Home > Beirut > Anjar, Baalbek and Ksara Day Trip from Beirut
USD $95.00
Anjar, Baalbek and Ksara Day Trip from Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
Take a full-day trip to the amazing cities of Anjar, Baalbek and Ksara, and immerse yourself in a captivating world of Lebanese history. The cities of Baalbek and Anjar are famous mainly for their superb, excellently preserved ancient sites, such as Heliopolis and the Umayyad Ruins. Explore these eastern Lebanon cities with an expert guide and discover the Ksara Caves, home to Chateau Ksara -- one of Lebanon’s oldest and most famous wineries.
Leave Beirut in the morning with your professional guide and head to Baalbek, located approximately 50 miles (85 km) from Beirut. Upon arrival, take a leisurely walking tour around this ancient town. Marvel at the Baalbek Heliopolis, a group of Roman temples and other structures that are some of the largest and best-preserved examples of Roman architecture left in Lebanon. Discover the Temple of Jupiter and explore its impressive podium and a vast rectangular courtyard where sacrifices were carried out.
After a relaxing lunch of traditional meze (Middle Eastern small dishes) and tapas at a Lebanese restaurant (included), continue your day trip to the town of Anjar. After an approximate 1-hour journey by coach, arrive in this beautifully preserved city and walk through the souks (markets). With your guide, visit Anjar's Umayyad Ruins, a remarkable complex of ruins dating back to 705 AD. Experience the influence of previous cultures as you admire the city's Hellenistic-Roman architecture.
Next, leave Anjar and venture to Ksara. This magnificent village was covered by sand for centuries, and the well-preserved Ksara Caves were found by chance in 1898 by Jesuit priests. It is now the refuge of the well-known Ksara Chateau, where thousands of old wine bottles are preserved. Take a walk to the caves and learn about the various processes involved in wine production before savoring a tasting of exquisite local wines.
After your day trip, sit back and relax on the scenic drive back to Beirut.
Please note: Though the US Department of State has issued a warning against travel to Lebanon due to safety and security concerns, Viator’s Lebanon tours continue to operate with no disruptions. We are in frequent contact with our local suppliers and guides in Lebanon, and they report that all tours are operating as scheduled. Should the situation change, we will update this information and customers will be notified of alterations or cancellations to tours.
I am happy that me and my friends went to this tour. We sow the amazing Baalbek and the ruins from Anjar. If you can, ask for Natasha the tour guide she explained us everything about Lebanese history and culture. She was great!. The lunch was incredible and also the 5 stars restaurant. We are very pleased that we took this tour._br/_ P.S. the wine testing was nice also
Review by: SUYA J, May 2018
I really enjoyed it, but i thought the pacing was a little fast, I would have loved it more if I could leave the group and just wander around on my own more and meet up with the group later
Review by: Naila H, April 2018
It was a good trip.A good lunch n all tickets were included.
Review by: judewilson2010, April 2018
Brilliant tour! Informative and especially loved the wine tasting at the end! Will now look out for Lebanese Ksara wines in the future!
Review by: Steven B, March 2018
The tour was well organized and informative. My driver picked me up on time at the hotel I was staying at, and we were dropped off at the main offices and the tour began promptly. Our guide spoke excellent English, and was very informative about what we saw. The sites were extraordinary, and the meal served was outstanding. Our guide even handled one member of the group who was, to be charitable, very challenging! I felt this was an excellent value for the money. I also found the website to be accessible and easy to manuever around. I will definately look to Viater to see what is available on future trips.
Review by: Jack P, March 2018
Good guide, nice bus, good lunch. I wasn't a big fan of the wine but others were.
Review by: Simon B, February 2018
This is a well worked out trip and it would be difficult to get to Anjar and Baalbek from Beirut on public transport. Both are well worth visiting - and Baalbek is truly spectacular. The lunch was really delicious - delicious Lebanese specialities - and the Ksara wine-tasting a good pay-off. It seemed a bit rushed at Baalbek and I would have appreciated another 30 minutes to look around. We got back quite early too._br/_ But a trip that's strongly recommended and well worth taking._br/_ Simon B
Review by: Teresa D, February 2018
I've take Viator tours around the world. This was a good trip. A very wise and safe way to see the sites. I loved being in Lebanon. The people were nice and there were many tourists.
Review by: Ian W, January 2018
This tour was excellent - we saw so many wonderful sites and our guide Louise, was outstanding - very knowledgeable and engaging and also very considerate of all the needs and interests of tour participants. Lunch was great and the visit to the Ksara winery was an enjoyable finish to an unforgettable day. We should also complement the driver who was highly skilled and safely negotiated some challenging road conditions.
