Wedding venues in Aley sit on the hills above Beirut, cooler after dark than the coast and about 15 to 20 minutes from the city centre on an empty road. Listed venues include Château Cana in Bhamdoun and High Tower Castle in Baysour. Qasr Noun, a restored 1895 estate in Ain Anub, opens for weddings in summer 2027.
We are Qasr Noun, a restored estate in Ain Anub, one of the Aley district's villages. This page is about the district as a place to marry: what it offers, how the villages differ, how long the drive is, and which venues are publicly listed here today. We include ourselves, and every other venue links to its own listing, so you can check each line.
Why couples look at wedding venues in Aley
The Aley District lies south-east of Beirut, in Mount Lebanon Governorate, with Aley town as its capital (Wikipedia: Aley District). For more than a century it has been where Beirut goes in summer. Aley grew into a resort after the Beirut to Damascus railway was completed in the mid-1890s, served for a time as the summer capital of the Ottoman governors of Mount Lebanon, and is still called the “Bride of the Summer resorts” for its cooler climate (Wikipedia: Aley).
For a wedding, that history turns into three practical advantages.
- Cooler evenings. From 2015 to 2024 the average July low at Ain Anub was 20.2 °C, against 24.4 °C in central Beirut. By day the gap is only 1.3 to 2.7 °C; after sunset it opens to 3.7 to 5.0 °C, every month of the season. The month-by-month figures are in our guide to the best time to get married in Lebanon.
- A view toward the sea. Souk El Gharb overlooks Saint George Bay and Beirut (Wikipedia: Souk El Gharb). From the balcony at Qasr Noun in Ain Anub, the sun sets into the Mediterranean. Bhamdoun, higher up, looks the other way, over the Lamartine Valley.
- A short drive. Aley town is 19.6 km by road from Martyrs' Square, about 16 minutes on an empty road. Ain Anub is 14.0 km from Rafic Hariri International Airport. The table below has the rest.
The villages of the Aley district, from the coast to Sawfar
The district runs from Khaldeh and Choueifat, down by the coast and the airport, up to Sawfar on the road to Damascus. Wikipedia lists every village below as part of Aley District, except Kfarshima, which belongs to neighbouring Baabda District (Wikipedia: Baabda District).
- Bchamoun is Ain Anub's next-door village, 1.4 km away by road.
- Souk El Gharb, 4.2 km away, was a prosperous mountain resort before 1975 and was known for its schools. It is now counted as one of Aley's suburbs.
- Aley town, 7.3 km away, is the district capital and the old railway resort.
- Choueifat, Khaldeh and Aramoun form the lower side of the district, near the coast and the airport, between 8.6 and 11.3 km from the estate.
- Bhamdoun, 15 km away, lies at about 1,150 m above the Lamartine Valley. Before the civil war it was one of Lebanon's best-known summer resorts (Wikipedia: Bhamdoun).
- Sawfar, 18.6 km away and about 27 km from Beirut, is the high end of the district, around 1,300 m and above. It was a summer retreat for Beirut's upper class, and its Grand Sawfar Hotel received royals and dignitaries from 1892 to 1975 (Wikipedia: Sawfar).
Our weather figures are for Ain Anub. Higher villages are likely to be cooler still at night, so check the forecast for the exact village on your date, and tell older guests to bring a layer.
Drive times to Ain Anub from towns in the Aley district
Distances by road to Qasr Noun, measured today from each village centre. Kfarshima, just across the line in Baabda District, is included for guests from that side.
| From | District | Road distance | Free-flow drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bchamoun | Aley | 1.4 km | about 2 min |
| Souk El Gharb | Aley | 4.2 km | about 6 min |
| Kfarshima | Baabda | 5.1 km | about 9 min |
| Aley town | Aley | 7.3 km | about 9 min |
| Aramoun | Aley | 8.6 km | about 10 min |
| Khaldeh | Aley | 9.5 km | about 13 min |
| Choueifat | Aley | 11.3 km | about 12 min |
| Bhamdoun | Aley | 15.0 km | about 14 min |
| Sawfar | Aley | 18.6 km | about 17 min |
Road distances and free-flow drive times are estimates from OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data, measured on 19 October 2026 from each village centre, as located by OpenStreetMap's Nominatim, to the estate's Google Maps pin (33.7846104, 35.5419981). A different start point in the same village moves the figure by a few hundred metres: from another point in Aley, our 13 October measurement gave 7.3 km. Free-flow means an empty road. Real times on a Saturday evening are longer. Check a live traffic map before you set off. Martyrs' Square, Achrafieh, the airport and Aley town use our 13 October measurement, so every page on this site gives the same four figures.
