Jounieh & Surroundings

Photo by David Weyand

Located about 20 kilometers north of Beirut, the Maronite area of Jounieh used to be a sleepy, green fisherman's village surrounded by banana plantations and citrus groves. With the Civil War disturbing the nightlife in Beirut, Jounieh became the new party place and slowly turned into a summer resort dominated by hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. 

Nowadays, the modern area of Jounieh is covered with concrete towers reaching from the sea until the mountainside, and is mainly visited by healthy Lebanese and Gulf Arabs, enjoying the beach and nightlife there. Yet, the area deserves to be explored by people outside of this category, with the Téléférique to Harissa, Jounieh’s old center and the nearby Zouk Mikael as the main highlights.