Libya holiday, Libya unveiled
| country: | Libya |
| location: | Sahara Desert |
| departures: | 2010: 20 Feb, 27 Mar, 16 Oct, 6 Nov |
| price: | From £1425 (9 days) excluding international flights. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
Libya holiday, Libya unveiled
The land of SPLAJ (The Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahirya), as Libya is officially known, is home to so many incredible ancient sites; such extraordinary and differing unspoilt desert landscapes and such a truly hospitable and welcoming people, for the intrepid traveller it makes a perfect short holiday.
On this itinerary you will witness all the wonders of Ancient Rome at Leptis Magna and Sabratha, plus take an adventure through the pristine Sahara desert, where you'll travel through the amazing Obari Sand Sea and the Akakus Mountains to see some of the best preserved rock art on earth.
Combining the most impressive Roman ruins anywhere in the world with the myriad of wonders of the great Sahara Desert, this nine day itinerary to Libya will truly blow your socks off!
The land of SPLAJ (The Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahirya), as Libya is officially known, is home to so many incredible ancient sites; such extraordinary and differing unspoilt desert landscapes and such a truly hospitable and welcoming people, for the intrepid traveller it makes a perfect short holiday.
On this itinerary you will witness all the wonders of Ancient Rome at Leptis Magna and Sabratha, plus take an adventure through the pristine Sahara desert, where you'll travel through the amazing Obari Sand Sea and the Akakus Mountains to see some of the best preserved rock art on earth.
Combining the most impressive Roman ruins anywhere in the world with the myriad of wonders of the great Sahara Desert, this nine day itinerary to Libya will truly blow your socks off!
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | UK – Tripoli: Depart London at 09.20 for Tripoli. On arrival at 15.00 we will be transferred to our city centre hotel – situated close to the Medina - and after a quick freshen up head into the city for a first view and a visit to the Old Town and Souk. Dinner at local restaurant. |
| Day 2: | Tripoli: After breakfast we will drive out to spend the day at the extraordinary Roman ruins at Leptis Magna. These are arguably most complete and magnificent reminders of Ancient Rome anywhere on earth, besides perhaps Rome itself. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, this is truly a wonder of the world. As well as all the main sites – the forum, the theatre, the basilica etc – we will also see the huge amphitheatre, the remains of the beachside circus (where we will have a packed lunch) and the Villa Silin where some wonderful mosaics remain in tact. We will then return to Tripoli for dinner at a local restaurant. |
| Day 3: | Tripoli – Ghat: This morning will start with a wander through the old town and Medina. We will follow the narrow alleyways and streets stopping off places of interest, including the old British and French consulates and the main bazaar before having coffee or mint tea outside one of the cafes. After this we will drive out to Sabratha where we will take lunch and then look around this second wonderfully preserved ancient city. At around five we will drive to the airport for our evening flight down to Ghat. On arrival we will transfer to our small local guesthouse. |
| Day 4: | Ghat – Akakus Mountain camp: Ghat is a small but lively southwest frontier town, close to the border with Algeria. After breakfast we will visit the castle at the old Tuareg settlement, which stands on the fringes of the Akakus Mountains. After a coffee we then drive in 4x4 Land Cruiser’s to the spectacular mountains where we camp over night in tents. |
| Day 5: | Akakus Mountain Camp – Dune Camp: The Akakus Mountains are among the most spectacular anywhere in the Sahara. Dark sandstone carved by the desert wind into twisted chimneys, stacks and columns climb from the orange dunes to give an almost Martian landscape. The area has also been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the hundreds of prehistoric rock art sites. We will spend the morning in the Takharkuouri region where some of the best examples of rock art – some dating back to 12000 BC – can be found. We will also hopefully visit a Tuareg family in their tented home before lunch. In the afternoon we will drive on through the Teshinet Valley and Wankasa sand sea before camping up among the dunes. |
| Day 6: | Dune Camp – Germa: This morning we leave the Akakus for a spectacular drive through the desert to Wadi Mathandush. The drive is very varied starting out on the flat sand plain, the Wankasa sand sea now just a blur behind us, before crossing a gravel plain – known as regs. We will arrive the dried out riverbed in time for lunch. Amongst the rock engravings at the Wadi there are walls of engravings depicting a whole menagerie of animals of the big game now only seen in East Africa including gazelles, crocodiles, ostriches and many giraffes. Most are thought to date from around 6-8000 BC. We have plenty of time here to explore before moving on to Germa. In the late afternoon we will drive through the oasis to camp among the giant dunes on the southern fringe of the Great Obari sand sea. |
| Day 7: | Germa – Mandara Lake: Today we will have arguably the most spectacular day of the trip as we drive through the Great Obari sand sea to the extraordinary chain of lakes that burst up through the earth in this region. These are the Beau Guest sands of your imagination, where wave after wave of petrified dunes, climbing to 500 metres in height, continue unbroken to the horizon. And the palm-fringed lakes that erupt among them are little short of miraculous. We will have lunch by the Umm al Maa – Mother of Water – where we can swim, before driving on to camp by Mandara Lake. |
| Day 8: | Mandara Lake – Tripoli: After breakfast we will drive back via Mafo Lake to Germa, centre of the ancient Garamatean civilisation where we will see the old city of Germa and its museum. After a shower and early lunch at our agent’s fixed campsite, we will then drive back to Tripoli. The journey will take about 7/8 hours. On arrival we will check back into the same hotel before having a farewell meal at on of the city’s best restaurants. |
| Day 9: | Tripoli – UK: After breakfast we will have a chance to visit the Tripoli Museum and the spice and vegetable bazaar before transferring to the airport for the flight BA899 back to the UK at 14.50. Arrive back at London Heathrow at 17.35 |
travellers' tales
Most memorable was camping in the Sahara under the stars with no man-mad noise or light to interrupt the experience. (more)
what this trip includes
Trips are on full board basis, and include transport as outlined in itinerary, twin-share accommodation, mineral water and entrance fees. how this holiday makes a difference
 In Libya we use local ground handlers who in turn book locally run hotels, providing employment for a number of members of staff and support families. The ground handlers also use local drivers and camp staff, and ensure that all supplies are purchased locally for the journey. This means that all the operational costs go directly into the local economy. Our trips visit local markets en route enabling our clients to purchase arts and crafts directly from local artists and tribes-people, again ensuring that money goes directly into the community.  We have a strict environmental policy to make sure that the fragile eco-structure of the desert is not damaged or spoilt in any way. Our guides are trained to uphold this policy and all clients are fully briefed on appropriate/responsible behaviour whilst in wilderness areas. Our “Leave No Trace” ethic is applied to all trips in all regions, and as tour operators is something we are careful to promote. In each area we employ and develop close relationships with drivers, camp staff and guides. We feel the interaction between our friends and our clients offers both parties a valuable understanding between cultures. When you take one of our trips, we make a contribution to “Carbon Clear” – an organisation who work with hundreds of organisations to measure their carbon footprint and reduce their carbon emissions. We also support several NGOs around the world such as the Hope Foundation, A-Cet and Adopt-A-Minefield, which are all carefully selected to improve the standard of living for the communities we visit. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |