Israel Travel Guide

A Complete Guide to the Holy Land, Ancient Wonders, and Modern Marvels

Introduction

Israel is one of the most extraordinary destinations on Earth, a small country roughly the size of New Jersey that contains within its borders an almost incomprehensible density of history, culture, religion, natural beauty, and culinary excellence. For travelers who seek depth alongside scenic splendor, Israel delivers an experience unlike anything else in the world. Here, the ancient and the modern exist in startling proximity: a gleaming high-tech city rises beside a harbor where Crusader knights once anchored their ships; a farmer tends organic vineyards in a valley where biblical prophets walked; a group of pilgrims pray at a wall that has witnessed two thousand years of prayer and tears.

The Holy Land, as Israel and its surroundings have been called for millennia, is sacred to three of the world's great monotheistic religions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have foundational claims on this small strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. For Jewish travelers, Israel is the ancient homeland, the land of the patriarchs, the site of the First and Second Temples, and the modern democratic nation-state reestablished in 1948. For Christian travelers, Israel is the land where Jesus was born, lived, taught, died, and was said to have risen from the dead, with dozens of sites corresponding directly to events in the New Testament. For Muslim travelers, Jerusalem holds the third holiest site in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and the Dome of the Rock, the shrine built over the rock from which the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven during the Night Journey.

But to reduce Israel purely to its religious dimensions would be to dramatically undersell the country. Israel is also a nation of astonishing geographical variety, compressing within about 22,000 square kilometers a Mediterranean coastline of golden beaches, a green and fertile northern Galilee, a dramatic rift valley depression forming the lowest point on Earth at the Dead Sea, a sweeping desert wilderness of the Negev, and the snow-dusted peaks of Mount Hermon in the north. This geographical diversity supports a correspondingly diverse ecosystem with rare migratory birds, ibex scrambling over limestone cliffs, and dolphins leaping in the Red Sea.

Modern Israel is also a technology powerhouse, the so-called Start-Up Nation, with more companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange than any country except the United States and China. Tel Aviv has earned its reputation as one of the most vibrant, cosmopolitan, and creative cities in the Middle East, with a world-class restaurant scene, a pulsing nightlife, pristine beaches, and an architectural heritage that earned it UNESCO World Heritage status. Israeli cuisine has emerged as one of the defining food stories of the twenty-first century, with flavors, ingredients, and techniques drawn from Jewish communities that migrated from across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.

Travel in Israel is generally comfortable and the infrastructure is excellent. The country has superb roads, a growing train network, an extensive bus system, and strong tourism facilities. English is widely spoken throughout the country. The security protocols at airports and major tourist sites are rigorous, which some travelers find initially startling, but the systems are professional and ensure that Israel remains one of the safer destinations in the broader Middle East region. Travelers who approach Israel with curiosity, sensitivity, and an openness to complexity will be richly rewarded.

This comprehensive guide covers every major region of Israel, providing the context, practical details, and cultural understanding needed to make the most of a journey to one of the world's most remarkable places.

Geography and Climate

Israel occupies a narrow strip of land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest, and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank to the east and Gaza Strip to the southwest. The country extends approximately 470 kilometers from north to south and between 15 and 135 kilometers from west to east. Despite its small size, the geography of Israel is extraordinarily varied, reflecting its position at the junction of three continents and the meeting point of several distinct climatic zones.

The coastal plain runs the length of the Mediterranean shoreline from Rosh HaNikra in the north to Gaza in the south. This low-lying, fertile strip of land has historically been the most densely populated part of the country and today contains the major coastal cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Acre, Netanya, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. The coast is characterized by sandy beaches, gentle dunes, and a pleasant Mediterranean climate with warm summers and mild, rainy winters.

Inland from the coastal plain, the central highlands form a north-to-south backbone through the country. In the north, the Galilee highlands reach their peak in Mount Meron at 1,208 meters. The highlands continue southward through Samaria and into the Judean Hills surrounding Jerusalem, where the elevation reaches about 800 meters above sea level. The Judean Hills have a harsher, drier version of the Mediterranean climate, with cold winters that occasionally bring snow to Jerusalem, and long, hot, dry summers.

To the east of the central highlands, the land drops precipitously into the Great Rift Valley, one of the most dramatic geological features on Earth. The Jordan River flows southward through the valley from its headwaters at the foot of Mount Hermon, through the Sea of Galilee, which sits 209 meters below sea level, and continues south to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth at approximately 430 meters below sea level. The Dead Sea has no outlet and the intense evaporation in this arid, hot valley has concentrated its salt content to roughly ten times that of the ocean, making it a natural flotation device and a source of commercially valuable minerals.

The Negev Desert occupies the southern half of Israel, covering about sixty percent of the country's land area but holding only about eight percent of its population. The Negev is not a flat, featureless expanse but a landscape of considerable drama, with chalk highlands, deep erosion craters called makhteshim, red sandstone formations, and narrow canyons carved by ancient floods. The largest of the makhteshim, Makhtesh Ramon, is the world's largest erosion crater, a geological wonder unlike anything found elsewhere on Earth.

In the far south, the Negev narrows to the point of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea. Here the climate is arid and extremely hot in summer, and the clear desert air and warm sea support extraordinary coral reef ecosystems that make Eilat one of Israel's premier diving destinations.

Israel's climate varies considerably by region. The Mediterranean coastal region experiences a classic Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers from June through September and mild, wet winters from November through March. Rainfall is concentrated almost entirely in the winter months, and summers are essentially rainless. Tel Aviv has average summer temperatures in the low to mid thirties Celsius, moderated by sea breezes. Jerusalem, at higher elevation, is somewhat cooler in summer but can be cold and damp in winter, with occasional snowfall.

The Jordan Valley, Dead Sea region, and Eilat have an arid desert climate with extremely hot summers, when temperatures regularly exceed forty degrees Celsius, and mild winters. The northern Galilee and Golan Heights have a slightly more temperate climate with cooler summers and heavier winter rainfall than the coast. The Negev Desert is hot and arid in summer and can be surprisingly cold at night in winter.

The best times to visit Israel for most travelers are the spring months of March through May and the autumn months of October through November. During these shoulder seasons, temperatures are pleasant throughout the country, rainfall is minimal, and the landscape is at its most attractive, with spring wildflowers covering the Galilee and Negev in the late winter and early spring. Summer is the peak tourist season and can be extremely hot, particularly in the desert regions, though the beaches are at their best. Winter travel is possible and can be very rewarding, particularly for pilgrims who want to experience Jerusalem and the Galilee with fewer crowds, though rain is frequent and the occasional snowstorm can close roads in the hills.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem stands as one of the most layered, contested, and spiritually charged cities in the world. For approximately three thousand years, this city in the Judean Hills has served as a focal point for faith, empire, pilgrimage, and conflict. It has been conquered, destroyed, rebuilt, and fought over more times than perhaps any other city on Earth. Today Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, though this designation remains politically contested internationally. Whatever one's politics, there is no denying that Jerusalem is a city of utterly unique historical depth and emotional power.

The Old City

The heart of Jerusalem is its Old City, a roughly one-square-kilometer walled enclosure that contains some of the holiest and most historically significant sites in the world. The Old City was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, though in recognition of its complex political status it was inscribed on the list on behalf of Jordan rather than any individual nation. The walls visible today were largely built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, though they follow lines established by earlier builders going back to the Roman period.

The Old City is divided into four distinct quarters: the Jewish Quarter in the southeast, the Muslim Quarter in the northeast, the Christian Quarter in the northwest, and the Armenian Quarter in the southwest. Each quarter has its own distinct character, architecture, population, and sacred sites, and the experience of walking between them is one of the most disorienting and fascinating urban experiences available anywhere on the planet.

The Western Wall, known in Hebrew as the Kotel, stands as the holiest site in Judaism that is freely accessible to all people. It is a retaining wall built by Herod the Great in the first century BCE as part of the massive platform he constructed to support the expanded Second Temple. After the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 CE, the Western Wall remained as the most tangible physical remnant of the Temple complex, and for two thousand years it has served as the focal point of Jewish prayer and longing. Visitors of any faith are welcome to approach the wall and insert paper notes bearing prayers into its ancient stones, a tradition that draws millions of pilgrims and visitors each year. The plaza in front of the wall is large and well organized, divided into separate men's and women's sections according to Orthodox Jewish custom. The Western Wall Tunnels, accessible via guided tours, allow visitors to walk along the full underground length of the wall and understand its full historical context.

Above and behind the Western Wall, accessible via the Moroccan Gate ramp from the Jewish side, lies the Temple Mount, called Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, in Arabic. This elevated platform is considered by Jews to be the site of the First and Second Temples, the holiest spot in Judaism. It is simultaneously the location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, two of the most sacred sites in Islam. The Dome of the Rock, with its spectacular golden dome and blue tiled exterior, is one of the most recognizable and beautiful buildings in the world. Built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik in the late seventh century CE, it enshrines the Foundation Stone, a large outcropping of bedrock that is associated in Jewish tradition with the creation of the world and the binding of Isaac, and in Islamic tradition with the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey to heaven. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, just to the south of the Dome of the Rock, is the third holiest mosque in Islam and regularly draws tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers for Friday prayers. Non-Muslim visitors may visit the Temple Mount compound, though access is restricted to specific hours and subject to security and religious considerations. Modest dress is required, and visitors should check current opening times before visiting as these change seasonally and with religious holidays.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the Christian Quarter, is for most Christians the holiest site in the world, built over what tradition identifies as the site of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church was originally constructed in the fourth century CE under Emperor Constantine I, who built it after his mother Helena identified the site following her pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The church has been destroyed, rebuilt, and modified countless times over the centuries, and what visitors see today is a complex, atmospheric, and somewhat confusing assemblage of chapels, galleries, underground crypts, and altars, administered jointly by six different Christian denominations: the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox churches. The constant presence of pilgrims from around the world, many of them deeply moved by the experience of praying in this most sacred of places, makes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre an extraordinarily powerful experience even for non-religious visitors.

The Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrows, winds through the narrow lanes of the Muslim and Christian Quarters, marking the fourteen Stations of the Cross that tradition identifies as the route Jesus walked from his condemnation to his crucifixion. The route is popular with Christian pilgrims, and on Fridays at three in the afternoon, Franciscan friars lead a procession along the full length of the Via Dolorosa. Walking the Via Dolorosa requires some navigation skills as it passes through the busy market areas of the Muslim Quarter, where shopkeepers hawk their wares with cheerful persistence, and the sacred and the commercial exist in characteristically Jerusalem fashion side by side.

The Jewish Quarter was largely destroyed during the Jordanian occupation of the Old City from 1948 to 1967, and most of what visitors see today was rebuilt after Israeli forces captured the quarter in the Six-Day War. The centerpiece of the rebuilt quarter is the Hurva Synagogue, a beautiful reconstruction of the nineteenth-century synagogue that was blown up by the Jordanian Legion in 1948. Beneath the streets of the Jewish Quarter lies one of Jerusalem's most fascinating archaeological sites, the Cardo, a colonnaded main street built during the Byzantine period that has been partially excavated and restored, allowing visitors to walk along a street that was the commercial spine of Byzantine Jerusalem. The Broad Wall, an eight-meter-thick section of fortification dating to the eighth century BCE reign of King Hezekiah, is also visible in the Jewish Quarter and provides a tangible connection to the era of the biblical Kingdom of Judah.

The Muslim Quarter is the largest and most densely populated of the four quarters, and its main artery is the Via Dolorosa and the markets, or souks, that branch off from it. The souks of the Old City are among the most atmospheric and engaging markets in the Middle East, a dense labyrinth of covered lanes lined with shops selling everything from spices, nuts, and dried fruits to ceramics, textiles, religious objects, leather goods, jewelry, and souvenirs. The market areas near the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Muslim Quarter, are particularly vibrant and chaotic, full of vendors, shoppers, schoolchildren, and pilgrims of every description. Bargaining is expected and the experience of negotiating over a piece of Armenian pottery or an olive wood carving in a shop that has occupied the same vaulted Crusader space for five hundred years is quintessentially Jerusalemite.

The Armenian Quarter is the smallest and quietest of the four quarters, a community that traces its roots in Jerusalem back to at least the fifth century CE. The Armenians are descendants of one of the world's oldest Christian communities, and their presence in Jerusalem predates the Arab conquest by several centuries. The heart of the Armenian Quarter is the Cathedral of Saint James, a twelfth-century Crusader-era church that has been adapted over the centuries in an Armenian style. The nearby Armenian Museum tells the history of the Armenian community in Jerusalem and includes significant material relating to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The quarter has a distinctly residential and secretive atmosphere compared to its neighbors, and many of its inner courtyards and alleys are not accessible to casual visitors.

Outside the Walls

Beyond the Old City walls, Jerusalem extends in all directions with neighborhoods and sites that are equally rewarding. The City of David, just south of the Old City walls, is one of the most significant archaeological sites in Israel, the location of the original Jebusite city that David conquered approximately three thousand years ago and from which Jerusalem grew. Ongoing excavations have revealed a dense sequence of occupation going back four thousand years, including what some archaeologists believe are the remains of the palace of King David himself, though this identification is disputed. The highlight for most visitors is Hezekiah's Tunnel, a 533-meter water tunnel carved through solid bedrock in the eighth century BCE to bring water from the Gihon Spring into the city during the siege of Sennacherib. Visitors can wade through the tunnel, which is waist-deep in some sections, an extraordinary physical connection to Iron Age Jerusalem.

The Mount of Olives rises to the east of the Old City, separated from it by the Kidron Valley, and offers the most famous panoramic view of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The mountain's western slopes are covered by the world's oldest Jewish cemetery, with graves dating back more than three thousand years, and the site has particular significance in Jewish tradition as the place where the Messiah will first appear. The Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, is identified in Christian tradition as the place where Jesus prayed on the night before his arrest, and the garden contains ancient olive trees that may be among the oldest living things in Israel. The Church of All Nations, a striking basilica built over the traditional site of Jesus's prayer, was completed in 1924 and features a magnificent facade of golden mosaics. The Dominus Flevit Church, shaped like a teardrop to commemorate Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, offers one of the most beautiful views in the city, framing the Old City and Dome of the Rock through its arched window.

Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum, sits on the western slopes of Mount Herzl and is one of the most important and emotionally powerful museums in the world. The museum tells the story of the Holocaust with extraordinary depth and sensitivity, using thousands of individual testimonies, photographs, documents, and artifacts to convey the humanity of the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The permanent exhibition, housed in a dramatic underground triangular structure designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, is organized chronologically and thematically and requires two to three hours to experience properly. The Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, lined with trees planted in honor of non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, leads through the extensive memorial garden. The Children's Memorial, a darkened underground space illuminated by the reflections of just five candles multiplied by mirrors to represent the one and a half million children killed in the Holocaust, is among the most affecting memorial spaces anywhere on Earth. A visit to Yad Vashem is essential for understanding the emotional and historical context of the modern State of Israel.

The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in Israel and one of the great museums of the world. Its permanent collection spans archaeology, fine arts, Jewish art and life, and ethnography, and it is particularly strong in the archaeology of the Land of Israel and the broader ancient Near East. The Shrine of the Book, a striking white dome designed to resemble the lids of the clay jars in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, houses the most important collection of ancient biblical manuscripts in existence. The Dead Sea Scrolls, found at Qumran between 1947 and 1956, include fragments of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, as well as previously unknown religious texts from a Jewish community that lived in the Judean Desert two thousand years ago. The museum's outdoor Second Temple Model, a detailed scale reconstruction of Jerusalem as it appeared in the first century CE, provides invaluable context for understanding the city as Jesus would have known it.

The Mahane Yehuda Market, known simply as the shuk, is the bustling, noisy, colorful soul of everyday Jerusalem. By day it is a working food market where residents of all backgrounds shop for the freshest produce, finest cheeses, most fragrant spices, and best pastries in the city. By night, particularly on Thursday and Friday evenings, the market transforms into one of Jerusalem's liveliest entertainment districts, with wine bars, restaurants, and pop-up events filling the narrow lanes between the stalls. The market is an ideal place to sample Israeli street food including falafel, shawarma, burekas, and halva, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming to visitors.

Ben Yehuda Street and the surrounding Nahalat Shiva neighborhood in the center of West Jerusalem are popular pedestrian areas filled with cafes, restaurants, shops, and street performers. The area is named for Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the linguist who almost single-handedly revived Hebrew as a modern spoken language in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an achievement that linguists consider one of the most remarkable in the history of human language.

Mea Shearim, just north of the city center, is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside the Old City walls, and it remains a stronghold of ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism. Walking through Mea Shearim is an extraordinary experience, as if stepping into a version of nineteenth-century Eastern European Jewish life that has been transplanted and preserved intact in the modern Middle East. Women should dress modestly with covered arms and legs before entering the neighborhood, and visitors should be respectful of the deeply observant community that lives here. Photography of residents is not welcomed. The neighborhood is particularly atmospheric during the Jewish Sabbath and during the festival of Purim, when the streets fill with elaborately costumed revelers.

Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus is home to one of Jerusalem's most unexpected artistic treasures, twelve stained glass windows created by the artist Marc Chagall for the hospital synagogue in 1962. Each window represents one of the twelve tribes of Israel in Chagall's distinctive dreamlike style, using blazing colors of blue, green, red, and yellow to create luminous scenes drawn from biblical symbolism. The windows are widely considered among the finest examples of twentieth-century stained glass art in the world.

Teddy Park, named for the beloved former mayor Teddy Kollek, is a popular public space at the foot of the Old City walls near the Jaffa Gate, with a spectacular sound-and-light fountain that operates in the evenings and provides families and visitors with a pleasant outdoor gathering place within sight of the ancient walls.

Tel Aviv and the Coast

Tel Aviv is the most un-Middle Eastern city in the Middle East, a young, secular, hedonistic, creative metropolis that wears its modernity with pride. Founded in 1909 as the first modern Jewish neighborhood, it has grown into a metropolitan area of over four million people that is the economic and cultural capital of Israel even as Jerusalem remains the political and spiritual capital. Tel Aviv is a city of beaches, cafes, nightclubs, galleries, markets, and technology companies, a city that works hard and plays harder. The contrast with Jerusalem, just forty-five minutes to the east, could hardly be more dramatic.

The White City UNESCO

Tel Aviv's most significant claim to world cultural heritage status is its extraordinary collection of Bauhaus and International Style architecture from the 1930s and 1940s, which earned the city UNESCO World Heritage inscription in 2003 under the title The White City of Tel-Aviv. When the Nazi regime came to power in Germany in 1933 and closed the Bauhaus school, many of its graduates and teachers emigrated to Palestine, bringing with them the principles of modernist architecture they had absorbed in Germany and applying them to the construction of a new city in a warm Mediterranean climate. The result was an astonishing urban experiment, with over four thousand buildings designed in the Bauhaus and International Style constructed in Tel Aviv between the 1930s and 1950s.

