Beirut is a Mediterranean destination driven by adrenaline, optimism and the energy of a populace who embrace high jinks - and it fulfils its status as capital with an urban panache that's unmistakably Lebanese.

The Monocle Travel Guide to Beirut delves into this metropolis to explore the vivacious thrum of life and unpick its many and varied quirks. We'll lead you through a collage of cloud-scraping hotels, Ottoman-style palaces and golden age modernist apartments, and introduce you to small-scale fashion labels and smart shop-owners rethinking traditional handicrafts. We'll also direct you to our favoured tables, where you can feast on mezze and sip on a soothing glass of arak. And when you need a reprieve from the excitement of it all, hang your hat at one of the city's best examples of Lebanese hospitality, whether it be a five-star chain or a four-room family-run guesthouse.

The heady pull of this seaside capital is magnetic. So dive into the pace of life (and the Med while you're at it) and discover all that this Middle Eastern beacon has to offer.

The magazine Monocle covers the world with its network of bureaus in New York, Toronto, Zurich, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Tokyo, and Singapore. It also employs more than 30 dedicated correspondents-in cities from Bangkok to Bogotá, São Paolo to Stockholm-as well as a team of on-the-road reporters based out of its headquarters in London. This team's deep understanding of cities and all they have to offer has now been compiled in The Monocle Travel Guide Series.