A day in Mar Mikhael

Mar Mikhael begins slowly. The bakeries on Armenia Street open before eight, and a manoushe taken at the counter remains the best breakfast in Beirut; the cafés open a little later and are better suited to sitting, with coffee and a newspaper, while the delivery vans complete their rounds. By ten the galleries have opened and the street belongs to those on foot.

The quarter is built on a slope, and its stairs are the way to see it. From Armenia Street, any of the painted staircases leads up towards Geitawi: the Vendôme stairs are the most photographed, those behind the old station the quietest. At the top the city opens — the port below, the sea beyond it, the mountains behind on a clear day — and the walk along the ridge to the Sursock Museum is twenty minutes of Ottoman houses and jasmine. The museum's garden is the place to pause.

For lunch, the mezze houses in the side streets fill with families on Saturdays and are worth the wait; on a weekday, hummus, a salad and a glass of arak on a terrace suffice. In the afternoon the light comes down the street from the west and the façades take on the colour of apricots.

Towards evening the street changes character. The bars along Armenia Street set out their tables, the music begins low and rises, and by ten the pavement is full. It is convivial rather than raucous, and on a Friday it continues into the small hours. Diar's homes on the main street hear it; those a few steps up in Geitawi do not, and each home's page says which.

Two practical notes. Taxis are readily found on Armenia Street at any hour, and the fare across town is modest; agree it beforehand or use the applications. The quarter is best explored in comfortable shoes.

Recommendations for the evening — which change with the season and with what has newly opened — are available from the Diar team on request at the time of booking.