Start the day beneath the earth. Jeita Grotto is a UNESCO tentative World Heritage Site and top-five finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature — two interconnected limestone caves stretching 9 kilometres beneath the Lebanese mountains. The upper cave is explored on foot through formations of stalactites and stalagmites up to 8 metres tall that took millions of years to build. The lower cave is navigated by silent electric boat along an underground river through chambers where the silence and the beauty combine into something genuinely hard to describe. One of those places that is better in real life than in photos — and the photos are already stunning. Your driver waits while you take your time.

Harissa cable car — from underground to above the clouds From the depths of the earth to 650 metres above the Mediterranean — board the Harissa Téléférique at Jounieh and ride up as the entire Lebanese coastline unfolds beneath you. The aerial views over Jounieh Bay on the ascent are among the most photographed in Lebanon and the 20-minute ride goes faster than you want it to.

At the mountaintop, the iconic bronze statue of Our Lady of Lebanon stands at 8.5 metres tall with arms outstretched toward the sea — one of the most recognised religious monuments in the Middle East, surrounded by the Maronite Basilica and churches that form one of Lebanon's most important pilgrimage complexes. Whether you come for the faith or just the extraordinary 360-degree view from up here — both are worth it.

Saint Charbel — the hermit who became a saint Drive into the mountains to Annaya — a remote village where Saint Charbel Makhlouf, Lebanon's most beloved saint, chose to spend the last 23 years of his life as a hermit, withdrawing completely from the monastery to live in a tiny stone cell on the mountainside. He died here on Christmas Eve 1898 and was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1977 — the first Middle Eastern saint canonised in the modern era. His tomb in the monastery church draws millions of pilgrims annually from across Lebanon, the Arab world, and the Catholic world. His hermitage — the tiny stone cell where he lived — is also open to visitors. The monastery itself is carved into the mountain, surrounded by nothing but the valley below and the silence he came here to find. Whatever brings you here — faith, curiosity, or just the extraordinary peace of the place — Annaya delivers it.

Lunch in Byblos — optional stop on the way back On the drive back toward Beirut, make an optional stop in Byblos — one of the oldest cities on earth — for lunch at a waterfront restaurant overlooking the ancient fishing port. Fresh mezze, grilled fish, medieval city walls, Mediterranean view. After a day that went underground, above the clouds, and deep into the mountains — a quiet lunch by the sea in one of the world's oldest cities feels like exactly the right ending.