The characteristic features of this architecture, flat roofs, white render, horizontal strip windows, rounded balconies, and pilotis elevating buildings above the street level to allow for air circulation, can be seen throughout the neighborhoods of central Tel Aviv. Dizengoff Street and Rothschild Boulevard are the two most celebrated streets for White City architecture, and both are pleasant for walking or cycling. The Tel Aviv Foundation for the Built Heritage conducts architectural tours that provide deeper understanding of this remarkable urban heritage.

Rothschild Boulevard is one of the finest urban promenades in Israel, a wide tree-lined avenue flanked by some of the city's most important Bauhaus buildings and terminating at Independence Hall, the building where David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The hall has been preserved in the exact condition it was in on that historic day and can be visited on guided tours that bring to life one of the most dramatic moments in twentieth-century history.

Neighborhoods and Markets

Neve Tzedek, immediately south of central Tel Aviv, holds the distinction of being the first Jewish neighborhood established in the area, founded in 1887, more than two decades before Tel Aviv was officially founded. The neighborhood fell into disrepair during the twentieth century but has undergone a remarkable gentrification since the 1980s and is now one of the most charming and fashionable areas in the city. Its narrow lanes are lined with beautifully restored stone and plaster houses that now contain boutique hotels, galleries, design shops, and excellent restaurants. The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre, housed in a beautifully renovated complex in the heart of Neve Tzedek, is one of Israel's premier performing arts venues and the home of the acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company.

Florentin, just south of Neve Tzedek, has a grittier and more authentically bohemian character, with street art, independent coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, and a thriving nightlife scene. It is the kind of neighborhood that gives Tel Aviv its reputation as one of the most creative cities in the Middle East.

The Carmel Market, known in Hebrew as Shuk HaCarmel, is the largest and most popular outdoor market in Tel Aviv, a long covered lane stretching southward from the intersection of King George and Allenby Streets. The market sells fresh produce, fish, meat, cheese, olives, pickles, spices, baked goods, clothing, household items, and much else, and it is at its most lively and crowded on Friday mornings as families prepare for the Sabbath. The surrounding streets contain additional specialty food shops and small restaurants, and the area is a superb introduction to everyday Israeli food culture.

The beaches of Tel Aviv are one of the city's defining features, a long strip of fine sand running the full length of the coastline and packed with activity from early morning until late at night. Gordon Beach and Frishman Beach are the main central beaches, popular with tourists and locals alike. The beaches are equipped with volleyball courts, water sports equipment for hire, shower facilities, and numerous cafes and restaurants. The Tayelet, the beachfront promenade, is one of Tel Aviv's great outdoor spaces, lined with cafes and restaurants and busy with joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers, and people-watchers at almost all hours. The beaches are generally very safe, with lifeguard supervision during the summer months.

Sarona, a beautifully restored complex of buildings in the heart of the city, was originally a German Templar colony founded in 1871. The Templar buildings, in their characteristic German vernacular style, have been lovingly restored and converted into a fashionable market of restaurants, cafes, and boutique shops, making Sarona one of the most pleasant places to spend an evening in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv Museum of Art is Israel's preeminent art museum, with a collection spanning Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, modern, and contemporary art. The museum's collection includes important works by Israeli artists alongside international pieces, and its temporary exhibition program is among the most ambitious in the region. The Design Museum Holon, in the satellite city of Holon south of Tel Aviv, is dedicated to Israeli and international design and occupies a striking building designed by Israeli architect Ron Arad.

Jaffa

Adjoining Tel Aviv to the south is Jaffa, known in Hebrew as Yafo, an ancient port city that has been inhabited continuously for at least four thousand years and is one of the oldest ports in the world. Jaffa appears in the Bible as the port from which the prophet Jonah set sail before being swallowed by the great fish, and according to Greek mythology it was here that the princess Andromeda was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster, and rescued by the hero Perseus. Andromeda's Rock is still pointed out in Jaffa's harbor.

The Old City of Jaffa has been beautifully restored and is now one of the most atmospheric and pleasant neighborhoods in the greater Tel Aviv area. The narrow stone lanes wind between galleries, artists' studios, jewelry shops, and excellent restaurants, all housed in beautifully renovated Ottoman-era buildings. The Jaffa Flea Market, known as the Shuk HaPishpeshim, is one of the most interesting markets in Israel, full of antiques, vintage furniture, old books, silverware, ceramics, and general bric-a-brac, and it is busiest on Fridays. The Hassan Bek Mosque, a graceful Ottoman mosque built in 1916, stands at the junction of Tel Aviv and Jaffa as a reminder of the area's complex demographic history.

The Port of Jaffa still functions as a small fishing harbor, and the sight of fishing boats coming in with their catch in the early morning, backed by the silhouette of the ancient city, is one of the most evocative in the region. The port area has been developed with a pleasant promenade, restaurants, and cafes, and it is a popular destination for evening dining.

Haifa

Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, occupies a dramatic setting on the slopes of Mount Carmel where it descends to the Mediterranean Bay of Haifa. The city is most famous internationally as the world center of the Bahai Faith, whose extraordinary terraced gardens cascading down the slopes of Mount Carmel to the golden-domed Shrine of the Bab are among the most striking sights in Israel and were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

The Bahai Gardens, which the Bahai community calls the Terraces of the Bahai Faith, consist of nineteen terraces descending from the Carmel peak to the German Colony neighborhood below. The central axis of the terraces, aligned precisely with the golden dome of the Shrine of the Bab at the center, is maintained with extraordinary precision and horticultural skill. The gardens are open daily except Wednesday and are accessible both from the top at the Carmel ridge and from the bottom at the German Colony. Entry is free for individuals, though group tours require advance booking.

The German Colony, at the foot of the Bahai Gardens, is another area developed by German Templar settlers in the nineteenth century. Ben Gurion Boulevard, the main street of the Colony, is lined with beautifully restored Templar houses now containing cafes, restaurants, and shops, making it one of the most pleasant streets in Haifa.

Wadi Nisnas is a predominantly Arab neighborhood in central Haifa that is known for its cultural diversity and excellent hummus restaurants. The neighborhood has a strong artistic tradition and hosts an annual holiday festival called Holiday of Holidays that celebrates the concurrent Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holidays that fall in December, with street art, music, and food reflecting all three traditions.

Acre and Caesarea

The ancient walled city of Acre, known in Hebrew as Akko and in Arabic as Akka, about twenty-five kilometers north of Haifa, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 in recognition of its extraordinary historical significance as a well-preserved example of an Ottoman-period fortified city, built over the remains of a Crusader city. Acre was the last stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, finally falling to the Muslim forces of Mamluk Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in 1291, and the underground Crusader halls beneath the Ottoman city are among the most dramatic and well-preserved medieval remains in the world.

The Crusader halls, now operating as a museum complex, include a remarkable underground street, a Crusader refectory with magnificent Gothic vaulting, a prison where prisoners of Napoleon were once held, and numerous passages and chambers that give a vivid sense of the scale and ambition of the Crusader building program. The al-Jazzar Mosque, built above and partly using materials from the Crusader structures, is one of the most impressive mosques in Israel and is named for the fearsome Ottoman governor who successfully repelled Napoleon's siege of Acre in 1799. The Old City of Acre also contains an Ottoman hammam, or bathhouse, now operating as a museum, a network of colorful souks, and a fishing harbor where local fishermen still bring in their daily catch.

Caesarea, located between Tel Aviv and Haifa on the Mediterranean coast, was built by Herod the Great in the first century BCE as a showcase city of the Roman Empire, complete with an artificial harbor, a vast amphitheater, a hippodrome, temples, and a sophisticated water supply system. The site today is one of the most accessible and visually impressive Roman archaeological parks in the Middle East. The Roman amphitheater, reconstructed and still used for summer concerts by major international artists, seats four thousand people and provides a spectacular performance venue backed by the Mediterranean Sea. The Roman aqueduct stretching north of the city is one of the best-preserved examples of Roman hydraulic engineering in the Levant. Caesarea is also a pleasant modern marina and resort town, with good restaurants and upscale boutiques in the reconstructed port area.

Rosh HaNikra, at the northernmost point of the Israeli Mediterranean coast near the Lebanese border, is famous for its sea grottos, a series of magnificent sea caves carved by the Mediterranean waves into the white chalk cliffs. A cable car descends the steep cliff face to the grottos, which can be explored on foot during low tide with the roar of the sea echoing through the brilliant white chambers.

The Galilee and the North

The northern region of Israel is the greenest, most fertile, and in some ways most geographically diverse part of the country. The Galilee, as the northern highlands and surrounding lowlands are collectively known, is a landscape of rolling hills covered in olive groves and vineyards, ancient stone villages, nature reserves, and sacred sites that have drawn pilgrims for two thousand years. The Golan Heights to the northeast add volcanic plateaus, dramatic canyon landscapes, and views across to Syria. For travelers who want to combine natural beauty with profound historical depth, the north of Israel is unparalleled.

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, known in Hebrew as the Kinneret, is the largest freshwater lake in Israel and one of the most historically and spiritually significant bodies of water in the world. Most of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth took place in the towns and villages along its shores, and the Christian New Testament describes numerous events that occurred here, including the calling of the first disciples who were fishermen on the lake, the Sermon on the Mount, and the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.

The site of Capernaum on the northern shore of the lake was the home base of Jesus during his Galilean ministry, and excavations have revealed a well-preserved ancient synagogue built over an even earlier structure that may be the very synagogue where Jesus taught. The fifth-century CE synagogue, with its white limestone columns and carved reliefs, is one of the best-preserved ancient synagogues in Israel. Adjacent to the synagogue site, a modern church has been built over what tradition identifies as the House of Peter, covering the remains of a first-century home that was used as a house church by early Christians.

