Batroun, Lebanon
July 31, 2023
Until fairly recently it might have been a quaint fishing village but Batroun is firmly on map of holiday makers these days. Cookie cutter shops and restaurants line the old stone-paved streets and SUVs brazen their way through narrow lanes with millimeters to spare. Its natural harbor is crowded with sleek sailboats.
This is clearly a vacation spot for the well-heeled and enterprising souls reap the benefits with commendable business acumen. What must have once been a lemonade stand has mushroomed into a popular store for not only lemonades in multiple flavors, but now include a gift shop and a museum of lemonade. Hats off to that business instinct! The beaches charging entry fees are overrun and restaurants boast inflated prices. This is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
The narrow streets and old houses made of sandstone colored blocks have a charm that is mostly lost in the clutter. Batroun’s sole claim to its ancient ties is the broken bit of a Phoenician wall on the edge of the sea.
For that matter Byblos is much the same as is just about every coastal city in Lebanon.
ITCHY FEET TRAVELS 