Lebanon’s incredible nature during summer

While less known globally than Beirut’s bustling nightlife, Lebanon’s natural beauty — from the sea to the mountains — is spectacular yet not regularly visited. Luckily, this means you can have plenty of one-on-one time with mother nature.

Lebanon experiences the full four seasons. Nature changes accordingly, offering everything from fluffy white snow to blooming spring flower, intense summer heat and kaleidoscopic foliage in the autumn months.

This summer, instead of spending my time clubbing, I spent weekends wandering the diverse natural scenes and hiking the many trails Lebanon has to offer. I was delighted and surprised that I had never taken the time to explore my small, but naturally diverse, country before. I share my weekend excursions with you all.

Fresh water and happy trees in Al Awwali river

Al Awwali is a river in the mountains south of Beirut, a little more than an hour’s drive. I found this trail online and decided to try it with two friends, especially since I hadn’t heard of Al Awwali river before. Starting from Bisri, the trail features impressive nature and tall trees, but we hiked for an hour without seeing any river. Eventually we believed it dried up, until we heard the sound of water and descended through a small path to reach it. Finding the river was such a delight. It was shallow and cool, and surrounded by happy trees. The environment was so welcoming that we couldn’t resist but to walk inside the shallow fresh water all the way back. At one point we bumped into people parking their cars by the river and making a BBQ picnic. But other than that, it was just us and the frogs — I really want to do this again.

A dark forest up in Al-Moukhtara

Al Awwali river continues up in the mountain to the town of Al Moukhtara, where the deep forest dramatically changes the river’s ambience. I found about this trail on the Shouf Biosphere Reserve website and decided to try it with my cousins. We started off on track, descending on a steep path and slowly entering the forest. Once we reached the river, I was impressed by how a river so happy becomes literally dark because of the high trees. At one point the river splits into two, and the walkable path was on the dry side. Once the 2 river paths joined again and water was flowing, we walked back on the flowing stream until we reached a a beautiful small pond. I’m quite sure very few people have ever seen this pond.

Reaching Tyr at sunrise

Tyr (or Sour in arabic) is a wonderful beach town 2 hours south of Beirut. We were crazy enough to wake up at 4am to reach Tyr for sunrise. We reached the city when everything was closed except the sea’s long tide. The city was ours.

Tyr has a long stretch of marvelous beach, perfect for a sandy jog. The quality of sand is superb, and the water stays shallow for a long while as you walk into the sea. Many of Lebanon’s beaches are unfortunately privatized, but Tyr was able to maintain a large, clean, public beach. In the afternoon, we had a drink and enjoyed the friendly vibes at Cloud 59, a lovely beach bar. Tyr’s old town is as charming as the sandy beach. We walked around the delightful old port, and contemplated at the old Roman ruins. Exploring Tyr’s tiny streets is rewarding: beautiful houses and verandas, a sweet old lady sitting by the porch having her cigarette, and paths leading to unique corners of the sea.

White rock formations in Naqoura

Driving further south of Tyr leads to Naqoura, the last town within Lebanese borders. Tyr’s long stretch of beach becomes a large expanse of impressive white rock. We laid in shallow shores of flat rock while speaking about life. The sight of the white rock mountain is breathtaking, and it seems possible to walk along the lower rim — quite an exciting activity that we missed out on. The clear blue beach and delightful rocks in Naqoura are very much worth the visit.

Note: non-Lebanese visitors need a permit to enter Naqoura

Magical Chouwein, a section of Ibrahim river

Nahr Ibrahim is one of the most famous rivers in Lebanon. It is 30 minutes north of Beirut, but driving an additional hour upwards points the way to Jabal Moussa, a vast mountaineous natural reserve with many trails to explore. The most popular trail leads to Chouwein, a stunning lake surrounded by trees. Reaching the lake requires an enjoyable 40 minute hike in the forest. On a Sunday afternoon in August the lake was crowded with uncaring people who threw garbage in nature, and some disrupted the serenity of the beauty with loud music. We walked to the river at the end of the trail, a marvelous and calm area. The flowing cold water was a very welcome treatment for a hot day.

Qadisha, an imposing valley

Qadisha is an immense valley with plenty of trees, secret caves, and a river that flows in the deep gorge. It’s near Becharre, a 2 hour drive from Beirut and high up in the mountains. We hiked a path that’s part of the Lebanon Mountain Trail and enjoyed the wonderful scenery and river that accompanied us. Every now and then, we walked across the bush to the river for interesting natural phenomena, like water dripping through plants hanging on the rocks, an incredibly gorgeous scene. After the hike, we drove back up to Becharre — the town scenically overlooks Qadisha. We bought beer and sat on a bench while admiring the views.

Jabal Moussa on a September afternoon

I noted earlier that Jabal Moussa is a big natural reserve which, among Chouwein lake, contains many other trails to explore. We went on a September afternoon to Mchati, a different side of Jabal Moussa. We were fortunate enough to witness an immense fog roaming between the mountains, creating a sublime scene.

Finding authenticity in Tripoli

Unlike Beirut, Tripoli has retained so many aspects of a historic Ottoman-peiod culture, with coffee houses punctuating its winding souks. We strolled around the vast old souks, which is by far the biggest in Lebanon. The vibes in the food souk are striking on a Saturday morning: sellers shouting prices and special offers, and customers searching for the best quality deal. In the tissue souk we saw workers completing meticulous hand work, sewing fabric while smoking their cigarette. There’s also a copper souk, gold souk, and probably a few others we missed. Throughout the souk, tiny side streets lead to scenes that satisfiy curiosity. We ate a cheese kaak (a form of sandwich) from the street and chickpeas from Akra, both of which were exquisite.

Catch a boat and explore Rabbit Island

After discovering Tripoli’s old souk, we went to El Mina by the sea and searched for a boat going to Rabbit Island (aka Palm Island), a natural reserve that acts as nesting ground for migratory birds. It’s open during summer only, so that animals can be themselves during the closed season. The boat ride itself is wonderful because of the clear water and excited passengers. The island offers a lovely sandy beach, and transforms into attractive white rocks on the other side. Both are worth exploring. We ended up laying in a rocky pool enjoying the view of Tripoli.

Biking in the largest cedars reserve

Barouk cedars forest is in Chouf district, south of Beirut, and is the biggest cedars reserve in Lebanon. The reserve takes good care of these long-living trees, some of which reached 2,000 years and are still alive and kicking. The reserve also introduced programs to plant new cedar trees, and people can even adopt a tree. We rented bikes on the spot and rode the 8km mountain bike track inside the reserve. Biking around these beautiful trees was a good workout, and stumbling upon a spectacular view over the Bekaa valley was a fantastic surprise.

See you in autumn!

I merely touched on the topic of rivers, lakes, beaches, and forests to visit in Lebanon. Even the places mentioned here will look different in autumn, winter, and spring. For instance, snow will dominate the Barouk cedars reserve come winter. There will be plenty to experience in coming seasons and I look forward to sharing them!