Private Anjar, Baalbek Temple & Ksara Tour | Guided · From Beirut

5.0 (7 reviews) 8 hours Free cancellation Private tour

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7 reviews

5.0

Private Anjar, Baalbek Temple & Ksara Tour | Guided · From Beirut — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

Private Anjar, Baalbek Temple & Ksara Tour | Guided · From Beirut, photo 2 — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

The Bekaa Valley covers three completely different chapters of the ancient world in a single day — and this private tour is the most comprehensively interpreted version of this itinerary available. Expert local guides at both Anjar and Baalbek. A knowledgeable driver for the full day. Three stops that span 1,300 years of history — Umayyad, Roman, and Jesuit wine caves — all in the same valley.

Anjar: the only surviving Umayyad palatial city in the Levant — built by Caliph Walid I in the 8th century and abandoned within decades, explored with a local guide who makes this overlooked masterpiece impossible to underestimate. Baalbek: a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Temple of Bacchus is larger than the Parthenon — explored with a specialist local Baalbek guide whose depth of knowledge changes what you see. Ksara: Lebanon's oldest winery, founded by Jesuits in 1857, with 2 kilometres of Roman cave cellars. Tickets and lunch payable on site.

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At a glance

Duration: 8 hours
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–9
Guide: Arabic, English
Operated by: Beirut Daily Tours

Ages: Adults (0–99 years)

What is included

Included

Included: Knowledgeable English-speaking driver
Included: Private air-conditioned vehicle exclusively for your group
Included: Stone of the Pregnant Woman quarry stop
Included: Expert local guide at Baalbek temple complex
Included: Expert local guide at Anjar Umayyad ruins
Included: Hotel pickup and drop-off in Beirut

Not included

Not included: Lunch (optional — at own expense)
Not included: Gratuities (optional)

Itinerary

Beirut

Passing by

8:30 AM — Hotel pickup

Your driver meets the group at your Beirut hotel and heads east on the Damascus highway — over the Lebanese mountains and down into the Bekaa Valley. Anjar is about an hour away.
Umayyad Ruins of Aanjar

45 min Admission not included

Anjar — the Umayyad city most Lebanon visitors drive straight past

Built in the early 8th century by Caliph Walid I — the ruler who also commissioned the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem — and abandoned within decades, never rebuilt. Colonnaded streets, a palace with over 40 towers, a mosque, and bathhouses all still standing in the Bekaa plain. The only surviving example of a complete Umayyad palatial city in the entire Levant — and one of the most underrated archaeological sites in the Middle East. Most tour groups skip it entirely. Your expert local Anjar guide makes sure you understand exactly what you are standing in and why it matters as much as anything else you will see today.
Stop 3

15 min

Stone of the Pregnant Woman — scale check before the temples

A single limestone block, 21 metres long, weighing 1,000 tonnes, cut 2,000 years ago and never moved. Your driver explains the engineering logic — and why standing next to it recalibrates everything before you enter the temple complex five minutes ahead.
Baalbek Temple

one hour Admission not included

Baalbek Temple Complex — expert local guide

The greatest Roman temple complex on earth — with an expert local Baalbek guide whose knowledge of these structures goes well beyond what visiting guides can offer. The Temple of Jupiter on Trilithon stones each weighing over 800 tonnes — the largest dressed stones in human history. The Temple of Bacchus, larger than the Parthenon and almost entirely intact — the best-preserved Roman temple on earth. The Temple of Venus completing a complex that took three centuries to build. Having already seen Anjar with a local expert, the Roman world of Baalbek lands with even greater force — two civilisations, the same valley, two specialist interpreters making sure nothing is missed.
Baalbeck

one hour

Lunch in Baalbek or Zahle — optional

Lebanese mezze in Baalbek or at the riverside restaurant terraces of Zahle — Lebanon's most celebrated food destination. Optional and at your own expense. Your driver recommends the best options.
Chateau Ksara

one hour Admission not included

Chateau Ksara — Roman caves beneath Lebanon's oldest winery

Lebanon's oldest winery — founded by Jesuit monks in 1857 above 2 kilometres of Roman cave cellars where wine ages at a naturally constant temperature year-round. The cave tour connects directly back to the Roman world at Baalbek — same civilisation, same valley, different legacy entirely. Then a tasting of Ksara's iconic Cabernet-Syrah blends, crisp Blanc de Blancs, and celebrated Sunset Rosé. A day that opened at an 8th-century Umayyad ghost city closes in ancient Roman wine caves. The Bekaa in one day, interpreted properly.
Beirut

Passing by

Return to Beirut — approx. 6:00–7:00 PM

Drop-off at your Beirut hotel. A Umayyad ghost city, the world's greatest Roman temples, and ancient wine caves — two expert local guides, one complete Bekaa day, done properly.