Byblos

A 30-minute drive to the Mediterranean coast takes you to Jubayl, one of the world’s oldest inhabited cities and a former Phoenician port. Park your car at the marina and enter the walls of the old city, where there’s a castle built by 12th-century crusaders, an Ottoman mosque, and tombs of former Phoenician kings. It’s a scene straight out of 1,001 Arabian Nights; the best things to buy are handmade backgammon boards and traditional coffee sets.