For discounted cruises that visit Tripoli, click

Libya is gradually opening up to tourism from the outside world, and cruise passengers can be among the first to see the often surprisingly well-preserved classical heritage of North Africa, a key part of the Mediterranean world.

The capital and main cruise port, Tripoli embodies the quintessential image of a North African city, where Berber merchants do business in bustling souks amid a tangled network of alleys. There is an engrossing national museum, but the most impressive sights remain outside the city, in the grand and sprawling desert.

After Rome defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars, it became custodian of such cities as Leptis Magna, which is one of the world’s most unspoiled Roman ruins, with an amphitheater, the Arch of Septimius Severus and a museum that showcases a recently discovered mosaic said to be perhaps the finest such artwork to survive to our day. Another Roman city on the western end of the country is Sabratha, with many pagan temples and a Christian basilica from the age of Justinian. Both cities are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Language: Arabic, Italian, English     Currency: Libyan dinar (LYD)