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha, a few kilometers west of Capernaum, marks the traditional site of the miracle of the feeding of the multitude. The church, a beautiful twentieth-century structure built over Byzantine mosaic floors, contains the famous fifth-century mosaic of the loaves and fishes that is one of the most recognized images of Byzantine art. The mosaic depicts a basket of bread flanked by two fish against a background of birds and aquatic plants, and it is displayed beneath the altar of the church in its original position.

The Mount of Beatitudes, on a hill above Capernaum, is where tradition places the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus's most famous discourse. The hilltop is occupied by a graceful Italian convent and church built in the 1930s, and the site commands magnificent views over the Sea of Galilee. The gentle, park-like grounds are open to visitors and provide a peaceful spot for reflection.

Nazareth

Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel and the city where Jesus grew up according to the Christian Gospels, is a bustling and energetic urban center in the Lower Galilee. The dominant landmark is the Basilica of the Annunciation, a massive and striking modern church built in the 1960s over Byzantine and Crusader remains, which marks the traditional site of the home of Mary and the place where the angel Gabriel announced that she would bear the Son of God. The basilica is the largest church in the Middle East and its interior is decorated with a remarkable collection of Madonna and Child images contributed by Catholic communities from around the world, each in a distinctly national style.

The Old City of Nazareth is a lively and engaging place, with a traditional Arab souk selling spices, sweets, textiles, and household goods, and numerous restaurants specializing in Arab-Israeli cuisine. The city is predominantly Muslim with a significant Christian community, and the coexistence of mosques and churches in close proximity reflects the complex religious demography of Arab Israel.

Safed

Safed, known in Hebrew as Tzfat, sits high in the hills of the Upper Galilee at an elevation of about nine hundred meters, and its combination of dramatic mountain setting, ancient mystical history, and thriving artistic community makes it one of the most distinctive and compelling towns in Israel. In the sixteenth century, Safed was one of the most important centers of Jewish learning in the world, home to the greatest Kabbalistic mystics and legal codifiers of the age. Rabbi Joseph Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, the most authoritative code of Jewish law, lived and worked in Safed, as did Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the Ari, the great master of practical Kabbalah whose mystical teachings continue to influence Jewish spirituality worldwide.

The Old City of Safed is a maze of narrow stone lanes lined with ancient synagogues, artists' studios, and galleries. The Synagogue Quarter contains several historic synagogues still in active use, including the Abuhav Synagogue, famed for its elaborately carved Ark of the Torah, and the Ari Sephardic Synagogue, associated with the great mystic himself. The Artists' Quarter, occupying a network of renovated stone buildings, houses dozens of galleries showing the work of local artists whose work often reflects the mystical and spiritual atmosphere of the city.

The Golan Heights

The Golan Heights is a volcanic plateau in the far northeast of Israel, captured from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and subsequently annexed by Israel in 1981 in a move not internationally recognized. The Golan has a distinctive landscape of dark basalt rock, deeply eroded river canyons, and panoramic views over the Sea of Galilee and the Syrian plain. Its fertile volcanic soil supports a thriving agriculture including some of Israel's finest wine, and the Golan Heights Winery is one of the most respected wineries in the country.

The ancient city of Gamla, perched on a dramatic saddle between two deep gorges, was a Jewish fortress city that held out against the Roman forces of Vespasian in 67 CE before finally falling in one of the bloodiest battles of the Jewish revolt. The site, now an archaeological park within a nature reserve, offers remarkable views and a powerful sense of the landscape's role in the tragic history of the revolt. Gamla is also famous among birdwatchers as one of the best places in Israel to observe griffon vultures nesting.

Nimrod Fortress, a massive Crusader-era castle perched on a volcanic ridge above the Banias Valley, was built in the thirteenth century to control the main road between Damascus and the Crusader states. The castle is one of the best-preserved Crusader fortifications in the world, with massive towers, vaulted halls, and dungeons that can be explored by visitors. The views from the castle walls over the Galilee Panhandle and Upper Jordan Valley are extraordinary.

Banias, officially the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve, contains one of the most dramatic waterfalls in Israel, where the abundant waters of the Banias Spring cascade through a narrow canyon lined with lush vegetation. The spring is one of the three main sources of the Jordan River, and in antiquity it was associated with the Greek god Pan, whose sanctuary can still be seen carved into the rock face. The site is also known as Caesarea Philippi in the New Testament, the place where Jesus asked his disciples who they believed him to be.

Tel Dan, in the northernmost corner of Israel near the Lebanese and Syrian borders, is an archaeological site of great significance, containing the remains of an ancient Israelite city built at one of the most abundantly watered spots in the entire region. The ancient mud-brick gate of Laish, dating to the Middle Bronze Age approximately eighteen centuries before Christ, is the best-preserved ancient mud-brick gate structure in the world and a remarkable survival. The springs that feed the Dan River emerge cold and clear from the ground in enormous quantities, creating a lush riparian forest that supports a diverse population of birds and mammals.

Beit She'an

Beit She'an, in the Jordan Valley at the junction with the Jezreel Valley, contains the remains of one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Israel, a colonnaded street, a Roman theater, a bathhouse, and numerous temples and public buildings that give a vivid impression of urban life in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. The site has a history extending back more than five thousand years, and the tall artificial mound, or tel, that rises above the Roman city contains layers of successive occupation going back to the Chalcolithic period. The theater, with a capacity of approximately seven thousand spectators, is used in summer for cultural events.

Megiddo

The site of Megiddo, known in the New Testament as Armageddon (from the Hebrew Har Megiddo, Mountain of Megiddo), was inscribed as part of the UNESCO Biblical Tels group in 2005. The site stands at the entrance to the Jezreel Valley and has been fought over more times than almost any other location in the world due to its strategic position on the main route connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia and Anatolia. More than thirty distinct layers of settlement have been identified at Megiddo, and the site's excavations have yielded extraordinary finds including a Canaanite gate complex, an Israelite water system, and the remains of stables associated with the reign of King Solomon or Ahab.

The Bet Alpha synagogue, in the Jezreel Valley near Kibbutz Heftzibah, preserves one of the most remarkable early Jewish mosaic floors in Israel. The sixth-century CE mosaic depicts the Ark of the Covenant flanked by menorahs, a zodiac wheel, and the biblical story of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac, all rendered in the flat, naive style of Byzantine provincial art that makes it simultaneously charming and historically fascinating.

The Dead Sea and Judean Desert

The region surrounding the Dead Sea is one of the most dramatically alien landscapes on Earth. The combination of the shimmering, hyper-saline waters of the Dead Sea, the stark white salt flats, the towering limestone cliffs of the Judean Desert, and the remains of ancient civilizations that once clung to these impossible slopes creates an experience unlike anything else available to the traveler. This is a landscape that has been shaped by profound geological forces and inhabited by some of humanity's most compelling historical figures, from the desert prophets of the Hebrew Bible to the Essenes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls to the great warrior-king Herod, who built his most dramatic palace here.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, known in Hebrew as Yam HaMelah, the Sea of Salt, is the lowest point on the surface of the Earth, currently sitting approximately 430 meters below sea level, though the level continues to drop by about one meter per year due to the diversion of the Jordan River's waters for agriculture and the industrial extraction of minerals by the Dead Sea Works company. The sea's extraordinary salinity, approximately 34 percent compared to the ocean's 3.5 percent, makes it impossible for fish or most other organisms to survive in its waters, but the minerals dissolved in the sea and the unique black mud of its shores have made it famous since antiquity for their therapeutic properties.

Floating in the Dead Sea is one of the great sensory experiences available to the traveler. The density of the water is so much greater than the human body that swimmers simply cannot sink, and the experience of lying back effortlessly in the warm, slightly oily water while reading a newspaper (as countless tourists have staged photographs doing) is genuinely surreal. The water stings any cuts or abrasions and should be kept strictly away from the eyes, but on intact skin it feels silky and softening. The black mineral mud available on the shores and at the bathing beaches is traditionally applied to the skin as a therapeutic treatment, and Dead Sea cosmetics based on the mineral-rich mud and salts have become a global commercial success through the Ahava brand.

The main tourist beaches on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea are clustered at Ein Bokek, a modern resort area about an hour's drive from Beersheba, with several large hotels and organized beach facilities including showers to rinse off the salt after bathing. The salt formations that encrust the rocks at the water's edge and create strange organic sculptures along the shoreline are one of the most photogenic features of the Dead Sea.

Ein Gedi

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, about thirty kilometers north of Ein Bokek, is a remarkable desert oasis where two freshwater streams tumble down from the Judean Desert plateau through narrow canyon gorges before draining into the Dead Sea. The contrast between the lush, tropical vegetation of the oasis, fed by the springs of Ein Gedi, and the stark, bare limestone desert that surrounds it is extreme and beautiful. The reserve is home to large populations of ibex, the wild goats of the desert, as well as hyrax (small, furry mammals distantly related to elephants), foxes, and numerous species of birds. The waterfall pools of Nahal David and Nahal Arugot are popular swimming destinations, and hiking trails lead through the canyons to viewpoints over the Dead Sea and the Jordanian plateau beyond.

Ein Gedi appears repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible as a site of refuge, beauty, and romance. The Song of Songs describes the beloved as being like a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Ein Gedi. It was here that the young David hid from the pursuit of King Saul, and the caves of the reserve may have been occupied by David and his followers. The ancient synagogue of Ein Gedi, with its remarkable mosaic floor listing the zodiac signs in Hebrew and including a unique inscription threatening divine punishment on anyone who reveals the community's secrets, is located at the edge of the nature reserve.

