- Getting around Lebanon without a Car: What to Expect
- How to Get from Beirut Airport to the City Center
- Getting around Beirut: Minibuses, Taxis and Apps
- How to Travel from Beirut to South: Sidon and Tyre
- How to Travel from Beirut to Baalbek
- How to Travel from Beirut to North: Tripoli, Byblos and Batroun
- How to Travel from Beirut to Jeitta Grotto and Jounieh
- Places in Lebanon You Can’t reach by Public Transport
Getting around Lebanon without a Car: What to Expect
The public transport is not well-organized around the country, but you can get to most places by buses or minibuses. I’ll be honest though, traveling around Lebanon by public transport is a rather challenging experience. You will have to search for the right buses, often wait quite a while for the minibuses to collect enough people, try to travel back to your hotel during daytime not to get stuck somewhere with no options, etc. That said, it is very much possible to plan your trip independently. We managed to use public transport for most of our 10-day trip.
One more important note – minibuses drive like crazy. Speeding, over-taking other cars and sudden stops are very common, so hang on tight. You don’t need American mountains, the minibuses provide all the adrenaline you need 😊
By the way, the minibuses are not usually used by the few tourists who visit the country. We were the only foreigners using public transport throughout our travels in Lebanon. The only exception was the way back from Baalbek to Beirut, where we saw one other tourist. As a result of this, it was extremely difficult to find any information about public transport.
I will try to provide practical details on the sparsely available public transport we used. I also suggest you to enquire with your hotel to get updated information, if at all possible. Ours was not very helpful though, so don’t rely on this alone. Please, also note that prices in Lebanon fluctuate a lot due to the recent challenges. While I check the most recent ones, they are still only indicative.
How to Get from Beirut Airport to the City Center
There are various airlines flying to Beirut. The cheaper option is Ryanair, which flies from some European cities. There is also FlyDubai, which we took.
The airport is located south of Beirut and is not served by any public transport. So, your only bet is to either hire a transfer service in advance or haggle with the ones outside. We opted for the first option and paid 20 USD. That’s expernsive for a 15 min ride, but the options are limited. Their service was good, they met us with a sign at the airport and their cars are good. You can book the transfer via Viator.
If you try to take one of the taxis parked outside, they will try to ask for double or triple this price. So be aware and don’t pay more than 20 USD, which is a more or less the standard price.
There is also an option to get an Uber. They encounter certain restrictions at the airport however, so you may have difficulty ordering one from the airport. For this you will need to have internet. Given that sim cards at the airport are expensive and many mobile operators don’t provide roaming in Lebanon, your best option would be e-sim – check out Airalo. Our phones at the time didn’t support e-sim function, so we got a transfer from the airport and Uber on the way back to the airport. Uber cost us about 13-14 USD to the airport from Hamra.
Getting around Beirut: Minibuses, Taxis and Apps
In Beirut itself, there are minibuses that are cheap, however they drive like crazy – even more so than the minibuses to other parts of the country. We got on one of them once, that was a big mistake. He was driving with huge speed, which was scary considering that others drive crazy too and the minibus was very old. So I would honestly not advise to take these minibuses.
There is another quite cheap option – a shared taxi. The price as of 2025 was equivalent of up to 2 USD per person to go anywhere in Beirut. The catch here is that you need to tell the taxi driver “Servees” before getting into the car and make sure that he (we didn’t encounter any female taxi drivers in Lebanon) agrees. Otherwise, he will want to charge full price for the car. We used this option quite often inside Beirut – to and from Bus stations, as well as between the districts.
Somewhat easier option is to use the taxi apps – either Uber or Careem. They are of course more expensive than Servees, unless you travel in a group. On the other hand, they will give you a fixed price and you won’t have any negotiations with the driver.
How to Travel from Beirut to South: Sidon and Tyre
In order to travel to Sidon (Saida) and Tyre (Sour), you should go to Cola intersection in Beirut, a place where minibuses stop. It’s not a station or any sort of organized hub. It’s just an area, where minibuses normally depart from. When you reach the area, you won’t miss the right minibus you need to take, as the drivers are constantly shouting “Saida, Saida”. It takes about 1 to 1.5 hours, depending on the speed to get to Sidon.
