In the south of Lebanon lie the Phoenician port cities of Sidon and Tyre. Beyond these towns is a UN controlled buffer zone along the southern border with Israel, which is closed to visitors. Unless there is a particular security alert it should be possible to travel quite safely as far as Tyre. Our local agents are at hand to advise about this.

In Sidon, the highlights are the Temple of Echmoun, a Phoenician temple built in the late 7th century BC, the Castle of the Sea, built by the Crusaders on a small promontory, the picturesque Khan of the Franks, built in 1610 for French merchants and the Great Mosque which was converted from a church after the departure of the Crusaders.

The city of Tyre was badly affected during the war but the archaeological remains are impressive, most of them dating from Greek and Roman times. The best of these is the enormous Roman hippodrome with its picturesque location by the sea.