Banque du Liban Museum (Musée de la Banque du Liban)

The basics

Once you’ve cleared security and found the entrance, the museum is free to enter and easy enough to explore independently, with clear signage, good lighting, and informative displays in Arabic, French, and English. A handful of Beirut museum tours visit this quirkily fascinating little museum, but most travelers stop by independently to spend a few minutes admiring the colorful historic Lebanese banknotes and discovering the complex history of currency in Lebanon.

Things to know before you go

• Despite the educational games, the Banque du Liban Museum is more suitable for adults than for most families.

• Relatively few travelers visit the museum, so it’s not uncommon for employees to show you around.

• The Banque du Liban Museum is wheelchair accessible.

How to get there

The Banque du Liban Museum sits within the bank’s headquarters on Rue Banque du Liban in the heart of Downtown Beirut. Lebanese public transit can be complicated for visitors and driving in Beirut is very challenging, so most travelers take taxis or rideshares or walk.

When to get there

The Banque du Liban Museum is open from morning till lunchtime Tuesday through Thursday with shorter hours on Friday and Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and Mondays. Since the museum is rarely crowded, you can visit any time it’s open and may well even have the place to yourself.

Ancient coins in Beirut

The Banque du Liban Museum’s banknote collection is unique in the country, but fans of old coins can find other interesting collections at Beirut’s two leading archaeological museums: the National Museum of Beirut and the Archaeological Museum of the American University in Beirut. The university museum has some fascinating Roman-era coins showing how the temples of Baalbek looked during their heyday.