Masada

Masada, the dramatic flat-topped mesa rising 450 meters above the western shore of the Dead Sea, is without question one of the most powerful historical sites in Israel and one of the most visited archaeological sites in the world. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 in recognition of its exceptional universal value as the site of one of the most dramatic episodes in the story of the Jewish people and of the Roman Empire.

The fortress-palace complex atop Masada was built by Herod the Great in the first century BCE as both a retreat from his enemies and a demonstration of his extraordinary building ambitions. Herod constructed on this seemingly impossible mountaintop a complex that included a spectacular three-tiered hanging palace clinging to the northern cliff face, a large swimming pool, elaborate bathhouses with hypocaust heating systems, storehouses, a synagogue, and a casemate wall system around the perimeter. The quality of the construction and the sophistication of the engineering are staggering, and the site provides an unparalleled insight into the scale of Herod's ambitions and the technical capabilities of Roman-period construction.

After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, a group of Jewish rebels and their families, the Sicarii, retreated to Masada and held it against the Roman forces of Governor Flavius Silva for three years. In 73 CE, the Romans constructed a massive siege ramp of beaten earth and stone against the western face of Masada and used it to assault the fortress. According to the Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus, on the night before the Romans broke through the walls, the Jewish leader Eleazar ben Yair persuaded the nearly one thousand defenders to take their own lives rather than surrender to Roman slavery. When the Romans entered the fortress the following morning they found it silent, with the bodies of the defenders and their possessions laid in organized rows. Ten people, a woman and her five children among them, had survived by hiding in a water cistern and were able to tell the story to Josephus.

The story of Masada has assumed enormous symbolic significance in modern Israeli culture, encapsulated in the phrase Masada Shall Not Fall Again, which expresses the determination never again to allow the Jewish people to be cornered in a defensive position with no escape. The phrase has been both inspiring and controversial, with some critics arguing that the Masada Complex, as it has been called, has contributed to an siege mentality in Israeli strategic thinking. The site itself is reached either by a cable car that ascends from the eastern base of the mesa, or by the Snake Path, a steep and winding trail up the eastern face that takes approximately forty-five minutes to climb.

Qumran

The site of Qumran, on a plateau above the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, is famous as the place where one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century was made. In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy looking for a lost goat threw a stone into a cave and heard the sound of breaking pottery, leading to the discovery of the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient manuscripts preserved for two thousand years in the dry desert air. Subsequent searches revealed additional scroll caches in eleven caves in the vicinity of Qumran, yielding hundreds of manuscripts and thousands of fragments.

The Qumran community that produced and preserved these scrolls was almost certainly a sect of Judaism known as the Essenes, who withdrew from mainstream Jewish society to establish a communal, ascetic community in the desert. The excavations at Qumran have revealed the community's buildings, including a scriptorium where the scrolls were likely copied, ritual baths, a communal dining hall, and extensive water collection and storage systems. The site is a national park with a good visitor center explaining the discovery and significance of the scrolls.

Jericho

Jericho, about thirty-five kilometers northeast of Jerusalem in the Jordan Valley, claims the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of settlement going back approximately ten thousand years. The site of Tel Jericho, known in Arabic as Tell es-Sultan, contains the archaeological remains of ancient Jericho and can be visited, though the site is administered by the Palestinian Authority. The Tower of Jericho, a stone tower approximately nine thousand years old, is the oldest known freestanding stone structure in the world.

The Mount of Temptation above Jericho is the site where Christian tradition places Jesus's forty days of fasting and temptation in the desert following his baptism in the Jordan River. A Greek Orthodox monastery, the Monastery of the Temptation, clings spectacularly to the cliff face of the mountain and can be reached by cable car from the base. The views from the monastery over the Jordan Valley are magnificent.

Wadi Qelt is a dramatic desert canyon running from Jerusalem down to the Jordan Valley, and along its northern cliff face hangs the remarkable Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint George, founded in the late fourth century CE and one of the oldest continuously occupied monasteries in the world. The monastery's position, seemingly glued to the vertical cliff face above the perennial stream of the wadi, makes it one of the most visually dramatic religious structures in Israel. Hiking the full length of Wadi Qelt takes about four to five hours and is one of the classic desert hikes of the Judean Desert.

The Negev Desert

The Negev Desert, occupying the entire southern half of Israel, is a landscape of vast solitude, geological drama, and unexpected beauty. To many visitors the Negev is the last and least expected of Israel's great experiences, but those who make the journey discover a wilderness of extraordinary power and a human history stretching back to the earliest Copper Age inhabitants, through the ancient Nabataean traders, to the modern pioneering communities established by Israel's founding generation.

Makhtesh Ramon

The crown jewel of the Negev is Makhtesh Ramon, the world's largest erosion crater, a unique geological formation found only in the Negev Desert of Israel and Sinai. Unlike an impact crater or a volcanic caldera, a makhtesh is formed by erosion, as surface water gradually carved away the softer rock layers of an ancient dome, leaving behind a dramatic oval depression bounded by steep multicolored walls of exposed geological strata. Makhtesh Ramon is approximately forty kilometers long, ten kilometers wide, and five hundred meters deep, and its floor contains a geological exposition that spans hundreds of millions of years of Earth's history in a single landscape.

The modern town of Mitzpe Ramon, perched on the northern rim of the crater, is the gateway to this extraordinary landscape and has developed into one of Israel's most popular destinations for ecotourism and astronomy. The extreme darkness of the Negev sky, far from city lights, makes Mitzpe Ramon one of the best stargazing locations in the Middle East, and several astronomical observatories and star-touring companies operate from the town. The Ramon Nature Reserve, which encompasses the crater and its surroundings, offers excellent hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and jeep touring opportunities.

Avdat and the Nabataean Cities

The UNESCO-inscribed Incense Route, inscribed in 2005 under the title Incense Route: Desert Cities in the Negev, consists of four ancient Nabataean cities, Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat, and Shivta, that flourished as stopping points on the ancient trade route carrying spices, incense, and aromatics from Arabia and India to the Mediterranean world. The Nabataeans were a remarkable desert Arab people who built a sophisticated civilization in the Negev and Sinai based on their control of the trade routes and their mastery of water collection and storage techniques that allowed agriculture to flourish in the desert.

Avdat is the best preserved and most visited of the Incense Route cities, situated on a dramatic hilltop south of Mitzpe Ramon. The site includes the remains of a Nabataean acropolis, Byzantine churches, a bathhouse, wine and oil presses, and an extraordinary system of ancient terraced fields and water channels that the modern city of Sde Boker has revived for agricultural use. The site provides a vivid sense of both the Nabataean commercial civilization and the Byzantine Christian communities that later settled the Negev.

Timna Park, located about thirty kilometers north of Eilat, is a spectacular geological and archaeological park occupying a natural valley of extraordinary scenic beauty. The park contains some of the oldest copper mines in the world, worked by the ancient Egyptians during the New Kingdom period and by local Kenite craftspeople, and the archaeological evidence suggests that copper was being smelted at Timna as long as six thousand years ago. The geological formations of the park include the spectacular Mushroom Rock, a granite boulder balanced on a narrow eroded stem, and the Pillars of Solomon, towering columns of red and white sandstone that look, against all probability, like the work of a sculptor rather than wind and water. The Tabernacle replica in the park, based on the biblical description of the portable sanctuary constructed by the Israelites in the wilderness, is an educational attraction that brings the biblical text into vivid three-dimensional life.

Eilat and the Red Sea

Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, sits at the tip of the Negev where it meets the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea, and it is Israel's premier resort destination, famous for its beaches, diving, and year-round warmth. The Gulf of Aqaba is one of the world's finest diving destinations, with exceptional water clarity, warm temperatures throughout the year, and a coral reef ecosystem of remarkable biodiversity. Eilat's coral reef, though it has suffered some damage from tourism pressure and anchor damage, still supports a dazzling variety of fish, coral species, sea turtles, dolphins, and rays.

The Dolphin Reef, a unique attraction at the southern end of Eilat's beachfront, is a natural beach where a semi-wild pod of bottlenose dolphins has been habituated to human presence. Visitors can swim and snorkel with the dolphins in a managed and relatively low-impact environment that aims to minimize stress on the animals. The Underwater Observatory Marine Park, a few kilometers further south, allows visitors to descend to an underwater observatory and observe the reef fish and coral through glass panels, and maintains a series of aquariums with local and exotic species.

Ben-Gurion's Grave and Sde Boker

Ben-Gurion's Wilderness Campus, near the small desert town of Sde Boker in the central Negev, is a site of great significance to Israeli identity and history. David Ben-Gurion, the founding father and first Prime Minister of Israel, famously retired to the desert kibbutz of Sde Boker in 1953, believing that the future of Israel lay in the development and settlement of the Negev. He and his wife Paula are buried in a simple desert grave at the edge of the canyon of Nahal Zin, with a view that stretches across one of the most majestic desert landscapes in Israel. Ben-Gurion's preserved simple hut at Sde Boker, containing his library of thousands of books, provides an intimate portrait of one of the twentieth century's most remarkable political figures.

The Ben-Gurion Institute, adjacent to the burial site, maintains a museum and archive relating to Ben-Gurion's life and the founding of the state, and the nearby Zin Valley Visitor Center provides excellent interpretation of the geology and ecology of the Negev highlands.

