Even though Ivan and I both agreed Anjar is one of the less exciting world heritage sites of Lebanon, but given the overall impresiveness of the heritage of Lebanon overall, it means a lovely and a very interesting visit. You can go either by organized tours from Beirut, or just rent a car and drive yourself around all of Lebanese WHSs, though be careful, Lebanese are quite some drivers and not fond of using indicators. Anyway, Anjar lies in the Bekaa valley, about three kilometres away from the Syrian border. The population of the town is, as I've later learned, almost completely Armenian (they ran away here from the Armenian genocide of 1915).

The WHS is 8th century Umayyad town that has kept to the tradition of Roman city planning with two main streets perpendicular to each other. It's a lovely architectural park to walk around. There are info boards scattered around in English at important parts of the site. We made it around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, along with a busload of European tourists, so the place was a bit crowded, so if you want to have it to yourself, arrive a bit earlier. But it's stil more off the beaten track, at least according to the Lonely Planet, which doesn't have Anjar listed at all. And from Anjar, follow on to the Baalbek. Not the other way around, Anjar will be a bit underwhelming.