Conflict may have scarred Beirut's recent past, but Katy Guest discovers that the Lebanese capital is a vibrant, welcoming place. Just go easy on the snacks...

It's a hot, humid Wednesday afternoon, and I am facing west with a cold beer as the sun begins to set over the Mediterranean. Behind me is a glittering terrace of cool, blue swimming pools, ahead there is nothing until the north coast of Tunisia, and I'm sharing the beach with only one sunbathing lizard and the footprints of a wading bird. For the 15th time today, I congratulate myself for ignoring the people who told me I was mad to holiday in Beirut.

Lebanon's diverse patchwork of Mediterranean-lapped coast, rugged alpine peaks, and green fertile valleys is packed into a parcel of land some 225km long and 46km wide – an area approximately the size of Cyprus or Connecticut. An ancient land, Lebanon features in the writings of Homer and in the Old Testament. Its cities were major outposts and seaports in Phoenician and Roman times, just two of the great civilizations that touched this important Middle Eastern crossroads.