Beersheba and the Northern Negev

The city of Beersheba, known in Hebrew as Be'er Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev and the administrative capital of the southern district of Israel. It occupies a historically significant position as one of the cities most frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, associated with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Tel Be'er Sheva archaeological site, inscribed as part of the UNESCO Biblical Tels group, preserves the remains of an Iron Age Israelite city with an exceptionally well-preserved water system and city gate complex. Modern Beersheba is a bustling university city, home to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which has become a major center for desert research, cybersecurity, and technology innovation. The Thursday Bedouin market, one of the largest in the Middle East, draws traders and visitors from across the region.

The Negev Highlands south of Beersheba contain some of the most impressive Nabataean archaeological sites in the region beyond those inscribed on the UNESCO list. The ancient city of Shivta, one of the four UNESCO Incense Route cities, is particularly atmospheric, a completely abandoned Nabataean-Byzantine city whose streets, churches, wine presses, and domestic buildings can be explored in a state of remarkable preservation. The site is accessible by paved road and rarely crowded, offering an experience of genuine solitude in an ancient landscape.

The Arava Valley, the long desert rift that runs from the Dead Sea south to Eilat, is one of Israel's major agricultural regions, where innovative Israeli agricultural technology has transformed the seemingly impossible desert environment into a productive farming area. The Arava produces significant quantities of peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and flowers for export to European markets during the winter months, and the kibbutzim of the Arava are among the most technologically advanced agricultural communities in the world. Travelers driving the long desert road of Route 90 through the Arava will see the greenhouses and drip-irrigation fields that represent one of Israel's most celebrated technological achievements.

Israel's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Israel holds an impressive collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites that reflect its extraordinary richness of human history and natural heritage. Each site represents an outstanding universal value recognized by the international community, and together they span five thousand years of human civilization.

Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (1981)

The Old City of Jerusalem was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981, though in recognition of the city's contested status it was inscribed on behalf of Jordan rather than Israel. The site encompasses the walled Old City of Jerusalem and the remarkable concentration of religious and historical monuments it contains, including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the ancient urban fabric of the four quarters. Jerusalem's unique universal significance as the center of pilgrimage and the focus of historical and contemporary conflict for three of the world's great religions gives it a claim to World Heritage status that transcends any single national perspective.

Masada (2001)

Masada was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 in recognition of its outstanding universal significance as the site of one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the Jewish people and the Roman Empire. The site's exceptional state of preservation, its dramatic natural setting on an isolated mesa above the Dead Sea, and its profound cultural significance to Jewish identity and world history all contributed to its inscription.

Old City of Acre (2001)

The Old City of Acre was inscribed in 2001 as an outstanding example of a walled Ottoman city, preserving beneath its streets the remarkable remains of a Crusader city from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The site reflects the successive layers of Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman history that characterize much of the Levant, and its urban fabric, including the Crusader underground halls, Ottoman mosques, khans, hammam, and souks, is extraordinarily well preserved.

White City of Tel-Aviv: The Modern Movement (2003)

Tel Aviv's White City was inscribed in 2003 as an outstanding example of the urban planning and architecture of the Modern Movement. The area contains more than four thousand buildings designed in the International and Bauhaus styles during the 1930s to 1950s, the largest concentration of such buildings in the world, representing a remarkable chapter in the social and architectural history of the twentieth century.

Biblical Tels: Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba (2005)

The three biblical tels of Megiddo, Hazor, and Beer Sheba were inscribed together in 2005 as outstanding examples of the type of settlement known as a tel, an artificial mound created by the successive occupation and rebuilding of towns over thousands of years. All three sites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and contain well-preserved remains of Israelite urban planning including city gates, palaces, and elaborate water systems that reflect the engineering capabilities of the ancient Israelite kingdoms.

Incense Route: Desert Cities in the Negev (2005)

The four Nabataean cities of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat, and Shivta, together with the associated Nabataean road system in the Negev Highlands, were inscribed in 2005 as an outstanding example of the trading civilization that flourished in the Negev Desert during the first centuries BCE and CE. The Nabataean cities reflect a sophisticated adaptation to desert conditions, including advanced water harvesting techniques, agricultural terracing, and architectural styles that blended Hellenistic, Roman, and indigenous traditions.

Bahai Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee (2008)

The Bahai Holy Places, including the terraced gardens and golden-domed Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel in Haifa and the Mansion and Gardens of Bahji near Acre, were inscribed in 2008 as the holiest places of the Bahai Faith, serving as centers of pilgrimage for followers of this religion from around the world. The exceptional quality of the garden design and the universal significance of the sites to a world religion of several million adherents justified their inscription.

Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me'arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves (2012)

Four prehistoric caves in the Carmel Range near Haifa were inscribed in 2012 for their extraordinary evidence of human evolution and cultural development spanning a period of approximately five hundred thousand years. The caves of Tabun, Jamal, el-Wad, and Skhul contain evidence of the transition from Neanderthal to anatomically modern human populations in the Levant, making them among the most important prehistoric sites in the world.

Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands as a Microcosm of the Land of the Caves (2014)

The cave network beneath the ancient cities of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands was inscribed in 2014 as a unique example of the extraordinary scale of underground cave excavation in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The soft chalk rock of the Judean Shephelah was quarried extensively for building stone, creating a labyrinthine underground world of thousands of interconnected chambers, columbaria (pigeon houses), oil presses, water cisterns, and burial caves.

Necropolis of Bet She'arim: A Landmark of Jewish Renewal (2015)

The ancient Jewish necropolis at Bet She'arim in the Jezreel Valley was inscribed in 2015 as a remarkable testimony to the revival of Jewish culture and religious authority in the period following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The site contains an extensive complex of rock-cut burial halls from the second to fourth centuries CE, decorated with Jewish, pagan, and early Christian symbols and inscriptions in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and other languages, reflecting the cosmopolitan cultural world of late antique Judaism.

Israeli Cuisine

Israeli food is one of the great culinary stories of the modern world, a rich and complex cuisine that reflects the extraordinary diversity of Jewish communities that have immigrated to Israel from every corner of the globe, blended with the food traditions of the Arab-Israeli communities that have always inhabited the land. The result is a food culture of remarkable vitality and creativity, drawing on influences from Morocco and Yemen, Eastern Europe and Ethiopia, Iraq and India, and reflecting them through the lens of the local ingredients, the Mediterranean climate, and the shared tradition of Middle Eastern cooking.

Hummus, the smooth paste made from chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil, is perhaps the most contested dish in the Israeli food repertoire. Arabs and Israelis both claim it as their own, and debates over the origins of hummus can become surprisingly passionate in this part of the world. Whatever its origins, Israel and its Arab neighbors produce hummus of a quality that is, almost without exception, far superior to anything available elsewhere in the world. The best hummus in Israel is eaten warm, fresh from the preparation, garnished with a pool of high-quality olive oil, whole cooked chickpeas, paprika, and fresh parsley. Hummus joints open at dawn and are often sold out by midday, their proprietors confident enough in their product to keep limited hours.

Falafel, deep-fried balls of ground chickpeas or fava beans seasoned with herbs and spices, served in pita bread with a selection of salads and condiments, is Israel's most popular street food. Every city, town, and village has its falafel joints, each with its devoted following and its proprietary spice mix. Good falafel should be crisp on the outside, moist and herbaceous on the inside, and served in a fresh pita that has been warmed on the griddle and stuffed with Israeli salad, pickled vegetables, tahini, and an optional slice of fried eggplant.

Shawarma, rotisserie-cooked lamb, turkey, chicken, or a combination of meats, sliced thin and served in pita or laffa (a large, thin flatbread) with salads, tahini, and often french fries, is another of Israel's essential street foods. The best shawarma comes from operators who rotate their meat slowly over charcoal or gas flames and slice it to order, and the combination of crispy outer meat, juicy inner meat, and the supporting cast of accompaniments is deeply satisfying.

Sabich is a dish that exemplifies the Israeli genius for creating something entirely distinctive from disparate influences. A pita sandwich stuffed with fried eggplant, hard-boiled eggs, hummus, Israeli salad, tahini, amba (a pungent Iraqi mango pickle), and skhug (a fiery Yemeni hot sauce), sabich was created by Iraqi Jewish immigrants to Israel and has become one of the most popular street foods in the country. The combination of flavors and textures in a good sabich is extraordinary.

Shakshuka, eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce with onions, peppers, and often additional ingredients such as feta cheese, merguez sausage, or spinach, is one of the staples of Israeli breakfast and brunch culture. Though its origins lie in North Africa, shakshuka has been thoroughly adopted as an Israeli national dish, and it is available in restaurants, cafes, and homes throughout the country.

Burekas are flaky pastries of Turkish origin filled with cheese (usually a salty Bulgarian-style white cheese), potato, spinach and cheese, or mushrooms, and they are one of the most beloved snack foods in Israel. The best burekas come from specialist bakeries that prepare them fresh each morning and sell them topped with sesame seeds from wire racks on the countertop.

Jerusalem Mixed Grill, known in Hebrew as me'urav Yerushalmi, is a quintessential Jerusalem street food that was developed in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and is now beloved throughout the city. It is a spiced mixture of chicken hearts, livers, spleens, and other offal, grilled with onions and seasoned with cumin, black pepper, and other spices, served in a pita or on a plate with salads. It is not for the faint of heart but is deeply flavorful and satisfying.

Israeli breakfast, as served in kibbutz guesthouses, hotels, and many cafes, is a magnificent spread of dairy products, fresh vegetables, eggs, and salads that has become internationally recognized as one of the world's great breakfast traditions. A typical Israeli breakfast includes fresh bread and rolls, several varieties of cheese (soft, hard, and cottage), labane (strained yogurt cheese), hummus, salads, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, smoked fish, eggs cooked to order, yogurt, fruit, and numerous other items. The tradition is rooted in the kibbutz communal dining culture and the abundance of fresh produce available year-round in the Israeli agricultural system.

