Libya remains one of the least-visited countries in the Mediterranean. Roman cities that once rivalled Rome itself, a UNESCO desert town built to outlast the heat, sand dunes running to the Algerian border, and a 12th-century granary still standing in the mountains. Here’s what you’re actually going to do there.
1. Walk Through Leptis Magna
Leptis Magna is Libya’s largest Roman city, and one of the best-preserved in the Mediterranean. Phoenician traders founded it. Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor born here, later rebuilt it into an imperial showcase.
The forum is still standing. So is the Arch of Septimius Severus, the old theatre, the basilicas, and the bath complex. Most days, you’ll walk through it with no other tour groups around.
2. See Sabratha’s Ruins on the Coast
Sabratha started as a Phoenician trading post before the Romans took it over and built a proper port city: mosaics, temples, and a three-story theatre facing straight out to sea. Sit in that theatre for a minute. The Mediterranean does the work a modern skyline never could.
3. Walk the Old Town of Ghadames
Ghadames is one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities in the world. Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built from mudbrick homes and covered passageways designed to block out the desert heat.
Residents were moved to newer housing decades ago, which is part of why the old streets are still intact. Date markets run, and Berber families nearby are often willing to talk about how the town used to work.
4. Watch the Sunset Over the Dunes
Just outside Ghadames, flat desert gives way to steep dunes rolling toward Algeria. Nothing scheduled here, nothing beyond the obvious: green tea, mella bread, and a sunset that turns distant peaks red.
Sometimes the best item on the itinerary is nothing at all.
5. Eat Bazin, Shakshuka, Marak, and Dates
Libyan food draws on Berber, Arab, and Mediterranean traditions. Bazin is a firm, doughy staple usually served with lamb and a tomato sauce. Marak is a stew built around potatoes, meat, and spices.
Dates matter here beyond flavor. They’re tied to hospitality and to trade routes that cross the Sahara. If your trip overlaps with the Libyan Date Festival, it’s worth attending.
6. Visit Qasr al-Haj
A 12th-century Berber granary arranged in a ring, with small storage chambers stacked around a central courtyard where entire communities once kept their grain secure. Nobody raised this to impress visitors. It was designed to work, and it holds up like it still could.
7. Talk to the People Who Live Here
Libya’s population is a mix of Berbers, Arabs, and a younger generation shaped by the last decade. An Amazigh lunch in someone’s home, a conversation in Ghadames, a chat with a guide who grew up near the ruins you’re walking through — these tend to stick with you longer than the ruins do.
Planning a Trip to Libya
We run small groups through Leptis Magna, Sabratha, and Ghadames. Local and foreign English-speaking guides. People who actually know this country.
Check our upcoming Libya Tours, or just get in touch
