9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut Your driver picks you up from your Beirut hotel and heads north through the Dog River valley — its canyon walls carved with inscriptions left by Egyptian pharaohs and Roman emperors — toward Jeita Grotto.

Jeita Grotto — underground and completely worth it Walk into the mountain and the world changes. Jeita Grotto is a UNESCO tentative World Heritage Site and a top-five finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature — and for good reason. The upper cave is explored on foot through an elevated walkway where stalactites and stalagmites up to 8 metres tall create formations that look impossible and took millions of years to build. The lower cave is navigated by silent electric boat along an underground river through chambers of extraordinary natural beauty where the only sound is water dripping in the dark. It is one of those places that looks better in real life than in photos — which is saying something, because the photos are already incredible. Do not skip this one.

Arrive in Byblos — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth — and spend an hour inside the archaeological site that packs more history into a single walk than most countries manage in their entire territory. The 12th-century Crusader castle was built from recycled Phoenician and Roman stones — you can literally see the layers of civilisation in the walls. Inside: Neolithic foundations from 5000 BC, Bronze Age temples, Phoenician royal tombs, Roman colonnaded streets. Byblos gave the world its alphabet. Its name gave us the word Bible. Your driver knows the stories and shares them as you explore — turning what could be a confusing pile of ancient rocks into something that actually makes sense.

Byblos Old Souk & fishing port Step out of the castle and into the old souk — stone lanes, jewellery workshops, antique dealers, and the kind of cafés that have been open since before your grandparents were born. Follow it down to the ancient fishing harbour — wooden boats, medieval walls, Mediterranean light — and decide whether you want lunch here or just to sit and stare at one of the most photogenic spots in Lebanon for a while. Either is a good choice.

Lunch in Byblos — optional Waterfront table, fresh mezze, grilled fish, ancient harbour view. If you are going to have one lunch in Lebanon — make it here.

Return to Beirut — approx. 4:00–5:00 PM Coastal drive back to Beirut with drop-off at your hotel — completing a day that went underground, came back up, and walked through 7,000 years of history before lunch.