Just a few hours’ flight from the UAE, Beirut is a wonderful destination for a long weekend. With its cool East-meets-West vibe combined with a bucket-load of history and culture, there’s something for everyone. Here are our best things to do in Beirut.
Find cheap flights to Beirut1. Walk the Beirut Corniche
Beirut’s five kilometer corniche runs from the Saint George Marina to the Ramlet al Bayda area and is never quiet. It’s lined with popular cafes and restaurants, and has some excellent views of the Mediterranean sea in the backdrop. You’ll also be able to spot Pigeons’ Rock, or Raouche Rocks, which sit in the water at the western tip of the city and are one of the most photographed landmarks in the city. If you don’t fancy the long walk, grab a coffee and a chair at a nice cafe and simply watch Beirut life pass you by.
View this post on InstagramEspetacular pôr do sol em Beirut! 🌞🇱🇧
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2. Explore the American University of Beirut Campus
The American University of Beirut campus is no ordinary university campus. It’s spread across 61 acres, which includes some beautifully manicured gardens and public spaces. The AUB campus is also home to the very impressive Archaeological Museum and the Natural History Museum. The former has some great activities for kids, as well as audio tours and a busy temporary exhibition calendar.
Address: AUB, Bliss Street, Beirut, Lebanon
3. Enjoy the mezze
Nowhere does great Lebanese food like, well, Lebanon. When you travel to Beirut set aside many a meal to scout out the best traditional mezze while you’re there! Abu Naim Restaurant in Hamra is one of the most popular and serves a delicious hot and cold mezze with all the traditional meats and salads. Enab in Mar Mikhael neighborhood is another popular option and is decorated in gorgeous colors in an old French colonial house.
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4. Relax in Luna Park
It’s a bit dated and creaky but that’s half the charm of Beirut’s Luna Park amusement park. The best feature is the Ferris wheel which will give you incredible views of the city if you don’t mind heights or a bit of a jerky ride! The park was built in around 1966 and doesn’t appear to have had much TLC since but it’s a fun place to people watch, especially on weekends.
Address: Ave du Général de Gaulle, Raouche, Beirut, Lebanon
5. Shop at Beirut Souks
We don’t mean souks in the traditional sense of the word here, we mean the huge commercial center that is the Beirut Souks in the city’s central district. It has more than 200 shops, a children’s science activity center and museum, 25 restaurants and cafes, a movie theater and exhibition spaces. The complex is built in and on the city’s original souks – Souk al Tawileh, Souk al Jamil and Souk al Franj – which were virtually destroyed during the war and then rebuilt using an ancient Greek grid system. In a nice touch, the streets still have their pre-war names. It makes a really nice change from some of the usual mega malls the Middle East is famous for.
Address: _ Beirut Central District, Beirut, Lebanon_
Opening times: Daily 10am – 10pm. Cinema and restaurants stay open later
6. National Museum of Beirut
This is Beirut’s cultural pièce de résistance. Located on the Green Line, the demarcation line during the Lebanese Civil War, it houses the country’s most significant and biggest archaeological collections of artifacts, with more than 1,300 pieces. Highlights include the Phoenician bronze figurines, the make-up boxes from Saida and a Roman marble Bacchus head dating back to the Roman period. It is a must-visit on any trip to Beirut, even if museums aren’t usually on your list of things to do when you travel.
Address: Museum Street, Beirut, Lebanon
Opening times: Tuesday through Sunday 9am – 5pm. Closed Mondays
Entry: 5,000LP (Dh12) for adults, and 1,000LP (Dh2) for under 18s and students
View this post on InstagramCapital with bull protomes | Sidon, 5th century BC #beirut #nationalmuseumofbeirut #lebanon #sidon
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7. Visit Grand Omari Mosque and Mohammed Al Amin Mosque
The Grand Omari Mosque is one of the city’s oldest and at one time was the most important mosque in Beirut. It was originally the Saint John the Baptist church, and later converted into a mosque in 635 BC and named after the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, before being converted back to a church and then again to a mosque for the final time in 1291. It underwent a massive reconstruction project that ended in 2004 and you can now see much of the building’s history in its architecture, including Roman columns and an ancient cistern. The city’s newer, main mosque is the Mohammed Al Amin Mosque which was built in 2008 and is very distinct because of its large blue dome which dominates the Beirut skyline. Located near Martyrs Square, it has a capacity of just under 4,000 worshipers and visitors are welcome.
Opening times: You are allowed to enter any time outside of normal prayer times. Dress modestly
View this post on Instagram#mosque #moschee #islam #Beirut #lebanon #libanon #minarette
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8. Beirut Art Center
It’s no secret Beirut and Lebanon has one of the region’s best contemporary art scenes. To see for yourself, visit the Beirut Art Center which acts as a gallery, exhibition space, performance center, archive and bookshop. It’s run as a non-profit organization and is one of the best places to see up-and-coming artists, especially in the experimental art scene.
Address: Jisr El Wati, Building 13, Street 97, Adlieh, Beirut, Lebanon.
Opening times: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 12pm – 8pm. Wednesday 12pm – 10pm. Saturday and Sunday 11am – 6pm
Entry: Free to enter
9. Stroll down Hamra Street
Beirut has a charming East-meets-West vibe and Hamra Street in particular has a wonderful history of this. It boomed in the 1960s with art houses, restaurants, theaters and shops that attracted locals and visitors alike, many of them the artist and intellectual types. The area was badly damaged in the Civil War but is still one of the more fun places in the city to eat and shop.
Address: Rue Hamra (31), Beirut, Hamra
10. Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral
This is another of Beirut’s oldest buildings and one of the best places to visit to learn more about its history. Originally built in 1767, a bomb dropped in 1975 during the war revealed the St George Crypt, the remains of a Byzantine church. There is a small museum at the cathedral which explains the history of the site and why it is so important to Lebanon. You might also spot a few bullet holes in one of the cathedral’s frescoes, another remnant of the war.
Address: Pl d’Étoile Downtown Beirut, Lebanon
Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 10am – 6pm. Closed Mondays
Entry: Entry to the museum costs 5,000LP (Dh12) for adults and 1,000LP (Dh2) for children
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*Content first published in June 2018. Information correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change and/or availability.
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