Review by: Cristina T, January 2018
It was a wonderful tour that covered a lot of Southern Lebanon. My only complaint was that it was a bit rushed towards the end and we didn't really get to enjoy the wine tasting as we were short on time and only had a few minutes at the winery.
Review by: edward b, December 2017
Be prepared for a long day. Baalbek is approximately 60 miles west of Beirut over mountains. It was interesting to see 4000 year old Roman ruins, and the venue is used today for an annual concert in July. Anjar is less interesting, and Ksara is a fast trip to a 150 year old winery. Our representative at the winery was a charming young lady who loves her work and loves good wines. She made the trip to Ksara enjoyable. Lunch was late :2:30. I would suggest that the tour operator adjust the schedule a bit and arrange lunch closer to 1 pm. The restaurant had strong incense burning, which some people might like but it spoiled my appetite.
Review by: Maria F, December 2017
Wonderful place...Love it
Review by: Sana A, December 2017
What a wonderful day spent in Lebanon through this tour! Our tour guide Natasha was excellent! I learned so much about Anjar, Baalbeck and Ksara. Nakhal the tour company was very organized and efficient. In fact, I signed up the next day to a tour to Byblos.
Review by: Maryam H, December 2017
Our tour leader was knowledgeable but not as friendly and welcoming as it was expected
Review by: VANESSA N, December 2017
This approximately nine hour tour was absolutely phenomenal. It was very educational and filled with lots of historical information. The tour guide was very thorough in explaining the pertinent facts about the sights. The tour company picked us up from our hotel and dropped us off at our hotel once the tour was completed. I have booked several tours through Viator when I travel and this one in Beirut was by far the best of the best. We not only saw Beirut, but others areas and towns in Lebanon. I learned more about Lebanon on this tour than I have learned in school and/or church. I highly recommend this tour, especially if you want to learn more about the country of Lebanon.
Review by: Aristeidis M, November 2017
Everything was more than expected. Amazing places . Safety . Amazing tour escort. The only think is that you cannot take as a souvenir the entrance tickets from the sites!!!!!!!!!!!
Review by: jochagnon, September 2017
Notre guide était fantastique! Étant archéologue de formation, elle était en mesure de nous transmettre des informations très pertinentes sur les sites, en plus de pouvoir répondre à nos nombreuses questions en français et en anglais. De plus, nous avons particulièrement apprécié le repas du midi mets libanais traditionnels qui était délicieux et de très bonne qualité. Cette expédition nous a donc permis dexplorer certains des sites les plus grandioses du Liban, de façon tout à fait sécuritaire et confortable, en plus de découvrir la cuisine locale et de pouvoir discuter avec une guide chevronnée.
Review by: Jane R, June 2017
Fantastic value and a safe,convenient way to visit two of the most impressive archaeological sites in the country. Ksara looks an interesting town - wish we had had a little more time there - but the lunch in Ksara was delicious and in a scenic location.
Review by: lucyoliver5, June 2017
A really enjoyable day trip from Beirut where you will see very old Lebanon at Baalbek, and pass the refugee camps of very new Lebanon. Our guide Madeleine was very good - she did the whole tour in English and French. Baalbek is just stunning - if you like your classical ruins this must be one of the best. Great lunch too.
Review by: ArabStallion, May 2017
Excellent driver and guide, beautiful historical Roman temples, excellent traditional Lebanese lunch, followed by delicious wine tasting, an amazing trip that is highly recommended!
Review by: Yevgeniy S, May 2017
enjoyable trip. wish we spent more time in Baalbek. just having 15 min at the end of the guided walk was not enough. _br/_ there was a mix up with my hotel pick up - i was told to be ready at 7.45am, which i was. at 8.05 i called Nakhal, was told we were there but could not find you, when i was sitting just next to the reception all this time. luckily they sent another driver to pick me up and we chased the main group. but i would suggest looking better next time for people who are waiting to be picked up after all, you have our mobile numbers. _br/_ lunch was great!
Review by: Priyanka G, April 2017
This tour came alive with interest, thanks to Natasha, our tour guide. She is, simply, the best tour guide I have ever seen (and I and #39;ve seen a few)_br/_ Natasha was knowledgeable about archaeology, places of interest, food, culture and just about everything. She was warm and friendly beyond her duty.
Review by: Johnny S, April 2017
Fascinating and excellent tour with a brilliant and knowledgeable guide. A lot to pack into one day and would have liked more time to enjoy each location but overall a great trip !
Review by: rhojaiban, January 2017
I'm a regular visitor to Lebanon and really enjoyed this tour. It was nice to not have the stress of driving and the driver and guide were lovely and very informative. The time in Baalbek was a little rushed, but extra stops were made along the way to allow us to enjoy some local snacks and sites. As is usually the case in Lebanon, the lunch that was provided was amazing. I would recommend this tour. It went off without a hitch!
