Mira's Guided Tours

Tripoli Old City Tour

The first tour is a guided tour of the old Tripoli that has often been compared to Cairo, the city with the largest Mamlouk heritage in the world. We will walk around vibrant souks, hidden Hammams, majestic mosques, colorful khans, stylish madrassas (Coranic schools), crafts streets, etc. The city was also once the capital of the Crusader county of Tripoli and the provincial capital of the Ottoman Eyalet (state) of Tripoli; we will come across some of the traces that remain of these periods too. Traditional Tripolitan lunch is enjoyed in the heart of the old city.

The Fairground, Mina Sea Side & Old Train Station

The second tour is a walk through the magnificent International Fairground of Tripoli designed by the renowned Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer’s, an avant-garde space built in the 60ies but was never completed due to the beginning of the civil war in 1975. In Mina, we’ll visit one of the most beautiful orthodox churches followed by a pleasant stroll through old Mina’s narrow alleys with more to learn about Tripoli and Mina’s history. Finally, we will discover the old train station with German & French trains dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.

Crafts of Tripoli

The third tour is a dive into the world of craftsmen and artisans of Tripoli. We will be walking all through the old city discovering and meeting the oldest and still functioning local crafts in the city.

My city has always been known for its artisanal sector, unfortunately many of the crafts are slowly fading away and dying. We will try through this tour to get to know the different remaining crafts, their stories, their techniques, their spaces and their challenges; then maybe with your interest and appreciation, we will be able to give the craftsmen some hope that their old tradition has the chance to still make it in this fast modern industrialized world.

On this day, we will encounter many kinds and shapes of olive oil soaps, colorful quilts, copper lamps, distillers and plates, wicker chairs, different wood and jewelry work and much more, and finally have a chat with our favorite artisan the oldest tailor in town ;)

- Tours in Tyre are led by Elissar Baalbaki a passionate guide & expert of Tyre’s history & monuments who has been leading tours for almost 18 years in Lebanon. After all, Elissar was a Phoenician princess founder and queen of Carthage.

Tyre’s history goes back to the third millenary (B.C.) as a Phoenician city state on the southern Canaanite coast, yet nowadays it is a city famous for its rich Roman/ Byzantine ruins. Therefore, our visit will begin at the Al Bass Site where we will explore the Necropolis, pass under the famous Tyrian Archway and continue our discovery to the Grand Hippodrome one of the largest of the Roman period. We stop for some relaxing lunch by the sea side (with a refreshing swim in the summer), then continue for the second part of our visit that focuses on The Maritime site with its Roman Baths, Palestras, markets, and streets paved with mosaic.

- Tours in Baalbeck are led by Charbel Saliba, a 3rd generation guide who has been working for over 20 years in the city where he was born and raised. Charbel probably knows more than anyone about the magnificent Baalbeck!

Also called the city of Baal or Heliopolis, Baalbeck is known for having one of the largest temples of the Roman Empire. We will enter into the realm of the ancient world by stepping into the breathtaking Temple of Jupiter with its still-standing columns, the Bacchus temple - dedicated to the god of wine - and by gazing at the Venus temple to fill our hearts with love.

We will also visit the famous Palmyra hotel that was built in 1874, and has hosted many famous people, including General De Gaulle, Nina Simon and German Emperor Wilhelm II. And finally, we cannot arrive to Baalbeck without witnessing the biggest stone in the world uncovered by German archeologists, and given the name of Hajjar al-Hibla - the pregnant stone - located in a stone quarry.

Organised tours are mainly on weekends. For private tours, you can choose any day of the week or the weekends.

Prices:

Group Tours For organized public group trips to Tripoli, Tyre and Baalbeck: Guided Tour

20 $ (34000LL) + 14 $ (24 000 LL) Bus fee from Beirut to Tripoli, Tyre or Baalbeck and back.

Private Tours

2-3 Persons: 170 $ 4-6 Persons: 50 $ per person 7 to 12 Persons: 40 $ per person For groups of 12 persons or more: 25 $ per person

This do not include transportation nor lunch Prices for private tours are negotiable :) Prices for group and private tours don’t include entrance fees

Payments are preferred to be in Dollars $ but Lebanese Lira is also welcomed of course.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mira Minkara for further information. [email protected] +961 70 12 67 64

Media Coverage:

Al Jazeera TV Reportage (In Arabic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9CaG_sy9kk&feature=youtu.be

LBC International TV Reportage (In Arabic) https://bit.ly/2IwjgUQ

Al Arabia TV Reportage (In Arabic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr1T4vmmFy4&feature=youtu.be

Lebanon Traveler (In English) http://www.lebanontraveler.com/en/magazine/Lebanon-traveler-The_Citys_Narrator_/?CurrentPage=1

CNN Inside’s Lebanon Forgotten Future Fairground (In English) http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/lebanon-tripoli-niemeyer/index.html

France info Radio Reportage (In French) https://soundcloud.com/miracoqui/miras-guided-tours-reportage-france-info-weekend-ailleurs-1801-tripoli-liban

Die Zeit Article (In German) https://www.zeit.de/2014/41/libanon-tripoli-reisefuehrer

Featured in ARD German TV 2016 (In German) http://mediathek.daserste.de/Weltspiegel/Weltspiegel-Reportage-Party-auf-dem-Pul/Das-Erste/Video?documentId=32789362&topRessort&bcastId=329478

Featured in O GLOBO (In Portuguese) https://oglobo.globo.com/cultura/norte-do-libano-abriga-obra-esquecida-de-oscar-niemeyer-13747979

Other Media Coverage could be shared upon request.