Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
The Sand Sea and the Jebel
The Ubari sand sea in the southwest, and the green Jebel Akhdar behind Benghazi.
North Africa · Afrinkong
Libya
Leptis Magna, and the sand sea behind it.
The best-preserved Roman city on the Mediterranean, Greek Cyrene on its escarpment, and the Ubari lakes in a sand sea — a country whose archaeology is world-class and whose access is not simple.
Where it is
Africa · North Africa · Libya
The land in brief
- Spans
- 1,440 km E–W, 1,490 km N–S
- Latitude
- 33°N to 20°N
- Borders
- 6 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- Late autumn to early spring. Check what your government says before you plan anything.
Also in North Africa
AlgeriaThe largest country in Africa, and the emptiestEgyptThe Nile, and five thousand yearsMoroccoAtlas, Sahara and the medinasSudanMore pyramids than EgyptTunisiaCarthage, the Sahel and the desert south
Compare Libya with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
Late autumn to early spring. Check what your government says before you plan anything.
01Highlights
What Libya is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Desert Survivors
Barbary sheep in the Acacus, dorcas gazelle on the gravel plains, and very little else.
The Acacus
Volcanic rock arches and towers on the Algerian border, with rock art under them.
Beaches & Coast
Two Thousand Kilometres of Coast
The longest Mediterranean coastline of any African country, and almost none of it built on.
Forests & Rainforest
The Green Mountain
Juniper and cypress on the Jebel Akhdar, the only real forest in the country.
Arab, Berber, Tuareg, Tebu
Four peoples and three languages, and a coast that has been Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Ottoman and Italian.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Libya with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- The Sand Sea and the JebelThe Ubari sand sea in the southwest, and the green Jebel Akhdar behind Benghazi.
- The AcacusVolcanic rock arches and towers on the Algerian border, with rock art under them.
- Wadi CountryNo permanent rivers. The water is in wadis that run once a decade and in springs at the oases.
- The Ubari LakesSalt lakes between dunes, the last of them dense enough to float in.
- Two Thousand Kilometres of CoastThe longest Mediterranean coastline of any African country, and almost none of it built on.
- The Green MountainJuniper and cypress on the Jebel Akhdar, the only real forest in the country.
Wildlife
- Desert SurvivorsBarbary sheep in the Acacus, dorcas gazelle on the gravel plains, and very little else.
- Tracking, Not DrivingThe wildlife is thin and shy. What you go out to see is the country it survives in.
- What the Desert KeepsSand buried Leptis Magna for a thousand years, which is why there is so much of it left.
- The Jebel AkhdarWalking on the green mountain between Greek tombs cut into the rock.
People and culture
- Arab, Berber, Tuareg, TebuFour peoples and three languages, and a coast that has been Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Ottoman and Italian.
- The Tuareg and the TebuThe Tuareg in the southwest around Ghat, the Tebu in the Tibesti foothills in the southeast.
- Ghat and the Desert FestivalsThe Ghat festival brings Tuareg from three countries for racing, music and poetry.
- Silver and LeatherTuareg silver crosses, tooled leather from Ghadames, and Berber weaving in the Nafusa.
- Bazin and BsisaBazin with lamb and paprika, couscous on Fridays, and shorba on the table all Ramadan.
- Roman Cities Are Good for ThisLeptis is enormous, empty and safe to run around in, which not every ruin is.
- Tea, Three TimesPoured from a height, three glasses, and no conversation is finished before the third.
Places
- Tripoli and BenghaziAn Ottoman medina inside Italian arcades in Tripoli, and Benghazi rebuilding.
- GhadamesA covered mud-brick town where the streets are tunnels and the roofs are the women's road.
- Cyrene and SabrathaA Greek city on an escarpment above the sea, and a Roman theatre facing the water at Sabratha.
- Five Sites, All of Them MajorLeptis, Sabratha, Cyrene, Ghadames and the Acacus rock art — every one on the World Heritage list.
Ways to travel
- Into the AcacusFour-wheel-drive expeditions of a week, camping under the arches with Tuareg guides.
- Thin on the GroundThere is very little at the top end here, and what exists is in Tripoli.
- Stone and SeaSabratha's theatre with the Mediterranean through its arches, in the last hour of light.
- Waw an NamusA black volcanic caldera in the middle of the Sahara with green lakes at the bottom.
03Why go
The case for Libya.
Why Visit This Country
Why Libya
Because Leptis Magna is the best Roman city left anywhere, and hardly anyone has stood in it.
Hidden Gems
Waw an Namus
A black volcanic caldera in the middle of the Sahara with green lakes at the bottom.
Eco Tourism
What the Desert Keeps
Sand buried Leptis Magna for a thousand years, which is why there is so much of it left.
Heritage
Five Sites, All of Them Major
Leptis, Sabratha, Cyrene, Ghadames and the Acacus rock art — every one on the World Heritage list.
04Go deeper
All of Libya, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Libya starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.