Is Lebanon safe?
Lebanon is generally considered safe to travel to at the moment, however protests and political instability can quickly start. Lebanon has a history of war and conflict which often starts very quickly and becomes extremely intense. As recently as 2006 Lebanon was at war with Israel to the south, which saw the Israelis bomb major urban centres. Of course before that there was the extremely long and arduous civil war which took huge numbers of lives and destroyed much of the country.
With that being said, tourists are never the target of hostilities, and you’ll feel amazingly at home in Lebanon. The Lebanese people are extremely hospitable to foreign visitors, which often leaves you wondering how they can so easily come to blows with their own fellow countrymen.
In recent history, other than the occasional outburst of protests, its been a relatively safe and easy place to travel. You should always check the exact situation on the ground when planning on travelling there. Feel free to contact us to get up to date information.
How is the economic situation in Lebanon?
Lebanon is going through a very hard time at the moment. Years of political corruption and neglect has led to huge inflation and a currency which is decreasing in value every day. In much of the country electricity isn’t available 24 hours a day and residents rely on generators. Likewise queues for petrol and food staples are common now, especially since the huge Port of Beirut blast and the resulting instability. However, for most tourists their stay will be relatively comfortable, and hotels all have generators, though they often won't be in use around the clock. Because of the rate of devaluation of the Lebanese Pound, there is now a black market which you can read more about on our Money page .
Do I need a visa to visit Lebanon?
For most travellers you will not need a visa to visit Lebanon. Most passports can enter Lebanon for 30 days simply by arriving at the airport or crossing a land border. However, some passports do need visas. You can find out the exact details on our Visa page .
What language is spoken in Lebanon?
Lebanon is an extremely interesting place linguistically. While Arabic is the primary language, there is a huge percentage of the country’s population who use French as their first language. Likewise English is growing in popularity. You can find out more about language in Lebanon on our Language page .
What religion are they in Lebanon?
This is probably the most complicated question in Lebanon. Officially the Muslim and Christian populations are roughly even, with Christians having the slight edge, however this is based on the last census in 1932. Since then, it’s been too difficult an issue to conduct a new census. Unofficial statistics now believe that Muslims are roughly 60 percentage of the population and Christians about 30% with 10% other, including Druze. Of the Muslim population the divide between Shia and Sunni is roughly 50/50.
Do I need to take cash to Lebanon?
You definitely need to take cash and it’s best if it’s US Dollars. Euros are also widely accepted, as well as most major currencies, however, to be certain, US Dollars are still the king of hard cash. Not only will you get the black-market rate for Dollars, which is a lot bigger than the official rate, but it’s also safe just in case ATMs stop working or run out of cash given the current economic instability. You can read more about that here .