Review by: Tamer S, November 2016
Excellent trip!
Review by: Tom S, November 2016
very good tour. I love it. The guide was good and very knowledgeable. the place was awesome, especially Baalbek.
Review by: Shaun C, October 2016
This is a must-see and must-do trip. Anjar and Ksara fun to see but the highlight by far is Baalbek. Stunning that so much of the original site remains. Go book it now!!!
Review by: Gregory A, October 2016
You must do this tour. Baalbek was incredible, 8th wonder of the world. Went to Zahle to have lunch, best meal for me, so fresh and amazing. Fancy too! Ksara winery was faboulius. Beautiful. Loved Lebanon so much when coming here.
Review by: N Kay C, October 2016
The tour was well organised and efficiently conducted. The guide was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Anjar is an interesting monument to faulty leadership but Baalbek is a stunning monument to Roman power and influence, even if misguided. To my mind, Baalbek is much more worth seeing than the Acropolis, although nowhere near as publicised. Ksara wines are excelllent and the story of the caves is of interest. Excellent Lebanese mezze for lunch.
Review by: fabianfantz, September 2016
Overall, the tour was great, very informative and insightful! However, I am not sure if the food served for lunch that day was sanitary as they were left in the open when we arrived. As we were rather late for lunch the food might have been sitting there for some time possibly. If so, that might have been the cause of my stomach discomfort and diarrhea the subsequent day.
Review by: John R, August 2016
If your going to do any tours in Beirut, do this one! Anjar in itself was an amazing place.. So big was the ruins and spectacular.. Baalbeck was even more breath taking with the Temple of Jupiter and Venus... the grand scale of the temples were mind blowing.... and Lunch was superb as was ksara! The caves were jaw dropping....
Review by: Timothy F, August 2016
I went with a structured tour out of safety concerns for the region, however, during the tour I received no inclination of anything out of the ordinary. It was fine throughout.
Review by: Clarissa P, June 2016
This was great! Baaalbek ws wonderful as was Anjar. The trip was organized and the tours were very detailed. By the time the winery came around, I was ready to go, it's a long day and felt rushed so i could have skipped that, but overall this was a great day of my overall trip to Lebanon.
Review by: ellesees, May 2016
Overall pretty awesome and worth the money. Our guide was amazing - so knowledgable and pleasant. Baalbek was simply amazing! We went on a Friday and had to do Baalbek before Anjar guide said other days it's usually Anjar first, which would have been a better build up. But I still thought Anjar is incredibly beautiful. Lunch was delicious and very efficiently served for our large group, although the 'river' is more of a canal, I'd say, but idillic nonetheless. Overall very satisfied. Would definitely recommend.
Review by: Cindy M, May 2016
Comfortable car, punctual pick-up, knowledgleable tour guide and amazing lunch. No complaints!
Review by: Ida S, May 2016
THIS IS THE TRIP YOU CANNOT MISS! IF YOU DON'T SEE BAALBEK, YOU CAN SAY YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LEBANON!!!_br/_ First, i have to tell you something very important. Most embassies will not recommend or will even forbid you the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek. IGNORE THEM! Lebanon is SAFE! on your way to baalbek, you will cross the refugees camps and a lot of check points of the army. Don't worry, you will not feel as a prisoner. They are nice. Just insuring that everything is ok. _br/_ Baalbek is the most well preserved site. The most impressive is Bachus temple, which is under restauration in this moment. Well, they are always restoring their heritage... _br/_ Anjar is a combination between roman, bizantine and islamic style. You will like it. _br/_ Ksara winery is a natural cave used during the war as a refuge for the people. you can taste sm very good wines there. _br/_ By the way, all your tours will be with Nakhal and you will love them! They are profesionals! Really profesionals!
