Private Beiteddine, Moussa Castle & Deir el Qamar | Chouf Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. 9:00 AM — Hotel pickup Your guide meets the group at your Beirut hotel and heads southeast into the Chouf Mountains — pine-forested ridges rising above the Lebanese coast as you climb toward Beiteddine.

   Passes by

2. Beiteddine Palace — the presidential palace of Lebanon Built between 1788 and 1840 by Emir Bashir II — the ruler who unified Lebanon's mountain communities. Three interconnected courtyards with hand-cut geometric tilework and elaborately carved cedar-wood ceilings. Beneath the palace: Lebanon's finest collection of Byzantine mosaics — floor panels of extraordinary colour and detail in an underground museum that the majority of visitors walk straight past. Your guide makes sure you do not. Today the official summer residence of the Lebanese President — a building that is simultaneously a historic monument, a political statement, and an architectural masterpiece

   1 h

3. Moussa Castle — one man, sixty years, a full-scale medieval fortress Just minutes from Beiteddine — and completely unlike anything else you will see in Lebanon. Moussa Maamari spent sixty years building a full-scale medieval castle by hand after a teacher mocked him as a schoolboy. The result is a multi-storey fortress filled with hundreds of life-size wax figures depicting scenes from Lebanese history, village life, and Ottoman-era traditions. An entirely unexpected and genuinely delightful stop. Your guide shares the full story of Moussa — one of the most remarkable acts of personal determination in Lebanese cultural history — and the one stop that travelers consistently say they did not expect to enjoy as much as they did.

   30 min

4. Deir el Qamar — Lebanon's first capital Meaning "Monastery of the Moon" — a honey-stone Ottoman village that served as Lebanon's first capital under the Ma'an dynasty, one of the most perfectly preserved historic villages in the country. The cobblestone central square is framed by 17th and 18th-century mansions. Your guide explains the political and dynastic history of this village and its enduring significance to Lebanese mountain culture.

   30 min

5. Fakhreddine Mosque & Saydet el Tallé Church The 17th-century mosque of Emir Fakhreddine II — the Druze ruler who built an empire from the Bekaa to the Sinai — and the hilltop Maronite church with panoramic views over the Chouf valleys. A mosque and a church metres apart, four centuries of coexistence in a single hillside view. Your guide explains why this particular image matters so much to Lebanese identity — and what coexistence looks like when it actually works.

   15 min

6. Lunch in Deir el Qamar — optional Lebanese mountain mezze at a local Deir el Qamar restaurant — grilled meats, fresh bread, Chouf valley views. Optional and at your own expense. Your guide recommends the best local options.

   1 h

7. Return to Beirut — approx. 3:30–4:30 PM Drop-off at your Beirut hotel. A presidential palace, the most surprising man-made stop in Lebanon, and the country's first capital — the Chouf done properly, back by mid-afternoon.

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Cancellation

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

Reviews

Ratings come from 2 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 197 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