Byblos

Tickets and tours: all the options

Entry to the archaeological site is by a single ticket bought at the castle, which is the only way in. It covers the Crusader castle and the excavated area around it. Fees are modest and paid in cash; since the currency crisis prices have been quoted in Lebanese pounds or dollars, so carry both. Guides wait at the entrance and are well worth hiring, since signs are few and the layers are hard to read alone. The souk, the harbour and the church of St John are free.

Tours sold online almost always combine Byblos with the Jeita Grotto, a limestone cave system with an underground river, and the hilltop shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon at Harissa with its cable car. Group versions include a guide, transport and usually lunch by the harbour. Private tours add flexibility and sometimes Batroun, a small coastal town further north. Entry fees at Jeita and Byblos are sometimes extra, so check.

For most visitors the combined day from Beirut is the sensible choice, since it handles transport and avoids Jeita's queues. If you want more time at Byblos, go on your own by bus or taxi, hire a guide at the gate and stay for sunset at the harbour.

A short history

People first settled at Byblos between about 8800 and 7000 BC, and it has been lived in continuously since around 5000 BC. A town grew in the 3rd millennium BC and traded cedar to Egypt, appearing in Egyptian records from the reign of Sneferu. As the Phoenician city of Gebal it gave the Greeks their word for papyrus, and so our word Bible. It later passed through Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman hands. Ernest Renan made the first excavations in 1860, followed by Pierre Montet from 1921 and Maurice Dunand from 1925 for forty years. UNESCO listed Byblos in 1984.

Getting there

Byblos lies 42 km north of Beirut on the coastal highway. Beirut airport, the only international one, is about 50 km away, an hour or more by taxi depending on traffic. Buses and minibuses heading north to Jbeil, Batroun and Tripoli leave from the Dora and Charles Helou areas of Beirut and drop passengers on the highway at Jbeil; the old town and site are a walk of about 15 minutes towards the sea. A taxi or ride-hailing car from Beirut takes 40 minutes to an hour. Drivers can park in paid car parks near the old souk. Check current travel advice for Lebanon before planning a trip.

Rules and what to bring

Do not climb on ruins or the castle walls outside marked routes, and keep away from unfenced tomb shafts. Drones need permission. Bring water, a hat and sunscreen, as shade is limited, and wear shoes with grip for uneven stone and steep castle stairs. There are toilets near the entrance. Cafes and fish restaurants line the harbour and the souk, a short walk away, so there is no need to bring food.

When to go

Byblos is busiest at weekends and on Lebanese holidays, when families from Beirut come for lunch at the harbour, and from late morning when day tours arrive from Jeita. Weekday mornings are calmest. Late afternoon is the best time for photographs of the castle and the sunset over the harbour.

Spring, from April to June, and autumn, from September to November, are the most pleasant seasons: warm, clear and green. July and August are hot and humid on the coast, so visit early. Winter brings rain and shorter opening hours but very few visitors. In summer the Byblos International Festival holds concerts on a stage by the sea, which can make the old town crowded in the evening. Allow two hours for the ruins, and add an hour or two for the souk, the church and the harbour.