Bike From Byblos To Batroun

Where to start: Byblos (Jbeil in Arabic)

What to bring: PLENTY of water, dried fruits and granola for a healthy snack. Salty snacks will make you dehydrate.

How long: For someone who is in somewhat goodshape it will take about 3 hours to Batroun and back. Really depends on your endurance and how often you bike or run.

Cost: Bike rental from Byblos by Bike is about LL5,000 per hour so for 3 hours it will be LL 15,000 or $10 USD.

Tip: Stay to side of the road, and also look out for stretches of the now defunct Lebanese railroad

Awesome things to see: Check out Jbeil’s old city and Batroun’s as well!

So what’s up for the weekend? Biking! Spring/early summer is the perfect time for biking before temperatures . Yes I know what you are thinking, Lebanon isn’t quite made for biking, but thanks to recent efforts it is getting better. While doing some research I came across Byblos by Bike’s website. A friend told me it is quite safe and easy to bike from Byblos to Batroun. The minute I heard that I could bike between two of my favorite coastal towns I jumped in a car and headed out to Byblos.

Byblos Bike is located right by the B2B in the main square of Byblos by the old souk. It literally is located in an unfinished building with a simple banner. Be warned, many of the bikes are not exactly in the best condition, so do haggle hard for a good bike. You’ll need to rent for at least three hours. Once you’re on the bike the main route you’ll be following is the old seaside highway which is a strip of tarmac further down from the big coastal highway. Once on the old coastal highway stick to the side of the ride and enjoy the road. The old highway is far less congest and for a large stretch my buddy and I barely saw any cars. The road itself isn’t too hilly so if you’re not the most fit biker you should be okay. So yalla get off your butt, make your way to Byblos, and hop on a bike!