Lebanon group tours, vineyards and valleys
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
On this tour we visit several towns and places that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the beautiful Qadisha Valley, the architectural site of Baalbek, Deir Al Qamer town and the city of Tyre. Our visits to these places help to support local projects to conserve the area's cultural and geographical heritage. Our guides will brief travellers on appropriate behaviour, both cultural and environmental, and when visiting areas of natural beauty such as the Chouf Cedar Reserve, which is also UNESCO listed, and the Cedars Forest we make a point of ensuring that we leave no permanent traces of our stay behind, taking all rubbish with us to protect these valuable tourist attractions. These are some of the most beautiful areas in the whole of Lebanon and we ensure that our impact is minimal when spending time in these environments.
Where appropriate and feasible we will always incorporate walking tours of cities rather than being reliant on private transportation - not only reducing our carbon footprint but we believe leading to a more enjoyable and intimate experience for our clients. Furthermore, all vehicles used on the tour have low carbon emissions. We work closely with our local suppliers to highlight best practice in terms of environmental issues.
Our groups average only six clients, and many tours operate on a private basis with just two travellers. This has much less impact when travelling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social affects. Finally to emphasis our commitment to Responsible Tourism all clients will receive a copy of our Travellers Code of Conduct with their travel documents.
The Impacts of this Trip
This tour begins with a walking tour where tourists learn about how the area was shaped by the civil war, where stark reminders of the conflict are visible. Our local guides also explain the regeneration efforts that have been made, which is very important to the local people who have lived through, and continue living in these areas which have been devastated by war. Visiting these sites and cities allows our clients to learn about the strong culture of this once war-torn, and ultimately closed-off city. Although the villages and towns have been rebuilt, we bring clients with the aim of bringing tourism to the area, boosting the local economy. Also, clients get to understand and learn about these country’s turbulent past.
Our philosophy is to only use small and locally owned suppliers, meaning that the income remains within the country and creates a real economic contribution. We also feel that the passion inherent within such suppliers means that your experience will be enhanced.
We only employ local staff and unlike many operators we believe that to send a foreign Tour Leader along to accompany your trip is an unnecessary burden on your wallet and our carbon footprint. We believe that locals know best. Our local operators only use locally owned accommodation. This means your money stays in the area to benefit the local community. When possible we use local transport, (i.e. rail or bus) and we always use local restaurants, markets and shops and encourage our clients to interact both financially and socially with the communities that they are passing through. In doing this your travels are supporting and encouraging the development of local services.
Our clients have the opportunity to visit ‘Les Quartier Des Arts’, an area in Beirut full of local shops and boutiques where they can purchase local souvenirs. By doing this we are supporting the local people and their livelihood, ensuring the money directly benefits the local people.
On this tour we visit several towns and places that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the beautiful Qadisha Valley, the architectural site of Baalbek, Deir Al Qamer town and the city of Tyre. Our visits to these places help to support local projects to conserve the area's cultural and geographical heritage. Our guides will brief travellers on appropriate behaviour, both cultural and environmental, and when visiting areas of natural beauty such as the Chouf Cedar Reserve, which is also UNESCO listed, and the Cedars Forest we make a point of ensuring that we leave no permanent traces of our stay behind, taking all rubbish with us to protect these valuable tourist attractions. These are some of the most beautiful areas in the whole of Lebanon and we ensure that our impact is minimal when spending time in these environments.
Where appropriate and feasible we will always incorporate walking tours of cities rather than being reliant on private transportation - not only reducing our carbon footprint but we believe leading to a more enjoyable and intimate experience for our clients. Furthermore, all vehicles used on the tour have low carbon emissions. We work closely with our local suppliers to highlight best practice in terms of environmental issues.
Our groups average only six clients, and many tours operate on a private basis with just two travellers. This has much less impact when travelling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social affects. Finally to emphasis our commitment to Responsible Tourism all clients will receive a copy of our Travellers Code of Conduct with their travel documents.
The Impacts of this Trip
This tour begins with a walking tour where tourists learn about how the area was shaped by the civil war, where stark reminders of the conflict are visible. Our local guides also explain the regeneration efforts that have been made, which is very important to the local people who have lived through, and continue living in these areas which have been devastated by war. Visiting these sites and cities allows our clients to learn about the strong culture of this once war-torn, and ultimately closed-off city. Although the villages and towns have been rebuilt, we bring clients with the aim of bringing tourism to the area, boosting the local economy. Also, clients get to understand and learn about these country’s turbulent past.
Our philosophy is to only use small and locally owned suppliers, meaning that the income remains within the country and creates a real economic contribution. We also feel that the passion inherent within such suppliers means that your experience will be enhanced.
We only employ local staff and unlike many operators we believe that to send a foreign Tour Leader along to accompany your trip is an unnecessary burden on your wallet and our carbon footprint. We believe that locals know best. Our local operators only use locally owned accommodation. This means your money stays in the area to benefit the local community. When possible we use local transport, (i.e. rail or bus) and we always use local restaurants, markets and shops and encourage our clients to interact both financially and socially with the communities that they are passing through. In doing this your travels are supporting and encouraging the development of local services.
Our clients have the opportunity to visit ‘Les Quartier Des Arts’, an area in Beirut full of local shops and boutiques where they can purchase local souvenirs. By doing this we are supporting the local people and their livelihood, ensuring the money directly benefits the local people.
1 Reviews of Lebanon group tours, vineyards and valleys
Reviewed on 05 Jan 2020 by Stephanie Diggon
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Meeting the local people - always helpful, kind and generous; the scenery and historical sites were magnificent. Also my travelling companions.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Always book via Responsible Travel
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
We stayed in small, family run hotels; ate at local restaurants (recommended in guide books, Trip Advisor, or by hotel staff).
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Lebanese food - always a treat! Except when you have pretty much the same meal served every evening - and at lunchtime, too on the day we visited the vineyard! There are so many different traditions that I was surprised not to be offered a greater variety. On the last day our cookery course with an Armenian cook introduced different foods and flavours, but the event should have started much earlier as one of our party had no choice but to eat at 9pm (too late for her). As our guide said: "small groups are more manageable and thus guides can be more flexible" (or words to that effect). She shouldn't have had an issue managing the expectations of a group of seaoned travellers - but we weren't always told what was going to happen/offered any choices.
Read the operator's response here:
on tour.
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