Private Car - Jeita Grotto, Byblos & IXSIR Winery - Full-Day tour from Beirut

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Jeita Grotto, 20 km North of Beirut, Jitta Lebanon

Explore Jeita Grotto, a compound of crystallised caves located 20 kilometres north of Beirut in the Valley of Nahr Al Kalb. This grotto is made up of two limestone caves, upper galleries and a lower cave through which a 6230 m long river runs. Jeita Grotto consists of two separate, but interconnected, limestone caves, and boasts a length of 5.6 miles (9km).

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Byblos, Lebanon

Visit Byblos, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and learn about the history of many civilizations from the Phoenician who considered it a city of great antiquities. Modern scholars say that the site of Byblos goes back at least 7,000 years. It is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 20 miles (30 km) north of the modern city of Beirut.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: IXSIR, Bezbina, Lebanon

The name IXSIR derives from “Iksir”, the original Arabic word for “Elixir”, a word common to many languages, defining the purest form of all substances, a secret potion that grants eternal youth and love. Ixsir is a Lebanese wine established in 2008 with a beautiful winery located just outside Batroun, North of Lebanon. Nestled in the mountains of Batroun, Ixsir occupies a large piece of land where an old house stands out on the highest level.

Lebanon’s topography is favourable for wine production as it consists of mountains, valleys, and coastal areas that are hospitable to many different grape varieties. Ixsir cultivates its wine grapes in several different zones, including Batroun in the North, Jezzine in the South, and the Bekaa Valley in the East. Ixsir produces a wide spectrum of grape varieties, from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, and Viognier, Muscat (grape and wine), Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay and Sémillon.

Discover IXSIR’s unique, sustainable wine-making process and have an opportunity to taste a range of wines.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Byblos Castle, Byblos Lebanon

Byblos Castle is a Crusader castle in Byblos, Lebanon. In Crusader times it was known as the castle of Gibelet or Giblet. The castle was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century from indigenous limestone and the remains of Roman structures. The finished structure was surrounded by a moat. It belonged to the Genoese Embriaco family, whose members were the Lords of Gibelet. Saladin captured the town and castle in 1188 and partially dismantled the walls in 1190. Later, the Crusaders recaptured Byblos and rebuilt the fortifications of the castle in 1197. In 1369, the castle had to fend off an attack from Cypriot vessels from Famagusta.

The Byblos Castle has distinguished historical buildings for neighbours. Nearby stand a few Egyptian temples, the Phoenician royal necropolis and the Roman amphitheatre.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Byblos Port, Byblos Lebanon

Byblos Port is an ancient port in Byblos, Lebanon and is believed by the Lebanese to be the oldest port in the world. Around 3000 BC, Byblos Port was the most important timber shipping centre in the eastern Mediterranean. It was used by the Phoenicians to ship their local wine, Cedars of Lebanon and other wood to the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt to be used in tomb construction and shipbuilding.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Old Souk, Byblos Lebanon

Built during the Ottoman reign, the market is a show of their economic spirit. It was made up of several khans (inns), shops and horse stables.

Duration: 15 minutes