The Cedars and the Qadisha Valley

High in the northern mountains of Lebanon lies a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of great natural and spiritual significance. Here survive the last ancient groves of the famous cedars of Lebanon, the majestic trees celebrated in the Bible and once covering the mountains, of which the Cedars of God grove near Bsharri holds venerable specimens over a thousand years old, a living link to antiquity. Below plunges the dramatic Qadisha Valley, the Holy Valley, a deep, rugged gorge that has been a refuge for Christian monastic and hermit communities for centuries, its cliffs clinging with ancient monasteries, chapels and hermitages, and laced with hiking trails, a place of profound beauty and devotion.

What you actually see

• The Cedars of God - the ancient, thousand-year-old cedar grove.
• The Qadisha Valley - the dramatic holy gorge.
• The cliff monasteries - the ancient monasteries and hermitages.
• The hiking trails - the paths through the valley and cedars.

When to go

May to October, for the best hiking weather in the valley and access to the cedars, when the high mountains are clear of snow; in winter, the same mountains offer skiing, and the cedars stand beautifully in the snow. Spring brings wildflowers, and the valley and its monasteries reward slow, reverent exploration on foot.

Honest expectations

As a UNESCO landscape of profound natural and spiritual significance, though, the legendary thousand-year-old cedars of Lebanon above the dramatic, monastery-clinging Holy Valley of Qadisha, it is a beautiful, atmospheric and deeply meaningful highlight of the country.

Nearby

The town of Bsharri, the northern mountains and the coast are within reach.