Private Baalbek, Saint Thomas & Ksara Winery Tour | from Beirut

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. 9:00 AM — Hotel pickup Your driver meets the group at your Beirut hotel and heads east on the Damascus highway — over the Lebanese mountains and into the Bekaa Valley. First stop is Chateau Saint Thomas, about an hour away.

   Passes by

2. Chateau Saint Thomas — high-altitude precision winemaking Begin at Chateau Saint Thomas — a respected family-owned estate producing wines from vineyards at over 1,000 metres altitude in the Bekaa. High elevation and cool nights create growing conditions of real complexity — wines that earn international medals and consistently surprise visitors who arrive expecting something more modest. The guided cellar tour covers the winemaking process before a tasting of the estate's acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon, full-bodied red blends, and elegant whites. A quiet, confident opener that sets the right tone before Baalbek.

   1 h

3. Stone of the Pregnant Woman — before the temples A single limestone block, 21 metres long, weighing 1,000 tonnes, cut 2,000 years ago and never moved. Your driver explains the engineering logic — and why standing next to it recalibrates your sense of what is waiting five minutes ahead at the temple complex.

   15 min

4. Baalbek Temple Complex — expert local guide The greatest Roman temple complex on earth — with an expert local guide who knows these structures at a depth that visiting guides cannot match. The Temple of Jupiter on Trilithon stones each weighing over 800 tonnes. The Temple of Bacchus — larger than the Parthenon, almost entirely intact, the best-preserved Roman temple on earth. The Temple of Venus completing a complex that took three centuries. After a morning at a high-altitude winery in the same valley, the Roman scale of Baalbek hits differently — your guide makes the connections between the valley's ancient and modern production of exceptional things.

   1.5 h

5. Lunch in Baalbek or Zahle — optional Lebanese mezze in Baalbek or at the riverside terraces of Zahle — Lebanon's most celebrated food destination. Optional and at your own expense. Your driver recommends the best options for the group.

   1 h

6. Chateau Ksara — Roman caves, Lebanese wine, founded 1857 End the day at Lebanon's oldest winery — founded by Jesuit monks in 1857 above 2 kilometres of Roman cave cellars where wine ages at a naturally constant temperature year-round. After the temples of Baalbek, these Roman tunnels feel like a continuation rather than a new stop — the same civilisation, the same valley, a completely different kind of monument. A tasting of Ksara's iconic Cabernet-Syrah blends, crisp Blanc de Blancs, and celebrated Sunset Rosé closes a day that started with Lebanese wine, peaked at Rome's greatest achievement, and ends underground. Done properly.

   1 h

7. Return to Beirut — approx. 6:00 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel. Wine, temples, Roman wine caves — the Bekaa Valley as one coherent story, from the morning's first cellar tour to the afternoon's last tasting. Done properly.

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Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 1 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Beirut

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 442 experiences we list in Beirut.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 281 of 442.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Beirut

Beirut is Lebanon's capital on a Mediterranean headland, a Phoenician port city with Roman remains and mountains rising close behind.

Beirut juts into the Mediterranean on a rocky headland, with the snow-streaked peaks of Mount Lebanon rising behind. Founded by the Phoenicians, it became the Roman city of Berytus, famed for its school of law, and the remains of Roman baths lie in the city centre. The Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, with its blue domes, and the nearby churches of St George show the mix of faiths.

Top-ranked sights in Beirut: Jeita Grotto, Our Lady of Lebanon (Notre Dame du Liban), Byblos (Jbeil).

See all 442 experiences in Beirut