11:30 AM — Hotel pickup, Beirut Your guide meets you at your Beirut hotel after a relaxed morning in the city. The drive southeast into the Chouf Mountains takes approximately 45 minutes — pine-forested ridges rising steeply above the coastal plain as you climb toward Beiteddine.

Step into one of the most breathtaking palaces in the Arab world. Built over three decades in the early 19th century by Emir Bashir II — the ruler who brought Lebanon's warring factions under a single authority — Beiteddine is a masterwork of Lebanese craftsmanship. Three interconnected courtyards unfold before you, decorated with hand-cut geometric tilework, carved cedar-wood ceilings, and elaborately painted reception halls that once hosted diplomats, merchants, and Ottoman officials. Beneath the palace, an underground museum preserves the finest collection of Byzantine mosaics in Lebanon — floor panels of extraordinary colour and detail recovered from across the country. Today the palace serves as the official summer residence of the Lebanese President and hosts the internationally celebrated Beiteddine Art Festival. Your guide brings the full story of Emir Bashir — his alliances, his ambitions, and his legacy — to life within these remarkable walls.

A short drive brings you to Deir el Qamar — meaning "Monastery of the Moon" in Arabic — one of the most enchanting and best-preserved villages in Lebanon. Serving as the country's first capital under the Ma'an dynasty in the 16th and 17th centuries, the village square is framed by grand honey-stone mansions, a Druze palace, and centuries-old public buildings that speak to Deir el Qamar's former political and commercial importance. What makes the village truly remarkable is the quiet coexistence visible in its architecture — a mosque, a church, and a palace all within steps of each other, representing the layered religious and cultural heritage that defines Lebanon at its best.

Visit the elegant 17th-century mosque built by Fakhreddine II — the visionary Druze emir who forged alliances with European powers, expanded his territory from the Bekaa to the Sinai, and is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Lebanon. A rare and peaceful historic mosque open to respectful visitors of all faiths in the heart of a mixed Lebanese village.

Climb to the hilltop Maronite church that watches over Deir el Qamar from above — its terrace offering sweeping views across the rooftops of the village and deep into the Chouf valleys below. A quiet, contemplative final stop before lunch, with mountain panoramas that reward the short climb handsomely.

Lunch in Deir el Qamar — optional Linger over a long Lebanese lunch at one of Deir el Qamar's traditional mountain restaurants — stone-vaulted dining rooms and shaded terraces serving generous mezze spreads, grilled meats, and freshly baked mountain bread with views over the Chouf valleys. The perfect unhurried ending to an afternoon well spent. At own expense

Return to Beirut — approx. 5:30–6:00 PM Scenic mountain drive back to Beirut with drop-off at your hotel — a perfect afternoon in the Chouf Mountains, from a presidential palace to Lebanon's first capital.