Winter in Lebanon can be a scene from a Hollywood Christmas movie: drinking hot chocolate on a day-in near the fireplace, preparing a warm meal (in the Lebanese sense it’s keshek), and looking at the window as the snow topples upon our mountains like sprinkling cotton candy.
January and February are the perfect months for a weekend getaway to our snowy mountains. The most famous snow-spot may be Faraya, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only town for the Lebanese North Pole.
#1 Jezzine
Jezzine is a town located 22 kilometers from Sidon and 40 kilometers south of Beirut. This Southern town is surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests, and at an average altitude of 950 meters.
#2 Akoura
Akoura is a mountainous village in the Jbeil District of Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is 68 kilometers north of Beirut. It has an average elevation of 1,600 meters above sea level and a total land area of around 140 square kilometers.
#3 Sannine
Sannine is located on a mountain in the Mount Lebanon range and is enough referred to as Sannine Mountain. Its highest point is 2,628 meters (8,622 feet) above sea level in Lebanon.
#4 Qanat Bakish
Qanat Bakish is located about seven kilometers northeast of Baskinta. It is known for its ski resort, which is considered as a tiny and quiet resort in Qanat Bakish and is known for its high-quality snow.
#5 Barouk
Barouk is a village in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is located 52 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Its average elevation is 1000 to 1200 meters above sea level and its total land area consists of 2,762 hectares.
#6 Faraya, Mzaar Kfardebian
Mzaar Kfardebian is a ski area in Faraya and the largest ski resort in the Middle East. It is located one hour away from Beirut. It is also referred to as Ouyoune el Simane.
Faraya is located 46 kilometers north of Beirut. Elevation starts from 1290 meters to 2000 meters above sea level and its total land area is 870 hectares.
#7 Laqlouq
Laqlouq is a small mountainous village in the Jbeil District of Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located 69 kilometers northeast of Beirut and has an elevation of 1780 meters.
#8 Baalbek
The city of Baalbek is located east of the Litani River in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, about 85 km northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. Its average elevation starts from 1170 meters.
#9 Al-Arz – The Cedar Mountain
Al-Arz is located in the northern Bsharri, topping the Qadisha Valley, and known for its “Cedars of God.” They are one of the last vestiges of the extensive Cedar forests of Lebanon that once thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Al-Arz perches at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters (6,600 ft).
#10 Bsharri
Bsharri is an ancient town at an altitude of about 1,450 meters to 3,088 meters. It is located in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate in Lebanon. It has an elevation of 1450 meters.
#11 Sawfar
Sawfar is a village in the Aley District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is situated at an altitude of 1,320 meters and next to the main road linking Beirut with Damascus in Syria.
#12 Ehden
Ehden is an ancient mountainous town in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Ehden’s elevation starts at 1428 meters.
#13 Al-Qoubaiyat
Al-Qoubaiyat is located in the northeast of the Lebanese republic. It is bordered in the west by the village “Akkar el-Attika” and in the East by the two districts of Akkar (North) and the Hermel Bekaa.
#14 Kfarhouna
Kfarhouna is found in the Southern area of Lebanon and is known for its pine trees and rivers. It is spread over four hills at 1100 -1300 meters above sea level with a perfect climate.
#15 Bteghrine
Bteghrine is bordered by Mount Sannine to the east, Wadi el-Jamajem to the north, Jouar to the west, and Khenchara to the south. The municipality is composed of four outlying areas: Bsefrine, Meisree, Sabbourta, and Zaarour.
#16 Zahle
Zahlé is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. The city is located 55 km (34 mi) east of the capital Beirut, close to the Beirut-Damascus road, and lies at the junction of the Lebanon mountains and the Beqaa plateau, at about 1,000 meters.
#17 Haddath El-Jibbeh
Haddath El-Jibbeh is a town located in the Bsharri District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated on a hill at an altitude of 1500 meters overlooking the Qannoubine valley, ‘The Valley of the Saints.”
#18 Baskinta
Baskinta is a Lebanese village situated at an altitude ranging from 1250 meters above sea level and climbs up to approximately 1800 meters of height at Qanat Bakish, making it one of the highest villages of Lebanon. It is located 43 kilometers northeast of Beirut.
#19 Tannourine
Tannourine is a Lebanese municipality located in the Batroun District, part of Governorate of North-Lebanon, 75 km from the capital Beirut. It covers an area of 195.5 hectares at an altitude ranging between 1,300 and 1,800 meters.
#20 Ehmej
Ehmej is a municipality in the Jbeil District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. It is located 57 kilometers northeast of Beirut. Its elevation is 1140 meters.
