Beirut

9:00 AM — Departure from Beirut Your private guide and driver collect you from your Beirut hotel and head southeast into the Chouf Mountains — pine-forested ridges rising steeply above the coastal plain as you climb toward Beiteddine. Arriving early means the palace is at its quietest and most atmospheric.

Arrive at one of the most magnificent palaces in the Arab world while the morning light still falls at its most flattering angle on the carved stone facades — the best possible time to experience a building this beautiful. Built between 1788 and 1840 by Emir Bashir II — the ruler who brought Lebanon's fractured communities under a single authority — Beiteddine is a masterwork of Lebanese craftsmanship. Three interconnected courtyards connected by vaulted arches are decorated with hand-cut geometric tilework, carved cedar-wood ceilings, and elaborately painted reception halls. Beneath the palace, an underground museum preserves Lebanon's finest collection of Byzantine mosaics — floor panels of extraordinary colour and detail recovered from sites across the country. Your guide brings the full story of Emir Bashir and the palace he built to life in a way that stays with you long after you leave.