Send parcel to Lebanon

How do you write an address in Lebanon?

Lebanon has a postal code system on paper, but hardly anyone uses it in daily life. An address is built around the neighbourhood, the street and above all the building, which often carries a name of its own instead of a street number. A realistic example: "Mario Rossi, Immeuble Karam, 3rd floor, Rue Gouraud, Gemmayzeh, Beirut, Lebanon, tel. +961 ...". The country is effectively trilingual, with Arabic, French and English sharing space even on shop signs, so the label can be filled in comfortably in English or French. The single most important detail is the phone number with the +961 prefix: the courier calls the recipient to be guided over the last stretch, because in many areas that is simply how you find a building. A well-known landmark helps a great deal, a church, a mosque, a bank or a long-established shop. The habit runs so deep that the Lebanese themselves describe their addresses exactly this way.

How long does delivery to Lebanon take?

With Europacco a shipment from Italy to Lebanon usually takes 6 to 9 working days. The great majority of parcels go to Beirut and the surrounding towns of Mount Lebanon, followed by Tripoli in the north, Sidon and Tyre along the southern coast and Zahle in the Bekaa Valley. The country is small and distances are measured in dozens of kilometres rather than hundreds, so once the customs stage is complete, domestic delivery moves quickly. What makes the difference is the accuracy of the address and the recipient being reachable by phone. After ordering on europacco.com you can follow the status of the shipment along the way, from collection in Italy through to delivery.

What do Italian companies ship to Lebanon?

The bond between Italy and Lebanon runs first of all through food and hospitality. Beirut has one of the liveliest dining scenes in the Mediterranean, and its restaurants and cafés order espresso machines, professional kitchen equipment, furnishings for venues and premium food products from Italy. A second flow concerns wine: the Bekaa Valley is home to wineries with more than a century of history, and Italian suppliers provide bottling lines, barrels, closures and winemaking equipment. The third world is fashion and design, because Beirut has a couture tradition known around the globe, and its ateliers buy Italian fabrics, yarns and accessories. Add to this furniture and finishing materials for the capital's never-ending renovations. Finally there are the personal parcels: the Lebanese diaspora outnumbers the population of the country itself, families are used to receiving parcels from abroad, and anyone with relatives or business in Italy uses this channel regularly.

One calendar, two worlds: when is the best time to ship?

Lebanon is the only country in the region whose calendar of holidays truly brings two worlds together: Ramadan and the Eid festivals, whose dates shift every year with the lunar calendar, are official holidays, and so are Christmas and Easter, the latter celebrated twice because the Catholic and Orthodox communities follow different calendars. The result is more public holidays spread across the year than almost anywhere else, so if your goods are tied to a deadline, it pays to check the dates before shipping. The climate has two faces as well: the coast is Mediterranean, with hot and humid summers, while Mount Lebanon rises above two thousand metres and turns white in winter. The country even has proper ski resorts less than an hour from Beirut. For delicate contents headed to mountain villages, packaging that also protects against cold and winter damp is a sensible choice.

Lebanese customs and the port of Beirut: how do you prepare?

Almost everything entering Lebanon comes through the port and airport of Beirut, and the customs stage is the part of the journey where paperwork matters most. Commercial goods need an invoice in English or French with a clear line-by-line description, a realistic value and HS codes, plus a certificate of origin when required and any documents specific to the product category. Some categories, such as food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, require specific registrations or authorisations, so the recipient or their local forwarder should check the import conditions in advance. For samples the usual rule applies: writing just "samples" is not enough, it is better to specify the contents, for example "fabric sample for couture", "spare part for bottling line" or "printed catalogue with no commercial value". A precise invoice shortens clearance and gives the recipient time to prepare before the parcel reaches Beirut.