The road up to Faraya, in every season

The road leaves the coast at Jounieh and climbs for an hour through villages, pine woods and then bare rock; by the time it reaches Faraya and Kfardebian the air has changed. At around 1,600 metres, the coast's thirty-five degrees in July become twenty-two on the terrace, and a January morning may open onto a metre of snow. Diar's homes here are built for both, each with a fireplace and wood provided.

Winter is the season most visitors know. The Mzaar lifts are twelve minutes from the door, the snow generally holds from late December to the end of March, and the slopes are wide enough for a family and steep enough for the experienced. Passes are bought at the base and equipment is hired in the village. On a snowy weekend the road fills on Friday evening; an early ascent, or a stay through Sunday night, avoids it. Above the village, chains or a four-wheel drive are required after a fall, and the last stretch to some homes is taken at walking pace.

Summer is the season worth discovering. From June the plateau is green, the walks are long and the evenings call for a light jumper: the Faraya plateau itself, the natural bridge at Kfardebian, the Roman temple at Faqra with the mountains standing behind it, and the paths between the villages, where the restaurants serve their own produce. An evening by the fire in August is not as unlikely as it sounds.

Spring and autumn are shorter and, to those who know the mountain, the loveliest: the orchards in flower below the snowline in April, the poplars turning in October, and almost no one on the road.

What to bring: warm layers in every month, as the nights are cool even in August; walking shoes; and, in winter, a car suited to a snowy road. The drive from Beirut airport is approximately an hour and a half.

Each Diar home here states on its page its distance from the lifts, the aspect of its terrace and the nature of the last stretch of road. The Diar team can advise on conditions on the mountain in the week of a stay.