Libya is a heart- and eye-ful of a country. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and Arabs did their bit for posterity, leaving Libya with five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all of which we visit on our 17-day trip. Beginning in the country’s capital, Tripoli, we’ll travel along the Mediterranean to the coastal site of Leptis Magna—undoubtedly among the finest Roman ruins in the world. We head a little way west along the sea to the Roman city of Sabratha and Jebel Nafusa, a center of Berber culture on the edge of the Sahara. Now into the great desert itself, to the adobe border town of Ghadames, long an important stop astride the trans-Saharan caravan routes, for a charming and intriguing glimpse of how traditional architecture effectively tamed the relentless heat of the desert. We drive onward to Sebha and the stunning striated limestone escarpments and cliffs of the Jebel Akakus. Here’s the highlight: a three-day, oasis-to-oasis drive deep into the Sahara, a dramatic experience of the ocean of stone and sand. We turn back to the coast, where overlooking the Mediterranean are the Greek-founded pentapolis cities of Apollonia and Cyrene – still magnificent in haunting ruin, and a fine end to a thrilling trip.

Update on Travel to Libya - May 28th, 2010

You may have heard that Libya has begun issuing tourist visas to US citizens, so we wanted to update you about the particulars.

While the Libyan government has announced that it will begin issuing visas, the conditions that they will be issued under make it impractical to plan a trip. Currently the government is only issuing “visas-on-arrival” and will only notify travelers that their visa has been approved one week before their scheduled arrival.

This means that you would need to plan your trip and book your air tickets long before you would know whether the government is going to approve your visa. Our experience with the Libyan visa system leads us to believe that there is a high risk that your visa may not be approved and that you will find this out only at the last moment.

We will continue to work with our partners on the ground in Libya to petition the government to provide a more practical visa system for US citizens, and will update you if there are any new developments.

In the meantime, if “risks be damned” and you want to travel to Libya now, we’d love to hear from you.

Day 1: arrive in Tripoli • Day 2: Tripoli • Day 3: excursion to Leptis Magna • Day 4: Sabratha, Jebel Nafusa • Day 5: Ruhaybat to Ghadames • Day 6: Ghadames • Day 7: drive to Sebha • Day 8: drive into the Ubari • Day 9: drive on to the Jebel Akakus • Days 10–12: the Sahara Day 13: return to Tripoli • Day 14: fly to Benghazi, Al Bayda Day 15: Cyrene, Apollonia • Day 16: back to Tripoli • Day 17: depart Tripoli.

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