Knafeh is a Palestinian and Arab dessert of supreme importance in the food culture of northern Israel, particularly in Nablus and Acre. It consists of shredded wheat pastry layered with a soft white cheese and soaked in rose water-scented sugar syrup, served hot from a wide copper pan and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. The combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, and soft in a single bite makes it one of the most addictive desserts in the Middle East.

Halva, the dense, crumbly confection made from sesame paste and sugar, is another of Israel's great traditional sweets. Israeli halva, particularly the marble varieties with chocolate, pistachio, or vanilla swirls, is among the finest in the world and is widely exported. The Jaffa and Tel Aviv markets have halva specialists whose counters are piled high with enormous blocks of the stuff in dozens of varieties.

Israeli wine has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past three decades, evolving from a primarily ceremonial industry producing sweet sacramental wines into a genuinely exciting wine-producing nation. The Galilee, particularly the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, produces the finest wines, with international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Chardonnay showing excellent results in the cool temperatures and well-drained soils of the highland vineyards. The Golan Heights Winery, established in 1983, almost single-handedly launched the Israeli fine wine revolution and continues to produce excellent wines under the Yarden, Gamla, and Golan labels. The Carmel Winery, founded in 1882 by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, is Israel's largest and oldest winery. The craft beer scene in Israel has also exploded in recent years, with dozens of microbreweries producing excellent ales, lagers, and specialty beers. The national beers Goldstar (a dark lager) and Maccabee (a lighter lager) remain popular mainstream choices.

Druze cuisine deserves particular mention as one of the most distinctive and delicious regional cuisines in Israel. The Druze villages of the Carmel Range and Galilee hills are famous for their homemade pita bread, baked fresh on a large convex griddle and served with labane, za'atar (wild thyme mixed with olive oil and sesame), and local olive oil. Druze women operating roadside stalls selling these simple combinations have become one of the beloved institutions of the northern Israeli travel experience. The Bedouin tradition of mansaf, a festive dish of lamb cooked in fermented dried yogurt and served over rice and flatbread, is one of the most distinctive culinary experiences available in the Negev.

Galilee cuisine reflects the abundance of the northern region, with its freshwater fish from the Sea of Galilee, particularly St. Peter's fish (tilapia), which has been fished from the Kinneret since biblical times and is traditionally served whole, fried or grilled, at the lakeside restaurants of Tiberias.

Yemenite Food Culture

The Yemenite Jewish community, which immigrated to Israel in large numbers in the late 1940s and 1950s (in Operation Magic Carpet and Operation On Wings of Eagles), brought with them a distinctive and highly sophisticated culinary tradition that has had an enormous influence on Israeli food culture. Jachnun, a slow-cooked Sabbath pastry made from rolled dough cooked overnight in a covered pot, is a beloved Israeli brunch dish served with grated tomato and hard-boiled eggs. Malawach, a flaky pan-fried flatbread related to the Moroccan msemen, is another Yemenite contribution to the Israeli table, typically served with eggs, zhug (the fiery Yemenite hot sauce), and tomato sauce. The Yemenite restaurant tradition, with long tables crowded with shared plates and communal eating, has become one of the most beloved dining experiences in Israel.

The influence of the Sephardic Jewish communities from North Africa, particularly those from Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, is felt throughout Israeli cooking. Moroccan-Israeli cuisine has made particularly significant contributions, including the tradition of elaborate vegetable salads served at the beginning of a meal, the Sabbath fish dish prepared in tomato, pepper, and cilantro sauce, and the festival pastry tradition of crispy fried cigars and sambusak filled with potato or meat.

The Ethiopian Jewish community, which immigrated to Israel primarily in the 1980s and 1990s in Operations Moses and Solomon, has brought the tradition of injera, the spongy fermented flatbread used as both utensil and edible plate, and a range of spiced stews and legume dishes that have begun to find appreciation beyond the Ethiopian community.

The Arab-Israeli culinary tradition, particularly the rich and sophisticated cooking of the Galilean Arab communities, has contributed enormously to what is now understood internationally as Israeli cuisine. The restaurants of Acre, Nazareth, and the Arab villages of the Galilee serve a cuisine of extraordinary refinement, rooted in traditional Ottoman and Levantine techniques and ingredients and adapted to local seasonal produce.

Arts, Culture and History

The land that is modern Israel has been one of the most intensively inhabited, contested, and historically significant regions on Earth for at least ten thousand years. Its history layers human civilization upon itself with extraordinary density, and the visitor who takes the time to understand even a fraction of this history will find the experience of traveling in Israel infinitely enriched.

The ancient history of Canaan, the name by which the land was known in the Bronze and Iron Ages, includes some of the earliest examples of alphabetic writing, sophisticated urban civilization, and international trade networks in the ancient world. Canaanite cities such as Megiddo, Hazor, and Jericho were among the most prosperous urban centers of the ancient Near East during the second millennium BCE, trading with Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Aegean world.

The emergence of the Israelite people and their kingdoms in the late second and early first millennium BCE represents one of the most consequential events in human cultural history, as the religious and ethical traditions that developed in this small highland kingdom would become the foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three most widely followed religions in the world. The United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, David, and Solomon, followed by the divided kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south, formed the historical context for the writing of the Hebrew Bible. The destruction of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and the Babylonian conquest of Judah in 586 BCE, including the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the exile of the Judean leadership to Babylon, were traumatic events that shaped Jewish religious thought for millennia.

The return from Babylonian exile in the late sixth century BCE, under the patronage of the Persian king Cyrus the Great, marked the beginning of the Second Temple period, a time of remarkable cultural and religious creativity that saw the canonization of the Hebrew scriptures, the development of the synagogue as an institution, and the emergence of the rich diversity of Jewish religious movements including the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and eventually the early Christians.

The conquest of the region by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE brought the Hellenistic world into direct contact with Jewish culture, creating tensions and creative dialogue that produced some of the most intellectually rich Jewish literature of the ancient world. The revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes, celebrated annually in the festival of Hanukkah, established the Hasmonean dynasty that briefly restored Jewish sovereignty over the land in the second and first centuries BCE.

Roman rule, which began with the conquest by Pompey in 63 BCE, eventually led to the devastating Jewish revolts of 66-73 CE and 132-135 CE, which resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple, the conquest of Masada, and the suppression and dispersion of the Jewish population of Judea. The Roman emperor Hadrian renamed the city of Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and the province of Judea as Syria Palaestina, deliberately seeking to erase the historical connection of the Jewish people to the land.

The Byzantine period, beginning with Constantine's adoption of Christianity as the Roman Empire's favored religion in the early fourth century CE, saw an explosion of church building and Christian pilgrimage throughout the Holy Land. The Arab Muslim conquest of the region in 638 CE, accomplished peacefully when the Byzantine Patriarch Sophronius surrendered Jerusalem to the Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, inaugurated a period of largely tolerant Islamic rule under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates that saw the construction of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Crusader period, which began with the First Crusade's capture of Jerusalem in 1099, was one of the most dramatic and violent episodes in the region's history. The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, established after the conquest, lasted for nearly two hundred years and left an extraordinary legacy of castles, churches, and urban structures throughout Israel, many of which are among the finest examples of medieval military and religious architecture in the world. The final loss of Acre to the Mamluks in 1291 ended the Crusader presence in the Holy Land.

Ottoman rule, which lasted from the conquest by Sultan Selim I in 1517 until the British occupation in 1917, was a long period of relative stability during which the region gradually declined in population and economic vitality. The great exception was the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and undertook major construction projects throughout the region.

The late nineteenth century brought a profound transformation in the form of the Zionist movement, the political and cultural movement that sought to establish a Jewish homeland in the ancestral land of Israel. Theodor Herzl, the Viennese journalist who is considered the founder of political Zionism, published his seminal work Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896 following the Dreyfus Affair in France, which convinced him that Jewish assimilation in Europe was impossible and that a separate Jewish state was necessary for Jewish survival. The First Zionist Congress, held in Basel in 1897, formally established the Zionist Organization and began the process that would, fifty-one years later, result in the establishment of the State of Israel.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote to Lord Walter Rothschild expressing the British government's sympathy with Zionist aspirations and supporting the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, was a watershed moment in the history of the region. The subsequent British Mandate over Palestine, established under the League of Nations, created the political framework within which both Jewish immigration and Arab-Jewish tension developed dramatically during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

The Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War Two, created an overwhelming impetus for the establishment of a Jewish state. The hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors who sought to enter Palestine in the years following the war, many of them refused entry by the British and interned in Cyprus, constituted a powerful moral argument that the Jewish people required a state of their own.

On May 14, 1948, in a ceremony at Independence Hall on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel. The following day, the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new state, beginning the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known in Israeli history as the War of Independence and in Palestinian and Arab history as the Nakba, the Catastrophe, which resulted in the displacement of approximately seven hundred thousand Palestinian Arabs from their homes. The war ended with armistice agreements in 1949 that established the borders that became known as the Green Line.

The 1967 Six-Day War was another transformative event, in which Israel, in a preemptive strike against Egypt and then responding to attacks from Jordan and Syria, captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights in six days of fighting. The capture of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall was a moment of profound emotional and religious significance for Jews worldwide. The territories captured in 1967 remain the central issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year, was a severe shock to Israeli society and led eventually to the Camp David Accords of 1978 and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab state.

