Libya Travel Forum

I'm basically a solo traveler, in order just to go without having to wait anyone to decide if they want or not, therefore, my questions are:

1. Are there any conditions for travelling in Lybia, specifically solo? I heard that no one can travel on their own, this being in group or alone...

2. If the answer to the previous question is YES, how much would a guide cost and where should go or who should be contacted in order not to have a typical moroccan "False Guide"?

3. Is it backpacker friendly?

4. Which is the best way to enter Lybia besides by air?... boat or land?... if boat, which is a good port to depart from? would Malta be a good place to part from, by land which country is less of a hassle to enter by?

and,

5. What about ATM's?

Thank you so much for your help.

Best of all

ALFONSO

P.S.- Sorry for the amount of question but I'd rather ask now than forget later.

1. You will presumably be asking the Libyan Embassy about visas but as far as I know you won't get one unless you are going with a (possibly spurious) group: the travel agency will have to attach you to one somehow. I went with a group but arrived separately and had to be attached to another one just to get through passport control. (Note that you can't have an Israeli stamp in your passport..)
2. Things are much more serious and regulated in Libya than in Morocco, I doubt that you can even get a false guide. Anyway, whoever you go through you will basically be dealing with the same local organisation.
3. Unless things have changed a lot since I was there about 18 months ago, I very much doubt that it is in any way set up to cater to individual travellers. Assuming that they let you in alone in the first place, you would certainly need fluent Arabic.
4. I am surprised to see this mentions a ferry between Malta and Libya: there certainly used to be one but I thought it was stopped when it got to the point where it took Maltese Customs more than a week to clear the backlog of problems from the weekly ferry: http://i-cias.com/libya/z_arrivals.htm
5. I don't believe there are any at all, I certainly didn't see any: and it's essentially a cash economy, credit cards aren't much used either.
Brilliant country all the same, enjoy your trip!

I visited Libya last year on a business visa for a trade show and all this talk about not being able to go anywhere without a guide is nonsense.

One morning I walked out in front of my hotel and started stopping taxis to see who wanted to take me and co-worker to Leptis Magana, after 20 minutes we found a good price and used the same driver another day to drive us wherever we wanted to go. Enjoy!

I just came back from Libya, so here we go :

1. You can travel on your own, but
2. You need to be with a guide whenever outside of the major cities. There are numerous roadblocks which check this requirement and you can't get into any of the major sites without your guide. A guide is usually aorund 40-50 Euros per day plus accomodaton (if you need him overnight outside of Tripoli)
3. No
4. You can enter by land from Tunisia/Egypt or by boat from Malta), but entering by air is easiest.
5. There are several ATMs in Tripoli of Aman Bank (e.g. at the Hotel Al Kabir) that work with foriegn cards.

George

Between us, my husband and I have visited Leptis, Villa Sileen, Sabratha and many other sites in all areas of Libya and the only place we have ever been required to use a guide was when we visited the Jebel Akakus - you actually need a permit to travel there and must travel with at least two vehicles. Everywhere else we just arrange our own transport and buy at ticket at the gate and stayed as long as we liked. My husband has been travelling regularly (as often as 3-4 times a year) to Libya for the last 10 years and has never once used a tour guide.
There definitely are ATMs in the Kabir Hotel.
leyle