Beirut: The Monocle Travel Guide Series (Monocle Travel Guide, 30)

Bought this for a long weekend in Beirut. Proved invaluable. The tips for bars and restaurants were great, as were some of the walks.The city map was pretty useless! A pretty graphic, but not great for navigating. And there’s no real information on the history of Beirut or some practical things, like some simple phrases to get you around.I wouldn’t change anything about the information or style. However, it lacks good area guides. The four suggested walks are by area but give no sense of distance or time. While each walk has 11-13 suggested stops, there are lots of things missed that are listed in the other sections. And there’s no tour for Gemmayzeh. So, as you’re walking around, you end up going between sections of the book to find if there is anything close by that is worth visiting/seeing. A good city map with bars/restaurants/cultural sights would be immensely useful!However - recommended.

I've got three Monocle guides so I obviously think they're worth buying. They're completely useless as a primary guide but entertaining as a secondary source. As always the language is over-the-top and one is never sure if they're mocking themselves. The pictures are helpful and there are some interesting ideas and insights.

Indispensable guide to this thrilling city. Leave your preconceptions behind, the Mediterranean capital of Lebanon is a place of thrilling contrasts, feeling neither completely Eastern or Western. The Monocle guide perfectly captures the overwhelming friendliness of this remarkably hip and cosmopolitan city.This is a great introduction to the fascinating (and at times heartbreaking) history, delicious food, and creativity of a city which is so often misrepresented in the West.