Libya Discovery — 6 Days Tripoli, Leptis Magna, Sabratha & the Sahara Oasis of Ghadames

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Tripoli — Mediterranean Crossroads

Arrive at Mitiga International Airport, Tripoli. Meet your English-speaking Libyan guide and transfer to your hotel. Afternoon: explore Tripoli’s Medina (Old City) — a UNESCO-listed labyrinth of narrow alleyways, traditional houses with ornate mashrabiya screens, and the 16th-century Ottoman clock tower. Visit the Assaraya Alhamra (Red Castle) — Tripoli’s sprawling citadel housing the National Museum with Roman mosaics, prehistoric Sahara artifacts, and the famous 2nd-century Septimius Severus statue from Leptis Magna. Walk through the Arch of Marcus Aurelius (163 AD) — the last standing monument of Roman Oea (Tripoli), remarkably intact after 1,800 years. Evening: welcome dinner at a traditional Libyan restaurant in the Medina. Overnight in Tripoli.

Day 2: Leptis Magna — Rome’s Greatest Ruins, Without the Crowds

Full day at Leptis Magna (130km east of Tripoli) — arguably the best-preserved Roman city in the world, and you will likely have it entirely to yourself. Emperor Septimius Severus was born here in 145 AD and lavished his hometown with imperial patronage. Walk the colonnaded Cardo Maximus (the main street), still paved with original marble slabs. Enter the Severan Forum — a vast marble plaza with Medusa-head carvings and colonnades. Climb the seats of the 16,000-seat amphitheatre, facing the Mediterranean. Explore the Hadrianic Baths with their original mosaic floors and marble-lined pools. Visit the Severan Basilica (completed 216 AD) — a law court larger than St. Paul’s Cathedral, its columns still standing. See the Old Forum with its Punic market stalls, the theatre, the hippodrome, and the harbor — all virtually intact after 2,000 years. Pack a picnic lunch — there are no cafes, no ticket booths, no crowds. You are walking through an almost untouched Roman imperial city. Return to Tripoli. Overnight in Tripoli.

Day 3: Sabratha & the Berber Mountains

Morning: Sabratha (80km west of Tripoli) — another extraordinary Roman city on the Mediterranean coast. Its centerpiece is the 3-story theatre — one of the most photographed Roman structures in Africa, its columns framing the blue sea behind. Sabratha was a Phoenician trading post before Roman rule, and its mosaics are among the finest in North Africa — intricate floors depicting animals, mythological scenes, and daily life 1,700 years ago. Explore the forum, the Temple of Isis, the Christian basilicas, and the museum. Afternoon: drive into the Jebel Nafusa mountains — the rugged escarpment of the Berber homeland. Visit the troglodyte village of Nalut, where Berber families lived in underground houses to escape the desert heat and invaders for centuries. See the fortified granaries (ghorfas) built into the cliff face. Overnight in Nalut or return to Tripoli.

Day 4: Ghadames — The Pearl of the Sahara

Drive deep into the Sahara to Ghadames (600km from Tripoli, fly on some itineraries) — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Sahara’s most extraordinary oasis cities. Ghadames was a critical stop on trans-Saharan trade routes for over a thousand years, trading gold, ivory, salt, and slaves between the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa. The old city is a perfectly preserved labyrinth of white-washed mud-brick architecture — covered alleyways that block the desert sun, rooftop walkways that were the exclusive domain of women, and intricate geometric decorations. The town is now empty of residents (they moved to modern housing) but preserved as a museum — walking through its darkened passages where light enters only from above is a surreal, timeless experience. Evening: traditional Tuareg experience in the dunes — tea by the fire, bread baked in the sand, and Saharan music under the stars. Overnight in Ghadames.

Day 5: Return to Tripoli — The Medina & Final Exploration

Morning drive or flight back to Tripoli. Afternoon: deeper exploration of Tripoli’s Medina — the Gurgi Mosque (1833, covered in exquisite Iznik-style tiles), the Karamanli House Museum (an 18th-century Ottoman mansion), and the gold souq where artisans still work by hand. Visit the Martyrs’ Square (formerly Green Square) — the heart of modern Tripoli. Evening: farewell dinner at a seafood restaurant on the Tripoli corniche, with views of the Mediterranean. Overnight in Tripoli.

Day 6: Depart Tripoli

Morning at leisure for final exploration or shopping for Libyan crafts (Berber silver, traditional clothing, dates, olive oil). Transfer to Mitiga Airport for departure.

Included

• 5 nights accommodation (hotel + Ghadames traditional guesthouse)
• Daily breakfast + 4 dinners
• Licensed English-speaking Libyan guide throughout
• Private air-conditioned 4×4 vehicle
• All entrance fees to archaeological sites
• Libyan visa LOI and eVisa (included — $263 value)
• Tourist police escort (standard for all Libya tours)
• Airport transfers
• Tuareg desert experience in Ghadames