Middle East - Anthony Ham [375]
Hotel/Restaurant al-Fanar ( 741 111; www.alfanarresort.com; d US$40, with sea views US$50; ) With its toes almost in the water, the location is the principal plus here. Run by a charming family, it’s also homely, peaceful and welcoming, with rooms that are simple but clean; rates include breakfast. There are two little terraces, a pub in the cellar and, outside, a tiny beach. The restaurant (open from noon to 10pm or later) overlooks the lighthouse and serves homemade food and fish dishes (three-course meals including mezze and a fish dish for two/four people come to around US$30/50).
Rest House ( 742 000; www.resthouse-tyr.com.lb; Istiraha St; garden view d/ste US90/120, sea view r/junior ste US$115/145; ) Large, bright, airy, tranquil, and with excellent facilities including a sandy beach, two pools, several restaurants and a pub, this makes a great place to rest (or dip) aching feet after a hot day exploring Tyre’s ruins.
Eating
Le Petit Phoenicien ( 740 564; Old Port; mezze LL3000-5500, fish LL40,000-70,000; noon-11pm winter, noon-2am summer) Also known locally as ‘Hadeed’, this place is widely considered the best in town for its fish, with a pleasant outdoor terrace overlooking the fishing harbour.
Tanit Restaurant ( 347 539; mezze LL4000, grills LL15,000; 10am-late) The atmospheric Tanit is popular with locals and UNIFIL troops for its bar as well as for its food, which ranges eclectically from mezze to stir-fries and steaks. The restaurant lies around the corner from the fishing harbour.
Tyros Restaurant ( 741 027; Rue Nabih Berri; mezze LL4500, grills LL6500-7500; 8am-late) This enormous, tent-like place is popular with the locals for its great atmosphere, a huge mezze menu and food at reasonable prices. There’s live classical Arabic music most Saturday nights.
There are a few fast-food places at the roundabout on Rue Abou Deeb, including the large and very popular Abou Deeb ( 11am-late), which serves good felafels (LL1200) and shwarmas (LL2000).
Getting There & Away
For Beirut, microbuses (LL2000, after 8pm LL3000, one to 1½ hours, every 15 minutes from around 5am to 9pm) go direct from Tyre. Large minibuses also travel from Tyre to Beirut (LL2000 to LL3000, one to two hours, 6am to 8pm depending on passenger demand).
The first bus from Tyre to Sidon (LL1500, 30 to 45 minutes) leaves at 6am from the roundabout north of the entrance to the Al-Bass site. The last leaves at 8pm, and they come about twice per hour in between.
A service taxi from Beirut’s Cola transport hub costs around LL7000; from Sidon to Tyre, a service taxi will cost LL4000.
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CHOUF MOUNTAINS
These spectacular mountains, southeast of Beirut, are the southernmost part of the Mt Lebanon Range. In places they’re wild and beautiful; in others they’re dotted with small villages and terraced for easy cultivation; throughout, they’re a beautiful place for a day or two’s exploration.
Beiteddine Palace (Beit ad-Din)
Located in otherwise unexceptional Beiteddine village, one of the highlights of the Chouf is undoubtedly the early 19th-century Beiteddine Palace (Beit ad-Din; 05-500 077; adult/student LL7500/5000; 9am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-3.45pm Nov-May), around 50km southeast of Beirut.
Sitting majestically on a hill, surrounded by terraced gardens and orchards, the palace was built by Emir Bashir, Ottoman-appointed governor of the region, over a period of 30 years, starting in 1788. It’s worth employing the services of a guide at the entrance (around LL10,000), since many of the palace’s most sumptuous rooms are kept locked, and only guides hold the all-important key. Otherwise, you’ll be reduced to tagging along behind another group, and hoping no one notices.
Meaning ‘House of Faith’, Beiteddine Palace was built over and around an older Druze hermitage. During the French mandate, the palace became used for local administration, after 1930 but, was declared a historic monument.