Question 1

Do I need dollars or Lebanese pounds?

Accepted Answer

Both circulate, but US dollars do most of the work. Since the 2019 financial collapse, many prices are quoted and paid in cash US dollars — often called "fresh dollars" — while the Lebanese pound is used for smaller amounts and change. The pound has been held at an official rate of about 89,500 to the dollar since 2024, so it takes a lot of pounds to make a dollar. Bring US dollars as your main money, and keep a little in pounds for small purchases.

Question 2

Can I pay by card, or use an ATM in the village?

Accepted Answer

Assume cash. Card payment is unreliable once you leave the cities, and a small mountain village like Bekaa Kafra is effectively cash-only. There is no bank in the village; the nearest banking and ATMs are down in Bsharri town, and even there coverage can be thin or a machine may be empty. Draw the cash you will need in Beirut or Tripoli before you drive up, rather than counting on finding a working ATM in the mountains — and ask locally what is open now.

Question 3

How much cash should I bring, and in what notes?

Accepted Answer

Bring more than you think you will need, in small US dollar notes — ones, fives, tens and twenties. Small denominations matter here: change for a large note can be hard to find, and small notes make paying at a stall, for a shared taxi, or at the feast-week fair much easier. Keep your cash somewhere safe and split it up; the village runs on cash, and there is little way to top up once you are here.

Question 4

Where should I change money?

Accepted Answer

Change money before you reach the village. Licensed exchangers and banks in Beirut and Tripoli give the going rate; the street is not the place to do it. You will rarely need pounds in any quantity — dollars are taken for almost everything — so change only what you want for small cash purchases, and keep the rest in dollars.

Question 5

I'm visiting family for the summer — anything to know about bringing or sending money?

Accepted Answer

Many families here rely on money brought or sent by relatives abroad, and the simplest form is cash US dollars, carried in person or sent through a transfer service to a city branch and collected there. Bank transfers into Lebanese accounts are still treated with caution after the collapse, and "fresh" dollars — money that entered the system after 2019 — are kept separate from the older deposits many people lost access to. If in doubt, bring cash, and ask the family how they would rather receive it.

Paying in Bekaa Kafra

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