Things to Do in Baalbek

Baalbek crouches in the Beqaa Valley beneath snow-capped peaks, the air thick with pine resin and the diesel puff of produce lorries. At first light the honey-coloured stones of the Roman temples catch fire, throwing long shadows across the plaza where old men nurse thick Arabic coffee in porcelain thimbles. The town beats at a slower pulse than Beirut – the call to prayer ricochets between apartment blocks and card players mutter in dim cafés. What slaps you awake is the size of the ancient blocks, some pushing 1,000 tons, fitted with Roman exactness along the eastern rim of town. Modern Baalbek coils around them like a concrete scarf: 1950s flats shoulder Ottoman houses, satellite dishes sprout above stone roofs. Dusk drops cool air from the mountains, generators cough alive, and charcoal smoke drifts from roadside shawarma stalls.

Restaurants cluster in two zones: cheap shawarma joints along Zahle Road that undercut Beirut prices, and pricier tables near the temples aimed at tour buses. Abu Ahmad on al-Moutran Street dishes the city’s finest kibbeh nayeh – order it with fresh mint and raw onion. For a splurge, Atlas Restaurant by the Palmyra grills meats while the temples glow under spotlights. Juice stalls at the main roundabout squeeze thick, tart pomegranate when in season. Duck into the bakery off the souk for saj bread blistered with zaatar and cheese on a griddle that looks older than the temples themselves.

April to early June brings warm days and wildflowers in the fields, though showers can ambush you. September and October mean harvest: the air reeks of crushed grapes and roadside stills sell fresh arak. Summer is hot and dry, yet the altitude keeps it cooler than Beirut – pack a jacket for nights when the temperature plummets. Winter snow drapes the temples in white but turns mountain roads treacherous, and smaller cafés shut until spring.