For drive times from Beirut's neighbourhoods, the airport, Jounieh, Saida and Byblos, see our wedding venue near Beirut page. For the pin and directions, see where Ain Anub is.
Wedding venues in Aley: what is listed today
Two public directories cover the district. Arabia Weddings lists one venue under Aley, and files several others in Aley villages under the Metn. The City of Aley directory, an initiative of the Lebanese Cultural Heritage Foundation, lists more. Here is what each listing says, in its own terms.
Listings checked on 19 October 2026. Venues change their spaces and policies; confirm every detail with the venue directly.
| Venue | Village | What the listing describes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Château Cana | Bhamdoun | A wine estate above the Lamartine Valley: an outdoor ceremony area, a garden, an indoor space with arcades and a fireplace, and a guest house | Listing, venue site |
| Cherry Blossom Boutique Hotel | Bhamdoun | A hotel with three outdoor spaces: the Spring, the Pool and the Terrace | Listing (filed under Metn) |
| High Tower Castle | Baysour | A castle with gardens | Listing (filed under Metn) |
| Grand Sofar Hotel | Sawfar | A historic mountain hotel with panoramic views | Listing (filed under Metn) |
| Donna Maria Sursock Residence | Sawfar | Listed as a wedding venue, without further detail | City of Aley |
| Blanco Wedding Venue | Aley | “Quality facilities for diverse occasions, arts, social and educational events” | City of Aley |
| Jardin D'Amour, Casino Piscine Aley | Aley | Listed as wedding venues, without further detail | City of Aley |
| Qasr Noun | Ain Anub | A restored estate with an 1895 lintel; a school from 1907; weddings from summer 2027 | Parfit, 1917 |
Check the village, not the heading. Bhamdoun, Baysour and Sawfar are all in Aley District, even where a directory files their venues under the Metn. If you are comparing drive times or local permits, the village is what counts.
If you searched for Blanco wedding venue in Aley: the City of Aley directory lists it in Aley and describes it in one sentence, quoted above. Its contact details were marked “coming soon” when we checked, so ask the venue directly about its spaces and calendar.
If you are looking for a wedding venue in Sawfar: Arabia Weddings lists the Grand Sofar Hotel, and the City of Aley directory lists the Donna Maria Sursock Residence. Wikipedia notes that the hotel reopened in 2018 as a venue for art exhibitions, so confirm how it hosts weddings today. For older heritage houses across the country, see our guide to heritage wedding venues in Lebanon.
Qasr Noun: a wedding venue in Ain Anub, Aley
Qasr Noun (قصر نون) stands in Ain Anub (عين عنوب), a short drive from both Bchamoun and Souk El Gharb, high above Beirut, with views over the city and the Mediterranean. A carved lintel over one doorway reads “AD. 1895”, with the year in Arabic numerals either side of a cross. In the autumn of 1907 Canon Joseph T. Parfit restored the neglected estate into a school. By 1914 it had “over 150 pupils”, and he called it “one of the brightest spots in the Lebanon” (Parfit, 1917). Read the story of the school on the hill.
Restored a second time, the estate opens for weddings in summer 2027, and pre-booking for 2027 dates is open now. The day is the couple's until 1:30 AM, with no charge for extra hours. Sound and lighting, a 150 kVA generator, chairs and tables, parking organised at the gate and restrooms for guests are part of the full package. Read what a wedding package includes.
Tell us your guest count, and we will show you how the eight places on the estate fit it: the arcade for the vows, the fountain courtyard for a Katb Kteb, the balcony at sunset, the olive terraces for a long table, the tower lit until the last song.
Comparing districts? Our guide to wedding venues in Mount Lebanon covers the Chouf, the Metn, Baabda, Keserwan and Jbeil. For everything about marrying at the estate, start at weddings at Qasr Noun.