Nidal Majdalani – Travelling Lebanon

After a period away from regular publishing here, I was never away from the ground. My travels continued through my Instagram Stories and Highlights—hiking trails, following rivers and waterfalls, taking extended road trips, visiting villages, observing nature and documenting changing conditions across Lebanon. But during periods of instability, regular travel publishing did not always feel appropriate.

Travelling Lebanon has always looked beyond the postcard, connecting landscape, heritage, communities and the realities encountered on the ground. More of these journeys will now be published here and on my website http://www.nidalmajdalani.com, with fresh photographs, recent observations and updated context.

I am beginning with a wider note for travelers.

Lebanon is frequently presented through beautiful fragments: Mediterranean sunsets, mountain escapes, heritage streets, restaurants, waterfalls and places suddenly made famous through social media. All of these can be part of the country—but none tells the whole story.

Traveling Lebanon with open eyes also means understanding how the country functions around that beauty: changing security conditions that affect some regions far more than others; electricity and other systems built around adaptation; a transport network that still requires flexibility and local knowledge; and natural landscapes where an online “trail” may actually be an access path for irrigation channels, agricultural land or water infrastructure.

It also means questioning what remains outside the frame. A viral waterfall may have no infrastructure for the crowds arriving there. A beautiful route may have changed completely after winter. A recommendation may be paid promotion rather than independent experience. And while one part of Lebanon is confronting instability, everyday life and tourism may continue elsewhere.

None of this diminishes Lebanon’s beauty and offerings. It gives travelers the context to experience it in the best way, with certified guides, and more responsibly.

In my new Lebanon Today feature, Beyond the Postcard: The Realities of Navigating Lebanon Today, I look more closely at the infrastructure, security geography, trails, communities, human networks and tourism pressures that shape travel through Lebanon Today.

Button: Read Lebanon Beyond the Postcard →

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