Libya with Luxury & Style
(10 Days):
Sample Itinerary Outline
ID #: DT-L-10-5-30-10-RAIJ
DAY
1: Arrive Tripoli, LIBYA
You are met upon arrival and taken to your hotel in the heart of the
city. The rest of your day is at your leisure in Libya’s largest
city.
►Suggested hotel:
Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli
DAY 2: Sabrata & Benghazi, LIBYA
This morning it is a short drive to the Mediterranean coast to tour
Sabrata, begun in 6th century BC and today a World Heritage Site.
Explore the theatre built during the reign of the Emperor Commodus
in the 1st century AD and still used for concerts today. See the
major sites, including the Temple of Hercules and the Temple of
Isis, the Basilica of Justinian, and the museum with its extensive
displays of Roman and Byzantine mosaics. Return to Tripoli for your
short flight to Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya.
►Suggested hotel: Tibesti Hotel, Benghazi
DAY 3: Ptolemais to Apollonia, LIBYA
Drive along the coast to Ptolemais, founded during the 3rd century
BC as a Hellenistic mercantile city. Tour the Western Basilica, the
Columned Palace, the Theatre, the underground Cisterns and its
excellent museum. After lunch, drive through the Green Mountains to
Qasr Libya. Visit the basilica of Qsar-Libya Museum, housing more
than 50 mosaic artifact fragments dating back to the 6th century, a
collection considered one of the world's finest. Stay the night
along the beautiful Mediterranean coast.
►Suggested hotel: Al Manara Hotel,
Appollonia
DAY 4: Cyrene, Apollonia & Tripoli, LIBYA
This morning visit the World Heritage Site of Cyrene, founded in 7th
century BC and almost destroyed in the earthquake of 365. Some of
the vast number of Greek and Roman ruins you visit include the Agora
quarter with its Roman basilica, the Temple of Demetra, Batthus Tomb
and the formidable Temple of Apollo. See the impressive Temple of
Zeus and the stunning Roman Amphitheatre. Next, explore the site of
Apollonia and the traditional village of Sousa. Tour the ancient
Greek Theater, the Roman baths, the Eastern, Central and Western
Basilicas, and the Byzantine Palace. Drive back to Benghazi for your
flight to Tripoli this evening.
►Suggested hotel:
Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli
DAY 5: Tripoli, LIBYA
This morning tour Tripoli, founded by the Phoenicians in 1000 BC and
offering a wealth of monuments. In the old town visit the elegant
Gurgi Mosque, built in 1833, the Arch of Marcus Aurelius and the
Ottoman style residence of the Karamanli family. Tour the Santa
Maria degli Angeli church, Tripoli’s oldest church, today used as an
exhibition hall and explore the famed medina, whose high walls
survived many invasions. Visit the Red Castle, a massive pre- Roman
structure that dominates the city skyline and the Jamahiriya Museum,
a National Antiquity Museum housed inside the fortress. The
afternoon is at leisure, perhaps to stroll through the souks for
North African handicrafts including jewelry, silks, pottery and
weavings.
►Suggested hotel:
Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli
DAY 6: Nalut & Ghadames, LIBYA
Today drive high into the Nafusa Mountains, stopping at the ghost
towns of Qsar el Haji and Nalut, for insights into the traditional
Libyan cave lifestyle. In Nalut, see the 300-year-old grain store,
comprised of hundreds of chambers used by families to hide oil and
grain from invaders. After lunch, continue to Ghadames, the “Pearl
of the Desert,” an attractive oasis town on the edge of the Sahara
and on Libya’s border with Algeria and Tunisia.
►Suggested hotel: Hotel Dar
Ghadames, Ghadames
DAY 7: Ghadames, LIBYA
This morning explore the old town, picturesque and notable for its
"cake and icing" mud-bricked architecture and labyrinthine streets.
Visit the Great Mosque and the Main Square – once used as a slave
market. Lunch in a richly decorated traditional house, before taking
a 4-wheel drive Jeep into the desert - enjoy tea and watch the
colorful sunset on the dunes.
►Suggested hotel: Hotel Dar
Ghadames, Ghadames
DAY 8: Ghadames to Tripoli, LIBYA
This morning visit the Ghadames Museum, displaying a wide range of
archaeological and cultural treasures including Stone Age implements
and fossils, desert rose crystals, bridal costumes and desert
wildlife. After lunch, fly to Tripoli and enjoy the rest of the day
at leisure.
►Suggested hotel:
Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli
DAY 9: Tripoli, LIBYA - Leptis Magna excursion
Today visit the World Heritage Site of Leptis Magna, renown as the
best-preserved and most extensive Roman city in the Mediterranean.
Growing from a simple Berber settlement to a great Roman metropolis,
by the 11th century the city was abandoned, then almost lost by the
encroaching desert dunes. Well-preserved by the sand, today you can
see the partially excavated ruins including the Severan Arch,
erected in honor of the Emperor’s visit, the marble and granite
paneled Hadrianic Baths, the Palaestra or Sports Ground and the
amazingly detailed Severan Basilica. Drive back to Tripoli by late
afternoon.
►Suggested hotel:
Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Tripoli
DAY 10: Depart Tripoli, LIBYA
Today you are taken to the airport for your flight home or on to
your next destination.