It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the touristic route of rural Jbeil and Batroun. Discover majestic scenery in a land of small towns, villages and hamlets with impressive historic monuments. In this way, archeological, religious, natural, cultural and artistic treasures will be disclosed and defined. This guide aims to contribute to the growth, the development and the revival of the area. Thanking you in advance for visiting the area and contributing to its development, we wish you a pleasant journey.
This guide presents a touristic circuit around rural Jbeil and Batroun. Different types of tourism enrich this area (ecotourism, cultural, religious…). Maps and practical information will help you organizing trips around these localities depending on your interests and time. You may visit the entire route in one journey, or any way that interests you, it can take a week as well as a half day tour. We can guarantee that you will carry away a multitude of impressions and images that are unique.
The aim of this project is to expand economic opportunities in rural Jbeil and Batroun by supporting responsible tourism:
- Promoting the area as a tourism destination.
- Discovering different ways to enjoy rural and natural areas, as well as the richness of the quaint villages and towns.
- Exposing Lebanese to their cultural heritage and asking them to contribute in the development of the rural areas.
- Promoting, improving and offering by the women rural services responding to the needs of the tourists.
General history and information
The area we are focusing on is rich in distinguished archeological sites, varied landscapes and holy pilgrimage centers. This area knew civilization since the Stone Age when man inhabited its land a million years ago. We can still find ruins left by different periods and civilizations: Phoenicians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Persians, Hellenes, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans. In the highland of these districts forests stand out in their full majesty (pine forests, cedars…). Arts and handcrafts are still present in number of villages and widespread for instance: sculptures, needlework, sewing, knitting, embroidery, pottery, etc. There is also a variety of agricultural cultures: figs, grapes, olives, flowers vegetables, etc. and its related agro-food products: debs, olive oil, soap, all types of jam, etc.
How to plan your trip
You can choose your trip by destination, theme or date. We recommend you to organize your trip in assistance with the general guides of the whole route or the local guides in each village. These guides have received training sessions and courses in cultural heritage, guiding, hospitality skills.
The general guides can prepare for you a touristic package offering the places to visit, where to stay, activities and links with the local communities. They can coordinate the transportation for you and guide you along the villages selected. They speak Arabic, French, and English. The local guides may guide you in their respective villages. They have access to the historical sites and places to visit. They mainly speak Arabic but have technical cards with the information in French and English as well. These cards summarize general and historical information of each village, the sites to visit, local products, small businesses, rural activities and other useful information.