Things to Do in Tripoli

Khan al-Saboun soap museum and workshop

Steam and rose oil thicken the air inside a 14th-century Mamluk khan off Souk al-Haraj. Workers fling pale-green olive-oil slabs onto marble tables. Brass seals clink like coins as they stamp each bar. The attached showroom glitters with honey-colored bars stacked to the vaulted ceiling. The scent is so pure your throat catches on lavender.

Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles at dawn

The Crusader fortress glows pink at the first call to prayer. Climb the narrow spiral in socked feet. Cloth shoe-covers provided. You pop onto battlements where sea breeze tastes of salt and diesel. Tripoli spreads below like terracotta mosaic. Minarets poke through morning mist.

Sweet crawl along Hallab and Rafaat in al-Mina

Start at Hallab's original branch. Bakers pour syrup strings over semolina. Sizzle arrives before the trays. Walk two blocks to Rafaat for knefeh bil-jibneh on sesame buns. The baker slams his metal spatula to keep the queue moving. Cardamom coffee comes in doll-sized cups that scald fingertips.

Al-Mina fishing harbour sunset

Blue wooden trawlers nuzzle the pier. Diesel mingles with brine and grilled prawn smoke. Fishermen mend nets. Radios leak Fairuz songs. Kids dive off rusted ladders. Water slaps under stone arches. Buy a paper cone of fried smelt doused in lemon-pepper salt for the price of bus fare.

Souk al-Bazerkan textile lanes

Tailors' scissors ring like tiny bells over Egyptian cotton and Syrian silk. Light shafts catch floating thread fibers. Air smells of new dye and strong mint tea in gold-rimmed glasses. You'll stumble onto a back room where elderly women hand-stitch Palestinian thobes with silver thread that snags your sleeve.

Al-Mina waterfront - sleep above fishing boats to the sound of gulls at dawn

Al-Tal roundabout - mid-range hotels above pastry shops, walking distance to souks

Wardiyeh hillside - quiet leafy guesthouses with citadel views, cooler summer air

Souk al-Haraj lane - budget rooms in Ottoman houses, expect creaky beams

Abu Samra inland - modern chain hotels if you need parking and elevators

Al-Qobbé riverfront - family apartments, good if you're self-catering