Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2025, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.4 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the twelfth-largest city in the Levant region and the sixteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Beirut
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs leading to bachelor's, master's, MD, and PhD degrees.
2.2 km · private university in Lebanon · Wikipedia - 02National Museum of Beirut
The National Museum of Beirut is the principal museum of archaeology in Lebanon. The collection begun after World War I, and the museum was officially opened in 1942.
2.4 km · museum in Lebanon · Wikipedia - 03Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque
The Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, also referred to as the Blue Mosque, is a Sunni mosque, 72 m high, minarets´ roof of 65 m high and main dome spire of 48 m high and its roof 42 m, is located in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. In the 19th century, a zawiya was built on this site.
300 m · Muslim mosque · Wikipedia - 04Saint Joseph University of Beirut
Saint Joseph University of Beirut is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Government of France during the time when Lebanon was under Ottoman rule. As the oldest French university in Lebanon, it promotes Lebanese culture and upholds a policy of equal admission opportunity without consideration of ethno-religious affiliations.
1 km · private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon · Wikipedia - 05Lebanese University
The Lebanese University is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951.
8 km · Lebanese public university · Wikipedia - 06Holy See of Cilicia
The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon.
7.7 km · Canonical See of the Armenian Apostolic Church · Wikipedia - 07Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut and its dependencies. It is the city's oldest extant church: it has been built over the disappeared Anastasi Romano-Byzantine Cathedral.
200 m · church and museum in Beirut · Wikipedia - 08Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium
Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 49,500 seats, located in the Bir Hassan area of Beirut, Lebanon. The stadium, equipped with athletics facilities, is the largest in the country, and is mostly used for football matches.
3.5 km · multi-purpose stadium in Beirut · Wikipedia - 09Sursock Museum
The Sursock Museum, officially known as the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, is a modern and contemporary art museum in Beirut, Lebanon.
1.1 km · modern art and contemporary art museum in Beirut, Lebanon · Wikipedia - 10Lebanese National Library
The Lebanese National Library, located in Beirut, is the national library of Lebanon. It closed to the public in 1979 due to the Lebanese Civil War, and its surviving collections were placed in storage.
1.5 km · Library in Beirut, Lebanon · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Beirut was once the self-proclaimed "Paris of the Middle East". It still has an outdoor cafe culture, and European architecture can be found everywhere. Many Beirutis (as well as other Lebanese) speak French, English or both, to varying degrees, along with Arabic. Each district has its own sights and places to visit.
- 01National Museum of Beirut
The museum in South Ashrafieh has artefacts ranging in date from prehistoric times to the medieval Mamluk period mainly dealing with Lebanon's archeology and history.
- 02Sursock Museum
The museum in Ashrafieh exhibits contemporary and modern art.
- 03The Silk Museum - Bsous
This might be good if you are into the silk industry.
From Wikivoyage: Beirut, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
There are many things to do in Beirut. Check the different districts to find out what each has to offer. Meanwhile, here are a few highlights: Bet on an Arabian thoroughbred every Sunday in the Beirut Hippodrome, officially called Hippodrome Du Parc De Beyrouth. The hippodrome is home to popular horse races, attracting a dedicated betting crowd (often old taxi drivers).
- 01Ramlet Al-Baida
There is one at least one public beach though, right here.
From Wikivoyage: Beirut, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Lebanese cuisine is a mix of Arab, Turkish and Mediterranean influences, and enjoys a worldwide reputation for its richness and variety as well as its Mediterranean health factor. Olive oil, herbs, spices, fresh fruits and vegetables are commonly used, as well as dairy products, cereals, fishes and various types of meat.
From Wikivoyage: Beirut, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Beirut
- Airports
- Beirut Rafic Hariri (BEY), 9 km · Damascus (DAM), 108 km · Larnaca (LCA), 204 km
- Stations
- Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, 8.7 km · Port of Beirut, 1.2 km
- Damascus → Beirut85 km · quickest by road, 1h 59m · $9–12
- Amman → Beirut219 km · quickest by road, 4h 35m · JD12–16
- Larnaca → Beirut206 km · quickest by road, 16h 48m · €90–125
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Beirut
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Beirut. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inPublic transport There are regular public minivans (usually every five-ten minutes) that go to the Downtown area and to the Charles Helou Station from the airport.
- Get aroundService [ser-vee-s] are shared-taxis, the same taxis as above but shared between four or more people.
- Get aroundThe OCFTC that operates a fleet of blue and white city-buses, and the LCC with a fleet of red and white minibuses; Bus fares cost either LL500 (OCFTC bus 24) or LL1000.
From Wikivoyage: Beirut, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
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If you know how people move in Beirut – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Beirut
Beirut is 2 km from Ra’s Bayrūt, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Baabdacity in Lebanon7.9 km
- Matn Districtdistrict of Lebanon6.6 km
- Bourj Hammoudtown and municipality in Lebanon3.2 km
- Baabda Districtdistrict of Lebanon7.8 km
- Anteliascity in Lebanon8.3 km
- Dahyehsouthern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon5.4 km