Beirut has been continuously inhabited for more than 5000 years and has been levelled by earthquakes, wars and, on 4 August 2020, by the detonation of 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in the port, which killed over 200 people and damaged half the city. The recovery has been carried largely by residents and volunteers rather than by the state, and that fact colours everything about the place.
The Corniche
The seafront promenade runs several kilometres along the Mediterranean and is where the whole city meets: fishermen, joggers, families, men smoking narghile, and swimmers jumping from the rocks. At its western end stand the Pigeon Rocks at Raouche, two natural arches offshore, best at sunset from one of the cliff cafes.
Downtown and the museums
The centre was rebuilt after the civil war by a private company in a way that remains controversial: elegant, restored, and largely empty of ordinary life. The Roman baths, the Mohammad al-Amin mosque with its blue domes and the adjacent Saint George cathedral stand within a hundred metres of each other. The National Museum is outstanding and was itself a front line during the war; its collection was walled into concrete to survive. The Sursock Museum, a 1912 mansion turned modern art gallery, was wrecked by the port blast and has reopened.
Neighbourhoods
Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael are the streets of Ottoman houses, bars and galleries closest to the port and worst hit in 2020; they are open again. Hamra on the west side is the old intellectual quarter around the American University, whose campus and its archaeological museum are worth an hour. Bourj Hammoud is the Armenian district, settled by survivors of the 1915 genocide, and has the best cheap food in the city.
Eating and going out
Beirut treats dinner as a five-hour event. Mezze in a traditional restaurant, then Mar Mikhael for drinks; the city nightlife survived fifteen years of civil war and has not stopped since. Manakish from a street bakery for breakfast costs less than a euro.
Practicalities
Taxis are shared service cars unless you specify otherwise; agree the fare first, or use an app. Electricity is intermittent and private generators fill the gap, so expect noise and check that your hotel has one. The economic collapse since 2019 has made prices unpredictable and cash in dollars is widely preferred.