Updated August 2025
Tunisian coast border open, Egyptian coast border closed to foreigners. Libyan Sahara more restricted than in the 2000s, even with the still mandatory organised tours/escorts. Deep southern borders (hardly ever used by foreigners) controlled by unaligned Tubu militias running contraband and migrants.

Following the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, hostilities have declined steeply in the last couple of years, leaving Libya largely divided between two rival administrations: the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU – ‘Dbeibeh’) is based in Tripoli and controls northwestern Libya. This is where youtubers make their reports.
A rival administration in Benghazi: the Libyan National Army (LNA) controls the east and much of the south – six times more territory and where most of the oil is. Here security has a higher profile. There are also numerous tribal militias operating throughout the country – especially in the lawless deep south. Some are aligned with either administration, others are not. No youtubers go there and you can see that currently both French and UK overseas ministries classify the whole country as redder than a medium rare tenderloin steak covered in cranberry sauce and ketchup.

Money
There’s an official rate which no one uses unless they have to (at a border). Instead an open black market now operates for the Libyan dinar from shops and money changers (as it did on the Tunisian border, pre-2011). A recent search came up with the following prices in Tripoli souk:
US Dollar $1 = 8 LYD
Euro €1 = 9.1 LYD
UK Pound £1 = 10.4 LYD

Costs
Bread water all very cheap. Pizza 20-30 dinar. Basic hotel 80-100 Dinar.

Price of fuel
Along with Algeria, fuel in Libya was about as cheap as it gets in the Sahara, especially with black money. Expect to pay about 0.15D/litre for petrol and diesel.
World fuel prices.

Visas (overland)
There’s an e-visa system now and a single entry costs $63. It almost certainly requires an invite from an organisation or tour agency. Non e-visas can be applied for at consulates other than your home country.
A visa might get authorised in a few days to be available at the Ras Adjir (Tunisian coastal border), so it’s more of a collection with an authorisation in advance, as before 2011.
On the coast road at least, this visa is valid when passing eastbound from GNU into LNA territory. Southern desert GNU/LNA frontiers, who knows.

International borders
For foreigners, only the Tunisian border at Ras Adjir is open. No foreigner’s crossed to or from Egypt via Sallum on the coast for years and even in the Gadaffi years Sallum was hit and miss, especially westbound from Egypt. This French cyclist tried eastbound in September 2024 and 11 months later a British cyclist didn’t even try and turned back from Derna, 300km before Sallum.
And no one’s crossed a Saharan border into Algeria, Niger, Chad or Sudan for even longer. This area is largely controlled by Tuareg or Tubu cross-border militias, and is probably a bit ‘wild west’.

Coast road escorts
In the GNU you might dodge the odd escort on the dreary coastal highway some days until you reach the ‘Sirte 30′ checkpoint (below), marking the frontier of GNU and LNA territories. Expect escorts to and from Sirte 30, with several hours of waiting in between. Then, once in the LNA expect 24/7 escorts, being led from one secure hotel to the next, and at times even when on foot.

Useful languages Arabic and English. Road sign names are in Arabic (some may have been defaced) but the distance numbers used to be in Roman (‘English’) script (they too may have been erased. Nevertheless, if nothing else it helps to learn the ten cardinal Arabic numerals (above, read from left to right, unlike Arabic script).

Summer 2025 intrepid RTW pushbiker Helen D was youtubing along the Libyan coastal highway, having come from Oran in Algeria. She got her visa in Algiers with help from contacts at the Libyan Cycling Centre (regular e-visas also available).
Once in Libya checkpoints were frequent as well as security escorts, but also frequent gifts of food and water from passing drivers (when not overseen by an escort). In Cyrenaica (LNA) stricter escorts (left) from hotel to hotel. She probably knew crossing into Egypt was a lost cause and turned back west from Derna, 300km from the border.