Embark on a small-group guided tour to Sidon, Tyre, and Maghdouche. Explore ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome and the powerful city-state of Sidon. Visit the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Awaiting. Enjoy a local lunch and convenient hotel pickup and drop-off.
Embark on a small-group guided tour to Sidon, Tyre, and Maghdouche. Explore ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome and the powerful city-state of Sidon. Visit the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Awaiting. Enjoy a local lunch and convenient hotel pickup and drop-off.
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Beirut - 8:30 AM — Departure from Beirut
A professional guide will meet the group at their Beirut hotel and travel south along the Mediterranean coastal highway towards Sidon, following the ancient Phoenician route that once linked the major trading cities of the ancient world. - Crusaders Sea Castle - Begin at Sidon’s most iconic landmark, a…
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Beirut - 8:30 AM — Departure from Beirut
A professional guide will meet the group at their Beirut hotel and travel south along the Mediterranean coastal highway towards Sidon, following the ancient Phoenician route that once linked the major trading cities of the ancient world. - Crusaders Sea Castle - Begin at Sidon’s most iconic landmark, a 13th-century Crusader fortress situated on a small island just off the coast, connected to the mainland by a narrow stone causeway. Its towers rise directly from the Mediterranean. As visitors walk through its vaulted halls, the guide shares the dramatic history of Crusader occupation, Mamluk sieges, and the Phoenician harbor that once made Sidon a powerful trading city. The sea views from the ramparts are among the finest on the Lebanese coast.
- Sidon Souks - Explore one of Lebanon’s most authentically preserved traditional markets, with narrow stone-vaulted alleyways where spice merchants, goldsmiths, fabric traders, and artisan workshops have occupied the same spaces for centuries. Unlike the restored souks of Beirut, Sidon’s old market remains entirely genuine, vibrant, and unchanged in its essential character since the Ottoman era. This sensory experience is often remembered as a highlight of any Lebanon trip.
- Soap Museum - Saida - Visit the world’s only museum dedicated to the ancient art of olive oil soap-making, a Sidonian craft practiced continuously for over a thousand years. Located in a beautifully restored khan within the old city, the museum traces the journey from olive grove to finished soap cake, showcasing the traditional methods that made Sidon’s soap famous across the Mediterranean and Europe.
- Khan al-Franj - Conclude the Sidon visit at the grand 17th-century caravanserai commissioned by Emir Fakhreddine II to accommodate European merchants along the Silk Road. Its wide arcaded courtyards, vaulted galleries, and carved stone facades make Khan el Franj one of the finest examples of Ottoman-era architecture in Lebanon.
- Al-Bass Archaeological Site - Arrive in Tyre and explore one of the most complete and atmospheric Roman archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. The Al-Bass complex reveals ancient Tyre in extraordinary detail, featuring a monumental triumphal arch marking the entrance to a colonnaded street that once lined the main road into the city, flanked by sarcophagi and tomb monuments from the ancient necropolis. Beyond it lies the Tyre Hippodrome, one of the largest ever built in the Roman world, seating up to 20,000 spectators for chariot races on its 480-meter track. Walking the full length of the hippodrome today, past the original starting gates and turning posts, offers one of the most immersive Roman experiences in the Middle East. The guide brings the full story of Phoenician and Roman Tyre to life within this extraordinary landscape of ancient stone.
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Tyre - Lunch in Tyre — included
Enjoy a well-deserved lunch at a local Tyre restaurant, featuring fresh Lebanese mezze and seafood served steps from the Mediterranean, with the ancient city as a backdrop. This meal is fully included in the tour price. - Basilica of Our Lady of Mantara - بازيليك سيدة المنطرة - The day’s final and most spiritually resonant stop is the hilltop village of Maghdouché, where Christian tradition holds that the Virgin Mary waited in a cave while Jesus preached in nearby Sidon. The name Mantara means “the one who waits” in Arabic, and the cave sanctuary here has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, revered by both Christians and Muslims across Lebanon and the wider region. The Basilica of Our Lady of Mantara stands above the ancient cave, and the panoramic views from the hilltop over the southern Lebanese coast and the mountains of the interior offer a serene and beautiful conclusion to a day that began at the edge of the Mediterranean in Sidon.
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Beirut - Return to Beirut — approx. 5:30–6:00 PM
Travel north along the coastal highway back to Beirut with drop-off at the hotel, completing a full day through the Phoenician, Crusader, Roman, and sacred landscapes of South Lebanon, with every meal already taken care of.

- Comfortable transportation
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Lunch
- Small group sizes
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Professional, knowledgeable guides
- Comfortable transportation
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Lunch
- Small group sizes
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Professional, knowledgeable guides
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
- Entrance fees
South Lebanon boasts some of the most remarkable historical and spiritual landscapes in the Middle East. This small-group tour combines the highlights into a single day trip from Beirut, with lunch provided and no additional arrangements needed.
Start in Sidon, one of the world’s oldest cities, featuring a 13th-century Crusader sea castle, the only soap…
South Lebanon boasts some of the most remarkable historical and spiritual landscapes in the Middle East. This small-group tour combines the highlights into a single day trip from Beirut, with lunch provided and no additional arrangements needed.
Start in Sidon, one of the world’s oldest cities, featuring a 13th-century Crusader sea castle, the only soap museum globally, a vibrant medieval souk, and a magnificent Silk Road caravanserai. Proceed south to Tyre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the Al-Bass Archaeological Complex showcases one of the most intact Roman urban landscapes in the Mediterranean, including a hippodrome, colonnaded street, triumphal arch, and ancient necropolis, all within one remarkable location. Conclude the day at Maghdouché, a hilltop sanctuary where the Virgin Mary is believed to have waited while Jesus preached in Sidon, honored by both Christians and Muslims. Three destinations. Three thousand years of history. Lunch is included.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.