Originally Posted by
davidI
I visited Lebanon with my girlfriend (now wife) last April and we loved it. I didn't get up to Tripoli but did get North to Baatroun, East to Baalbek and South as far as Tyre all on public transport. Also got to Bsharri, Kafraiya Valley, and the Hezbollah War Museum (Mleeta Landmark) by rental car.
Great trip overall and at no point did I feel unsafe. Lebanese people are fantastic and often looked after us way more than in other countries. The shared minibus driver to Baalbek actually took us to the ruins, bought fresh bread and kibbeh nayeh (raw mince mince lamb with spices) for us on the way, and then entered the ruins with us and acted as our personal photographer. He didn't even want to charge us for the fare back to Beirut (which was a few bucks, at most). Another fellow, former military and current tomato farmer, picked us upo on the road while we were walking to Beiteddine Palace and then waited around chatting with the military and brought us to his house for tea and even invited us to feast on a wild boar he'd killed and stay the night (all in our limited shared Arabic and French as he spoke no English).
Seriously hospitable people and a wonderful country to visit if you're adventurous enough and have the chance. The current political situation and this bombing is truly tragic - I look forward to visiting Lebanon and Syria when things calm down a bit and it's possible to do so.