Sidon Walking Tour

Free Sidon Walking Tour with Roamee Pro

Roamee Pro offers a free Sidon walking tour with audio narration. Explore Sea Castle, Khan el-Franj, Old souks, plus hidden gems like Temple of Eshmun and Soap Museum, without booking a group tour.

• •Sea Castle — Built in 1228 by Crusaders on a small rocky island roughly 80 meters offshore and connected to the mainland by a fortified stone causeway, this compact fortress served as a harbor defense post during the Crusader period and was subsequently modified by Mamluks and Ottomans. Its two towers, connected by a wall that encloses a small courtyard with a mosque, are surrounded on three sides by the sea, and the rooftop offers views of the old city, the harbor, and the distant Lebanese mountains.
• •Khan el-Franj — This beautifully restored 17th-century Ottoman caravanserai, built by Fakhr al-Din II for use by French merchants (hence 'Khan of the Franks'), features a rectangular courtyard surrounded by two stories of arcaded rooms where traders once stored goods and slept above their merchandise. The ground-floor stables, upper-floor galleries with carved stone balustrades, and central fountain have been meticulously restored, and the khan now hosts cultural events, art exhibitions, and occasional concerts.
• •Old souks — Sidon's covered market lanes form an authentic labyrinth where Lebanese families shop for daily necessities amid vendors selling mounds of spices, olive oil soap stacked in decorative towers, freshly baked flatbread, and the sticky-sweet knafeh for which Sidon is famous across Lebanon. The vaulted stone ceilings, some dating to the Ottoman period, create cool, shadowed passages that open unexpectedly into small squares with Ottoman-era fountains and mosque entrances.
• •Debbane Palace — This 18th-century Ottoman merchant's mansion, built by the wealthy Debbane family, features elaborately painted ceilings with floral and geometric motifs, carved wooden screens (mashrabiya), marble floors, and an internal courtyard with a fountain. Restored and opened as a museum, it displays Ottoman-era furnishings, historical photographs of Sidon, and exhibits on traditional crafts, offering an intimate look at the domestic life of a prosperous Lebanese merchant family.

• •Temple of Eshmun — The remains of this Phoenician temple dedicated to Eshmun, the god of healing, sit in a lush valley 2 kilometers northeast of the old city, surrounded by citrus orchards and fed by a spring called Ain el-Assal. Dating to the 7th century BC, the site features a monumental podium, a processional way, and a remarkable collection of inscribed Phoenician and Roman votive thrones discovered during excavation, now partially displayed in situ.
• •Soap Museum — Housed in a restored 17th-century soap factory in the old town, this small museum explains the centuries-old tradition of olive oil soap production in Sidon, a craft that made the city famous throughout the Ottoman Empire. Displays include original copper cauldrons, drying racks, and stamps, and the museum shop sells traditionally made soap in the same building where it was once manufactured.