I made every possible mistake on my first trip to Beirut. Showed up with euros. Ordered a main course at a mezze restaurant. Tried to go out at 9 PM on a Saturday. Wore shorts to a mosque.
Lebanon doesn't have a guidebook problem — it has a "nobody tells you the weird stuff" problem. So here's the weird stuff.
The Lebanese Pound has been in freefall since 2019, and the official exchange rate has nothing to do with the actual exchange rate. USD is the real currency. Bring fresh, crisp $50 and $100 bills — exchange offices won't accept torn or marked bills, and they give better rates for larger denominations.
Many restaurants price directly in dollars. Hotels often quote in dollars. Your Bolt ride? Charged in USD. I showed up with euros and spent my first two hours finding a money changer who'd take them. Don't be me.
The economic crisis has made Beirut absurdly affordable for Western visitors. A nice hotel room for $45. A massive mezze dinner for two for $20. Cocktails for $5. I felt guilty about it at first, then a Lebanese friend told me straight: "Spend your money here. We need it." So I did.
Some ATMs dispense Lebanese Pounds at a bad rate, some are simply out of cash, and some swallow your card. Bring enough USD cash for your entire trip and exchange as needed. I know this feels uncomfortable in 2026, but that's the reality.
This is the biggest rookie error. In Lebanon, you eat mezze. A spread of 6-8 small dishes — hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush, kibbeh nayyeh, muhammara, labneh, sambousek, baba ghanoush — arrives and feeds the table. $15-25 for two or three people. If you order a main course on top of that, you'll be eating leftovers for three days.
Add a bottle of arak ($8), pour it over ice, watch it turn cloudy white. That's the proper Lebanese meal.
This Hamra hole-in-the-wall has been serving foul mudammas (slow-cooked fava beans), hummus with spiced meat, and fresh manoushe since the 1950s. Under $5 for a feast that'll keep you full until 3 PM. Get there before 9 AM — it's small and it fills up.
After eating here, your hotel breakfast buffet will feel like an insult.
Every day, a different cook from a different Lebanese village prepares the farm-to-table buffet at Tawlet in Mar Mikhael. $20-25 for lunch. Monday might be mountain food from the Shouf; Wednesday could be coastal dishes from Tripoli. You won't eat the same meal twice. Go on a weekday — weekends are packed.
I arrived at a Gemmayzeh bar at 9 PM on a Saturday looking like someone's dad who'd wandered in from dinner. The bartender was literally still setting up. Beirut's nightlife doesn't begin until 11 PM at the earliest. Clubs like B018 and The Grand Factory don't peak until 1-2 AM.
The correct sequence: dinner at 8 PM, post-dinner drinks at 10 PM, bars from 11 PM, clubs from midnight. You'll be home by sunrise and that's normal.
It's built underground. The roof opens hydraulically to the sky. The design is a commentary on war and resurrection. And the music is genuinely excellent. Go on a Friday or Saturday, arrive at midnight, and don't leave until the roof opens at dawn.
Arak is the national spirit — anise-flavored, mixed with water and ice. It's $8 a bottle in shops, $3-4 a glass in bars. Every Lebanese meal traditionally starts and ends with arak. By your third glass, you'll understand why the nightlife goes until 5 AM.
I can't stress this enough. Any Israeli stamp in your passport means you will not enter Lebanon. Period. If you've been to Israel, get a new passport before coming. This isn't a gray area.
Regular taxis don't use meters. The negotiation is exhausting and you'll overpay every time. Bolt (similar to Uber) works perfectly in Beirut — transparent pricing, GPS tracking, and your airport transfer will be $10-15 instead of the $25 a taxi driver will try to charge.
Lebanon's electricity grid provides maybe 12-16 hours of power daily. The rest comes from neighborhood generators. Most hotels and restaurants have backup power, but the lights might flicker, the AC might drop for 30 seconds, and your phone charger might die mid-charge. Bring a power bank.
Beirut driving is genuinely unhinged. Lane markings are suggestions. Traffic lights are optional. And finding parking in the city is a contact sport. A hired driver for Baalbek, Byblos, or Jeita Grotto costs $60-100 for the day, and your hotel can arrange one. This is not the city to learn to drive on the right.
Beirut is wildly diverse. You'll see women in hijab and women in crop tops walking down the same street. Bars and mosques coexist on the same block. The city has 18 recognized religious communities and somehow functions. Dress how you'd dress in any Mediterranean city — just cover up for mosque visits.
Marhaba (hello), shukran (thank you), and yalla (let's go). That's it. Most Beirutis speak three languages — Arabic, French, and English — often in the same sentence. But showing you tried with Arabic will get you invited to someone's family dinner faster than you can say sahteen.
When Beirut gets intense — and it will — walk the Corniche. The 4.8 km seaside promenade from Ain el-Mreisseh to Raouche is where the city breathes. Buy ka'ak bread from a cart ($0.50), lean on the railing, and watch the fishermen. By the time you reach Pigeon Rocks at sunset, you'll have processed whatever was bothering you.
Lebanon is going through a lot. The economy, the political situation, the aftermath of the 2020 port explosion. First-time visitors often feel weird about enjoying themselves. But here's what every Lebanese person I met told me, in almost the same words: "We want you here. Come eat, come dance, come spend your money, tell your friends."
Beirut's resilience isn't a slogan. It's a $5 cocktail served in a bar with a view of a building that was bombed 20 years ago and rebuilt 15 years ago and is now covered in street art. It's a city that refuses — absolutely refuses — to stop being alive.
For a similar experience in a different setting, Istanbul offers a compelling alternative.
If ancient ruins fascinate you, Petra in Jordan offers another jaw-dropping archaeological experience.
For a completely different Middle Eastern landscape, the red desert of Wadi Rum pairs perfectly with a Beirut trip.
Travelers exploring the wider Middle East often combine Beirut with Dubai for a contrast in Mediterranean and Gulf cultures.
The city I thought I'd spend three days in? I stayed for ten. And I'm already planning my return.