Normally, you can’t directly travel from Beirut to Tyre by minibus (unless late at night). You will need to get to Sidon first, where you will have to switch to minibuses going to Tyre (Sour). It’s another 1 hour or so to get to Tyre from here. It’s difficult to tell the exact price at the time you would be visiting, as local currency fluctuates, but when we visited, each section was about 4 USD. Likely you will be paying more than locals, as the prices aren’t fixed.
On the way back from Tyre to Beirut, there are sometimes direct minibuses stopping at Sidon. We spent more time in Tyre than anticipated and arrived to the Tyre bus stop area by about 8.30pm. We actually had to wait almost an hour for the minibus to get full and leave. But at least we didn’t have to change minibuses and got directly to Beirut.
If you want to combine Tyre and Sidon with Magdouche and public transport options sound overwhelming, a small group tour is far easier.
How to Travel from Beirut to Baalbek
To travel to Baalbek, you will again have to go to Cola intersection and ask the drivers. As we found out, there are no direct minibuses to Baalbek – that’s what my research also suggested. Therefore, you should go to Chtoura first, where you will change to another mini-bus going to Baalbek. This isn’t very convenient, as you will also have to wait for another minibus in Chtoura until it collects enough passengers to leave.
The minibuses stop very close to the archeological site. Overall this will cost around 6-7 USD (depending on the lira exchange rate at the time).
While we did manage to travel by public transport to Baalbek, taking this route meant that we had to skip Anjar or go there another day. If you would like to combine Baalbek and Anjar, public transport is not a realistic option. A private driver is the main option.
This private tour provides a driver, but no tour guide. I personally am not a fan of guides, so I would choose this in order to walk around Baalbek alone – we loved being alone on the site, it was the best experience. It also provides a complementary airport pickup in Beirut in a 10-day range of the tour.
How to Travel from Beirut to North: Tripoli, Byblos and Batroun
Travelling to Byblos, Batroun and Tripoli is possible from Martyr’s square, which like the Cola intersection is just an area buses and minibuses stop at. Charles Helou station has been closed for a while now (no idea if they will reopen it). You have an option of taking big buses Tripoli. The stop at several locations, including at Batroun, the white beach area, Byblos, etc. The price was about 4 USD notwithstanding where you were going.
You will also find smaller buses, which are slower, but have many more stops along the coast. We took them to/from Jounieh, Byblos and Batroun and they were quite convenient.
To get off at the small coastal towns – like Byblos or Batroun – you have to ask the driver to stop on the main highway. Similarly to go back to Beirut, you will have to wait at any spot where buses can stop. This is certainly not very comfortable but it’s doable.
Note: one thing we noticed is that the Servees taxis to Charles Helou don’t work at the same rate. They wanted far more. We didn’t understand why, so we decided to find a point near this Bus station and tell them to get us there. After that we walked a few minutes to the bus station. Similarly, from Charles Helou we would get on the main road and get the Servees from there.
How to Travel from Beirut to Jeitta Grotto and Jounieh
Jeitta Grotto is not reachable by public transport. You can take one of the buses going north, get off at Nasr El Kalb and take an Uber or taxi from there, as no public transport goes up the Grotto. It was too much hassle to split the journey and then try to find the taxi mid way, so we ordered Uber from Beirut. At the time it was 16 USD. From the Grotto to Jounieh teleferic Uber was 8 USD.
From Jounieh you can go to the main road and get a minibus from there.
You can only combine Jeitta Grotto and Jounieh on one day if you opt for public transport/taxis. You simply won’t have time for more, as you will have to wait for transport and they aren’t fast. If you would like to add Byblos to your day itinerary, you can book a tour instead. Here is a highly rated private guided tour you can consider. There are also small group tours, which are less expensive.
Places in Lebanon You Can’t reach by Public Transport
Unfortunately, public transport is even worse outside of the spots I already listed. Therefore, we decided not to go to Bsharri and to the forests, as it was impossible by public transport. Your only choice are the tours, which are rather expensive. Here is a highly rated small group tour you can consider.
Beiteddin and Mousa castle also can’t be reached by public transport, so Uber would be a viable option. Alternatively, you can book the tours
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