Destination: Syria
LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: The Good Life
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Good food, good wines, good hotels.
Let’s start by checking in to Beirut’s cool Hotel Monroe. Breakfast is fine here, but lunch on superb Italian at La Posta and dine on modern-fusion cuisine at Food Yard. Stop at Jounieh’s Chez Sami for succulent seafood before an overnight stay (in a room with sea views) at Byblos Sur Mer in Byblos. Reserve a table for dinner at Bab El Mina.
Over lunch at Pepe’s Byblos Fishing Club pay homage to the ’60s jetset whose pics adorn the walls. If you like winters in Megève, you’ll love the lodge style of L'Auberge des Cèdres at The Cedars. Outside winter, take the mountain road to the Bekaa and the Ksara Winery, picking up some wines before heading across to Damascus.
In Damascus, a room with mountain views is a must at the Cham Palace where it can reserve Old Town for lunch and Elissar (p000) for dinner. Fly to Aleppo for an Oriental palace experience in the Diwan Rasmy hotel’s Governor’s Suite. Enjoy Citadel views over breakfast but lunch at Cordoba for tasty Armenian food. For dinner try Beit Wakil’s delicious cherry kebabs or Beit as-Sissi’s antique bazaar interior. True foodies should get an early wake-up call to line up with the locals on winter mornings for hot steaming bowls of the best fuul in Aleppo.
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