Review by: Marwan M, April 2016
The guide made the visit remarkable. Madelaine was the perfect host, fluent in English, French and Spanish, as well as Arabic, of course, she was steeped in the culture and therefore able to help us get an insight into the world of Lebanon._br/_ The tour was remarkably easy, starting with collection at my hotel and transfer to the Nakhal offices, before transfer to a comfortable bus for our onward journey. Thankfully there was not this endless transfer round the local hotels picking people up, as this had already been done by a fleet of buses._br/_ On the way to Baalbek, Madelaine made us aware of the history and culture of Lebanon and the Lebanese people. The place is full of history, and with layer upon layer of civilisation it is difficult not to get overawed by the sites. Our first visit was to Anjar, which was established by the Umyadd in the 8th century. The ruins are very well preserved and give you a unique insight into the culture of the day. One can see Islamic culture, sitting alongside Roman design and Byzantine architecture. _br/_ Arriving in Baalbek one is taken aback by the sheer scale of the site. The famous pillars cannot be described with mere words and pictures and need to be seen up close to get the full sense of the place. The Temple of Jupiter, is said to be one of the largest Roman temples in the world. The expanse of the temple and that to Bacchus give a wonderful insight into the Roman and Greek worlds. Remarkably well preserved, despite war and many conquests, it was a remarkable opportunity to see up close the historic ruins. _br/_ Although a conservative area around the ruins did not seem to worry about wearing shorts and t-shirts, in spite of what is often said in the guide books._br/_ Having just about recovered from the tumultuous sites, we repaired to Zahle for a typical Lebanese lunch by the river. The tour company had arranged for superb range of meze and mixed grills all included in the price of the trip._br/_ Finally a quick stop at the Ksara vineyards
Review by: Brian W, February 2016
Well organized and tour guide very knowledgeable.
Review by: Nicole G, January 2016
This was my favorite tour of all! Baalbek was breathtaking! I would highly recommend this tour to everybody. The guide was great and very knowledgeable! The sites were all beautiful! Not much of a wine fan but it was still beat to see the Ksara caves.
Review by: Adelaide S, January 2016
Great trip with friendly and informative guide. Amazing sites to see!
Review by: Xin G, November 2015
Really Beautiful places! Nice and knowledgeable guide talks a lot about history and culture.
Review by: Oliver E, November 2015
An amazing day trip that was lead by a thoughtful, passionate and knowledgeable guide - taking you to places that would have been hard to access as a solo traveller. Highly recommended.
Review by: Daphne, November 2015
Great tour - however, guide Georgette has no good sense of time management. We arrived close to 6pm when normally it arrives earlier. Reason is we spend so much time in random places such as crappy stores, and then chase us on the major sights fishy. Also, the cave wine experience is unnecessary - we should have just spent more time wandering in Baalbek. But of course wandering in Baalbek doesnt earn commissions for them!
Review by: Elias C, November 2015
One of the most beautiful places on earth I have ever seen!!! Baalbek is spectacular and a must see in your lifetime.Good tour and the lunch was good as well.Downside was the transportation which was kind of uncomfortable and van was small.
Review by: Suzanne M, October 2015
The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable. The driver was good. It is quite a whirlwind tour with not that much time at the sites if you have a deep interest in the sites but enough time if you are simply interested. The lunch was nice, the car comfortable and overall, I think it was value for money. The one disappointment was the wine-tasting - it was rather rushed,with very little wine offered and the knowledge/attitude of the hostess was poor.
Review by: Patrycja W, October 2015
Baalbek is spectacular, if you can only do one tour in Lebanon, this is the one you should do. We have done a number of other tours with this company, they were all great, but nothing beats Baalbek.
Review by: pierre c, October 2015
Anjar est intéressant mais sans plus._br/_ Par contre Baalbek est gigantesque. Site imposant et qu'on ne peut absolument pas rater_br/_ Au sujet des caves de Ksara, la visite n'apporte rien mais la dégustation est agréable et intéressante. On peut acheter sans crainte dans le magasin de l'entreprise car les prix sont réellement intéressants.
Review by: Anastasia K, October 2015
Tour guide was fantastic, sites were beautiful. The tour company was great at doing pickups / drop offs. The scenery on the drive was great. I would have liked more time / detail at the winery, but other than that all good.
Review by: Sonya G, June 2015
Really enjoyed the tour. It was really great to stand where people stood thousands of years ago!_br/_
Our guide was Madeline. She was very knowledgeable about everything. _br/_
I had a couple of complaints about the trip, not really anything to do with Nakhal, but with the tour guide and the driver. The driver was an excellent driver however...it was a very warm day, in the nineties. Everyone was pretty hot. The driver was too cool so he kept turning the air down. When you have a van with every seat taken except one, on a ninety poise degree day, the air needs to be kept on HIGH! Our tour guide Madeline would aim the vent UP to the ceiling instead of back towards everyone._br/_
As we were walking into the entrance of Baalbek, Madeline pulled out her whistle and used it much throughout Baalbek. We are all adults and don't need to be treated as grade school students. I realize that we were on a timetable however, if you explain to people at the beginning that due to being on a time table that when you need to tell us some facts we need to be by to listen, it would probably work better. _br/_
All in all, it STILL was an excellent day trip and we would take it again. Would prefer to have georgette as our guide.llwe enjoyed her on our other day trip!
Review by: lk0085a, June 2015
My tour was great! We spent just enough time in each place and the lunch we had was amazing! My only comment would be that the drivers who picked me up and then dropped me off had no clue where I was and I had to give them directions and finally walk the last bit because they were so lost.
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