of Lebanon to shop from. Price will be more expensive than in other cities, but most items can only be found in Beirut. My opinion is that do your shopping on the last day of your tour in Lebanon (Provided your last stop is in Beirut too). Do most of your shopping in other part of Lebanon; only get items that cannot be found in Beirut.
TRANSPORTATION
There is an International Airport in Beirut, which is served by many airlines around the world. I believe getting to Beirut by air will not be too much of a difficulty to tourist around the world. But in some cases, you might need to do a transfer flights in Europe to reach Beirut if there aren’t any direct flight from home.
I flied to Beirut by air from Paris with Air France. I can’t remember the actual fare, but I believe it must be slightly over $300.
Traveling by Air to Beirut is no doubt the most sought after mode of transport into the city. If you do not want to travel by Air, you can also opt to travel by Land or Sea to Beirut. I do not have information on such mode. You might be able to get this information with the travel guides.
FOOD & ACCOMMODATION
Beirut is the biggest city, as well as the Capital of Lebanon, so you can easily understand that there will not be a shortage of food available in the city.
In fact, there is a wide range of food selection for tourist of different budget. On the cheap side, you can easily find a simple bite to fill up your stomach before continuing for just LL2000. On the high-end side, you can easily spend more than $50 for a set dinner. There are many types of food available, so you can take your pick slowly.
As for myself, I stayed in Beirut for 2 days, and for most of my meals, it was as simple as expected on my budget, spending less than LL4000 per meal. On my last day in Beirut, we had our dinner at the Hard Rock Café in Beirut, and that cost only less than $20.
There are plenty of hotels in Beirut, so do not worry of where to spend the night. The cheapest end (where I spend 2 nights) cost about $20 for a double per night. The high-end side will cost you easily $300 per night.
Even though I am paying just $20 for a night does not mean I am in a lousy hotel. The hotel is reasonably clean and neat, and I have no complain about it. There are plenty of such hotels in Beirut, look around and you will have lots of spare cash to use elsewhere.
ORGANISED TOUR
Touring of Beirut need a lot of studies and planning before proceeding. Joining some organized tour before proceeding on your own might be a better choice.
There are plenty of local tour operators to choose from. I remember paying just $25 per person for a half-day city tour. It will give you a good orientation of the city.
MAIN ATTRACTIONS
There are lots of places to be visit in Beirut, but at the same time most of them is in horrible state, waiting patiently to be rebuild or repair.
I will not be able to cover all of them in just one review, and I will pick a few, which I think is worthy of a visit for your trip. But I would recommend going through some sort of a travel guide on the city for a better understanding before making a plunge into the city.
National Museum of Beirut - This is the main archaeological museum in Beirut, but it is surely in a horrible and pathetic stage when I visited it. The museum was dated back to 1942, and its façade and interior have an Egyptian style. It is a very huge museum, and if all parts of the building is re-open after repairing, it will surely take a large portion of your day to explore the museum.
Beside the National Museum of Beirut, there are two other museum in Beirut that worth a short visit (anyway, they are rather small). They are the American University of Beirut Museum and the Sursock Museum.
Rue Hamra - This is the main shopping street since the war. Although there are no important buildings or monuments along this street, but it does have its interesting appeal to tourist. It will be great to have a walk around the streets to do some shopping or something to bite your way through the day.
Monument to Peace - This is a very interesting piece of art, just unveiled 5 years ago in 1996. It is located out the Ministry of Defense Building just on the outskirt of Beirut. You will need to take a taxi to bring you there, just to see this monument. This is a very grand monument, and with the taxi rate rather reasonable, it is definitely worth your time and effort to see this giant piece of art by a French artist Armand Fernandez. This is a 5000-ton structures, which consists of real Soviet T-55 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery.
Mosques and Churches - There are a number of Mosques and Churches in Beirut that is worthy of a visit, but some of them is badly damaged during the war and might not look as good as it used to me. The Grand Mosque, also known as the Omari Mosque is a nice Mosque to visit, but is badly damaged. Besides try to locate and spend some time with St. Louis Church and the St. George’s Maronite Cathedral.
Roman Baths - There are a few excavated Roman Baths which is worthwhile to have a look.
Pigeon Rocks - You must not miss this when you are in Beirut. It was probably the only natural attraction Beirut has now. The offshore natural rock arches of the Pigeon Rocks are spectacular and are really nice to look at, especially during sunset. Try to plan your visit to the spot at around sunset time to see the scene.
After 2 days of just walking and exploring the whole of Beirut, I actually miss out quite a portion of it due to the fact that I am not familiar with the city as well as the fact that the city is really very badly layout. I believe in a few years from now, after all the hard work to rebuilt the city was completed, it will be a great place to visit again.
SUMMARY
If not for the long period of war in Lebanon, especially in Beirut, the title of the ‘Paris’ of Middle East can easily by justified.
Even though it might not be as nice as what it used to be years ago, Beirut still possess the appeal to attract tourist into the city.
I believe with a few more years of hard work to rebuilt the damaged city, Beirut will once again bloom into a great tourist city.
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