Rue Gouraud (شارع غورو) is a trendy, colourful street in downtown Beirut.
Note that I visited in 2019, before the tragic blast that wrecked many buildings in Beirut, including some on this street. It may look different now.
After getting thoroughly lost in Bourj Hammoud, my mum and I were very glad to find this lovely street. Turning onto the street from a steep hill, the first building we saw was the St. Anthony Greek Melkite Church.
There were countless pretty alleyways to explore. At the end of one was the Blue House Tea Salon, a cute little blue building. The street is known for its bars and eateries.
Rue Gouraud is named after Henri Gouraud, a French General. Many of the buildings had a European feel, but with the constant chorus of car horns and offers of taxis, it was still distinctly Beirut. Most of the apartment blocks were built in the 1950s. The pink and green ones were especially charming.
At one turn were the St. Nicholas Stairs. With 125 steps, this stairway is the longest in the Middle East. It connects Rue Gouraud with Rue Sursock. We were actually looking for the ‘let’s think positive’ stairs, but we were happy with these!
I wandered off to explore a few of the streets beyond the alleyways. The golden hue of many of Beirut’s buildings makes it feel like it’s always the golden hour.
As we reached the end of Gourad Street, the Mohammad Al Amin Mosque, cloaked in gold mist, was visible between the blocks and over passing cars. Now it was the golden hour, which is always beautiful in Lebanon. Seeing the mosque in that light is definitely one of my favourite memories from Beirut.
We were tired and hungry. So, we found a nice wall outside a restaurant and tucked into our crisps and Gerblé rice cakes. There were times we wished we could’ve afforded sit-down meals, but sitting on walls and roadblocks with our snacks made for many amusing memories.
Before we caught the bus back to our hotel in Raouche, we had a wander around Saifi Village. We never made it to Mar Mikhael, but walking around these colourful streets definitely made up for that.
How to get to Rue Gouraud
Address: Gouraud, Beirut, Lebanon
- By taxi: Simply ask one of Beirut’s many taxi drivers to take you to Rue Gouraud (shariu ghuru in Arabic). If you don’t want to get in a random taxi, you can book with a reputable company like Allo Taxi.
- By bus: The 4 and A buses both go to Martyrs’ Square which is close to Rue Gouraud. You can also ask the 2 bus to stop nearby (that’s the bus we took). For more info on Beirut’s bus network, check out this guide.
- On foot: Rue Gouraud is near several of Beirut’s main attractions, such as…
Nearby attractions
- Saifi Village: 0.1 mi/170 m
- Mohammad Al Amin Mosque: 0.2 mi/300 m
- Martyrs’ Square: 0.3 mi/450 m
- Place de l’Étoile: 0.4 mi/700 m
- Roman Forum: 0.5 mi/850 m
- Beirut Souks: 0.6 mi/900 m
Atlas and a Camera 