Tripolitania and Ghadames 7 Days 6 Nights

Arrival at Tripoli Airport, meet your guide, complete the visa formalities, then drive to the city centre and transfer to the hotel. Depending on time of arrival, We will Enjoy a spectacular overview of Libyan history at the national museum of Libya ( if open ) then start exploring Tripoli City known as the White Bride of the Mediterranean, including Gurgi Mosque, The Arch of Marcus Aurelius and House of Yusuf Karamanli. After dinner at the fish market restaurant. We walk back to the hotel via Italianate façades

Today, we leave Tripoli and drive towards the The barren Nafusa mountains and Libya’s Amazigh heartland and one of Libya’s most intriguing corners, a land of stone villages on rocky perches and otherworldly Amazigh architecture. Our first stop will be at Qasr Al Haj to visit the most beautiful granary qasr (castle) in Libya. We continue to visit Qasr (fortified granary store) and old town of Nalut, we will have lunch and then continue to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ghadames, known as the ‘’pearlof the Sahara’’, where we stay for two nights. Overnight in Ghadames.

Today we will start exploring the labyrinthine streets and enclosed passages of Ghadames’ old town with our local guide. Renowned for its distinctive architecture, we visit the various small squares, the old mosque and a madrasa, see the fruit and vegetable gardens and view the ancient system of irrigation. Lunch(included) will be taken in a richly decorated traditional house in the age-old manner, sitting on the floor eating from dishes. We climb on to the roof of the house to see where the women, forbidden to wander the streets alone, would use the rooftops as a thoroughfare. in the evening We will also have a chance to visit the edge of the great sand dunes of the Sahara. Overnight in Ghadames.

Leaving Ghadames, head back into the Jabel Nafusa to visit another ancient Qasr at Kabow before driving to Gharyan to visit a troglodyte houses and the pottery stalls for which the town is famous. Overnight in Tripoli.

Full day excursion to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Leptis Magna, the largest and bestpreserved Roman city in the world that came to prominence in the 2nd century AD under its native son, the Emperor Septimus Severus. Following his reign, the city fell into decline until revived by the Emperor Justinian in the 5th century AD at which time it fell under Byzantine rule. The vast site is truly spectacular: the sites include the triumphal Arch of Septimus Severus, the Hadrianic Baths complex, the Palaestra (Athletics Ground), the Nymphaeum (Temple of Nymphs), the huge Imperial Forum, the Basilica, the Arches of Tiberius and Trajan, the Theatre with its beautiful backdrop against the Mediterranean Sea, the Sanctuary of the Divine Emperors, and the Market with its unique kiosks which, at the time of construction, were a groundbreaking design in the Roman world. In the eastern section of Leptis Magna we will see the Circus and enormous Amphitheatre with seating for over 15,000 spectators. We will visit the vast arena, and see the gladiators’ anterooms and animal enclosures. En route back to Tripoli, if open a visit will be made to the 2nd century Villa Sileen, the home of a wealthy Byzantine that was discovered in 1974. The wall paintings portray scenes such as gladiatorial combat and chariot racing while the mosaics display river scenes that include sea nymphs, birds and animals. Overnight in Tripoli. Road mileage today: 280 km.

Today we will drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sabratha, originally founded in the 4th century BC. It later fell under Greek influence before Rome took hold in the 1st century AD. The most spectacular monument is the Theatre, featuring 108 Corinthian columns rising to a height of twenty metres above the stage. Below the stage you will see marble friezes depicting mythological figures including, inter alia, the Three Graces, the Judgement of Paris and the Nine Muses. We also see the Punic Mausoleum of Bes, the Temple of Antoninus, the Temple of Zeus, the Court of Justice and the great Roman Forum. (Museum can be closed)

Depending on flight time shopping Transfer to the airport. End of tour.