Middle East - Anthony Ham [373]
Al-Qualaa Hotel ( 734 777; www.alqualaa.com; Port Rd; s/d US$65/70; ) Sidon’s nicest accommodation lies on the main road in front of the town port, in a beautifully restored building. Ask for a room with a sea view to make the most of a stay in this light-and antique-filled place. There are also a couple of lovely rooftop cafés.
Rest House ( 722 469; mezze LL4000-6000, grills from LL10,000; 11am-11pm) On the seafront overlooking the Sea Castle and the lapping waves, this upscale government-owned restaurant in an old Ottoman khan has a pleasant, shaded garden terrace and a long menu of tasty mezze.
Al-Qualaa Hotel has a great rooftop café, with nice mezze lunches (mezze around LL3000 per portion) and soothing nargilehs for rent, open daily from 8am to late. For cheap eats, the strip beneath the hotel is filled with felafel, seafood and mezze joints, one of the most popular being Abou Ramy (felafel from LL2500; 8am-9pm). Otherwise, delve into the souq and follow your nose to find yourself dining on fresh food with ancient men in equally ancient surroundings.
Getting There & Away
TO/FROM BEIRUT
Buses and service taxis from Beirut to Sidon leave from the Cola transport hub. To Sidon, OCFTC buses (LL1000, one hour, every 10 minutes from 6am to 8pm) leave from the southwest side of the Cola roundabout. Zantout ( 03-223 414) also runs 14 express buses daily, roughly hourly from 6am to 9pm (LL1500, 30 minutes). Minibuses (without air-con) to/from Sidon leave every 10 to 15 minutes from 6.30am to 8.30pm and cost LL1000/1500 for day/evening trips, and service taxis cost LL2500. In Sidon, buses depart from the Lebanese Transport Office at Saahat an-Nejmeh, and service taxis from the service taxi stand just across from the roundabout.
TO TYRE
The Zantout bus from Sidon to Tyre (LL750, 45 minutes to one hour, roughly hourly from 6am to 7.30pm) leaves from the Lebanese Transport Office at the southern end of the town on Rue Fakhreddine, the continuation of Rue Riad as-Solh, near the Castle of St Louis. A service taxi from Sidon to Tyre costs LL3500 and a minibus costs LL1000 (both leaving from Saahat an-Nejmeh).
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TEMPLE OF ECHMOUN
About 2km northeast of Sidon, this temple (admission free; 8am-dusk) is Lebanon’s only Phoenician site boasting more than mere foundations. Today it contains the remains of temples and shops as well as some interesting mosaics (although most are damaged).
Begun in the 7th century BC, the temple complex was devoted to Echmoun, god of the city of Sidon, and other buildings were later added by the Persians, Romans and Byzantines. Today, the highlight of the site is undoubtedly the throne of Astarte, flanked by two winged sphinxes.
From Sidon you can take a taxi (LL6000), service taxi (LL1000) or minibus (LL500) to the turn-off on the highway at the funfair, then walk a pleasant, orchard-lined 1.5km to the ruins.
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TYRE (SOUR)
07 / pop 142,755
Famous most notoriously for its local hero Hassan Nasrallah and, most scenically, for its extraordinary Roman ruins, Tyre is an oft-troubled town filled with an abundance of both UN soldiers and Unesco World Heritage sites.
Tyre’s origins date back to its foundation in approximately 2750 BC, after which it was ruled by the Egyptians and then the famous King Hiram (who sent cedar wood and skilled workers to Jerusalem so that the Hebrew King Solomon could build the Temple of Jerusalem) under whom it prospered. Later colonised variously by the Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, Greeks, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans, Tyre began to languish from the 13th century onward and, despite many attempts, never quite recovered its former glory.
Every time the city attempts to get to its feet following disaster it seems to be struck down by a new catastrophe. Though it’s generally proved safe to visit in recent times, be sure to heed local travel warnings, and it makes sense to avoid Palestinian refugee camps unless you’re with