Lebanon: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Lebanon feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 52 written places.
Exuberantly hospitable and stylish; meals stretch for hours and guests are treated like family.
✓ Considered polite
- Accept the coffee, sweets and second helpings pressed on you - a little of everything honours the host
- Dress up a notch for dinners out - Beirutis take appearance seriously
- Linger over mezze - lunch can run three hours and that is the point
- Bring sweets or flowers when invited to a home
✗ Better avoided
- Turn down hospitality flatly - decline twice politely if you must, but expect to lose
- Book anything over Sunday lunch - it is sacred multigenerational family time
- Assume one dress code fits all - beach clubs are liberal while some towns and religious sites expect covered shoulders and knees
- Rush the greetings - handshakes and, among friends, three cheek kisses come first
Worth knowing
- US dollars in small notes are used side by side with Lebanese pounds - carry cash and expect prices quoted in dollars
- Tipping 10-15% is standard in restaurants when no service charge appears
- Nightlife starts late - dinner at 21:00 with bars filling after midnight is normal
- Distances are tiny - beaches, vineyards and cedar mountains are all day trips from Beirut
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.