Modern Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a vibrant, if contentious, political culture. It is also one of the world's leading technology innovation centers, a transformation captured in the phrase Start-Up Nation, the title of a 2009 book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer that analyzed Israel's remarkable record of technological entrepreneurship. Companies developed in Israel include Waze (navigation), Mobileye (autonomous vehicle technology), Check Point (cybersecurity), and numerous other global technology leaders. The culture of innovation is rooted in Israel's mandatory military service, which exposes large numbers of young people to advanced technology in elite units, and in a cultural tradition of chutzpah that encourages challenging authority and questioning accepted wisdom.

The revival of the Hebrew language as a modern spoken tongue is one of the most remarkable cultural achievements of the Zionist project. Hebrew, which had functioned for centuries as a sacred language of religious texts and scholarship but not as a spoken vernacular, was transformed into a living modern language largely through the efforts of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a Lithuanian Jewish intellectual who immigrated to Palestine in 1881 determined to speak Hebrew in daily life and to develop the vocabulary necessary for modern discourse. Modern Hebrew, spoken today by approximately nine million people in Israel, is a direct descendant of biblical Hebrew combined with words coined for the modern world, a linguistic miracle that provides Israelis with a living connection to their ancient texts.

Israeli literature and cinema have produced work of international recognition and importance. Amos Oz, one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century, whose novels explore the tensions of Israeli society with compassion and moral complexity, was one of Israel's most beloved writers until his death in 2018. David Grossman, a novelist of extraordinary power and emotional depth, has won numerous international awards for fiction that grapples unflinchingly with the experience of Israeli society and the cost of conflict. Shmuel Yosef Agnon, an Israeli author of Galician Jewish origin, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966, the only Israeli author to date to receive this honor. Israeli cinema has enjoyed remarkable international success in recent decades, with films such as Walk on Water, The Band's Visit, and Footnote winning international festival awards.

The Kibbutz Movement

No account of Israeli culture and society is complete without discussion of the kibbutz, one of the most successful and distinctive social experiments of the twentieth century. The kibbutz (plural kibbutzim) is a form of collective agricultural community based on principles of communal ownership, shared labor, and mutual responsibility that was developed by Jewish pioneers in Ottoman Palestine in the early twentieth century. The first kibbutz, Degania, was founded in 1910 on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee by a group of young idealistic immigrants from Eastern Europe, and the movement grew to encompass hundreds of communities throughout Palestine and Israel.

At its ideological peak in the 1960s and 1970s, the kibbutz represented a radical experiment in communal living in which all property was communally owned, all income was pooled and redistributed according to need, children were raised in communal children's houses rather than individual family homes, and all major decisions were made by the collective membership. The kibbutzim made a contribution to the Zionist enterprise and the founding of the Israeli state that was enormously disproportionate to their numbers, providing many of the military and political leaders of the early state.

Most kibbutzim have undergone significant transformation since the economic crisis of the 1980s and have adopted forms of privatization that retain a cooperative structure while allowing individual ownership of housing and differential wages based on productivity. Nevertheless, the kibbutz guesthouses and agricultural tourism operations of the kibbutzim remain some of the most distinctive and appealing accommodation and experience options for travelers to Israel, offering an insight into a genuinely unique chapter in the social history of the twentieth century.

The Religious and Secular Divide

One of the most significant and contentious tensions in modern Israeli society is the relationship between the religious and secular communities. Israel's founding generation was predominantly secular, driven by a nationalist rather than religious vision of Jewish statehood, but the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish community has grown rapidly due to high birth rates and now represents approximately thirteen percent of the Israeli population. The political power of the Haredi parties and the influence of Orthodox religious institutions over matters of personal status including marriage, divorce, and conversion have been sources of ongoing tension in Israeli society.

The question of religion in the public sphere plays out visibly in the landscape of Israeli cities: in Jerusalem, the prohibition on driving through Orthodox neighborhoods on the Sabbath, the separate seating on some bus lines, and the pervasive presence of religious symbols and institutions create an atmosphere very different from the secular, hedonistic beachside city of Tel Aviv. Travelers will encounter this diversity throughout their journey in Israel, and understanding it as an organic feature of an extraordinarily complex society rather than as a problem to be resolved provides a richer and more accurate framework for the experience.

The Druze Community

The Druze are a close-knit religious community of approximately 150,000 people living primarily in the northern regions of Israel, particularly in the Carmel Range, the Galilee, and the Golan Heights. The Druze religion, an offshoot of Ismaili Islam that developed in the eleventh century CE, is a private and secretive faith whose core doctrines are known only to an initiated minority. The Druze of Israel are distinctive among Arab communities for their tradition of military service in the Israel Defense Forces, which they chose to join as a sign of their identification with the Israeli state. The Druze villages of the Carmel and Galilee are welcoming to visitors, and the combination of traditional architecture, outstanding hospitality, delicious food, and beautiful landscapes makes them among the most rewarding rural destinations in Israel.

The Bedouin of the Negev

The Bedouin people of the Negev Desert are one of the most distinctive communities in Israel, traditionally organized as semi-nomadic pastoral tribes whose traditional lifestyle centered on the herding of camels, goats, and sheep across the vast expanses of the desert. The Israeli state has pursued policies of settlement and urbanization toward the Negev Bedouin since the 1960s, with mixed results, and the relationship between the Bedouin communities and the Israeli state remains complex and often contentious. Several permanent Bedouin towns have been established in the northern Negev, including Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in the world. Bedouin hospitality, the tradition of welcoming strangers with tea, coffee, and food regardless of circumstances, remains a living and deeply meaningful practice, and encounters with Bedouin communities in the Negev are among the most memorable human experiences available to the Israel traveler.

Outdoor Activities and Nature

Israel's extraordinary geographical diversity, compressed into a small area, makes it a surprisingly rich destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Within a single day's drive, a visitor can snorkel among tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, float in the hyper-saline Dead Sea, hike through the lush waterfalls of the Galilee, and camp under the stars in the Negev Desert. The country takes its natural heritage seriously, with an extensive system of national parks and nature reserves covering approximately twenty percent of the country's land area.

The Israel National Trail, known in Hebrew as the Shvil Yisrael, is a continuous marked hiking route running approximately 1,100 kilometers from the kibbutz of Dan in the far north to Eilat on the Red Sea in the south. The trail crosses every major geographical region of the country, from the green hills of the Galilee through the urban core of central Israel, across the Judean Desert and the highlands of the Negev, ending at the Red Sea. Walking the full trail typically takes sixty to eighty days and is considered one of the great long-distance hiking experiences in the world.

Birdwatching in Israel is a world-class experience for ornithologists and casual birders alike. Israel lies on the most important bird migration route between Africa and Eurasia, the Syrian-African Rift Valley flyway, and more than five hundred million individual birds of over 550 species pass through Israel each spring and autumn. The Hula Valley in the Upper Galilee is the most famous birdwatching site, where in autumn tens of thousands of common cranes gather in spectacular roosts that have become a major tourist attraction in their own right. The Eilat Bird Festival in spring draws birders from around the world to witness the extraordinary concentrations of raptors, waders, and passerines that move through the Eilat Mountains and Arava Valley.

Red Sea diving in Eilat offers year-round warm water, exceptional visibility, and one of the most diverse coral reef ecosystems outside the Indo-Pacific region. The reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba support more than a thousand species of fish and several hundred species of coral, and the diving conditions are accessible to beginners and challenging enough for experienced divers. Night diving reveals a different and equally spectacular reef community, with octopuses, moray eels, and bioluminescent plankton creating unforgettable experiences.

Mount Hermon, in the extreme northeast of Israel, is the only ski resort in the country, offering lifts and prepared runs on the southern slopes of the mountain during winter months when sufficient snow has fallen. The skiing is not comparable to major Alpine or North American resorts, but the novelty of skiing in the Middle East with views over the Sea of Galilee is a memorable experience, and the resort is enormously popular with Israeli families during the winter holiday season.

Makhtesh Ramon offers some of Israel's finest mountain biking, with a network of trails descending into the crater and traversing its dramatic floor. The combination of the otherworldly landscape, the complete silence of the desert, and the physical challenge of the terrain makes biking in Ramon one of the most memorable outdoor experiences in Israel. Rock climbing on the crater walls and rappelling in the narrow desert canyons of the Negev provide additional adrenaline options.

The Judean Desert canyons, including Wadi Qelt, Nahal Arugot, and Nahal David, offer excellent canyon hiking with swimming pools, waterfalls, and dramatic rock formations. Rappelling in these canyons is a popular activity for organized tour groups and experienced individuals, and the combination of desert heat, cold spring water, and dramatic cliff scenery is uniquely exhilarating.

Camel trekking in the Negev Desert is one of Israel's most atmospheric outdoor experiences, offering a connection to the ancient trade routes of the Nabataeans and a perspective on the desert landscape that can only be gained from the back of a camel. Several Bedouin operators in the Negev offer treks ranging from one-hour introductions to multi-day journeys with overnight stays in Bedouin camps.

Sea of Galilee kayaking and boat trips on the lake provide a gentler water-based experience than the Red Sea diving, with views of the surrounding hills and the opportunity to swim in fresh water.

Practical Travel Information

Airports and Arrival

The primary gateway to Israel for international travelers is Ben Gurion International Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem near the city of Lod. Ben Gurion is Israel's main international hub and is served by dozens of international airlines with direct connections to major cities across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. The airport is modern and well-equipped, with good facilities and an efficient processing system despite the rigorous security protocols that characterize Israeli air travel.

Security at Israeli airports and for flights to Israel is notably more thorough than at most international airports. Passengers should expect to be questioned extensively about their trip, their background, and their connections, and should allow extra time before departure. The security process is professional and is generally completed without undue delay, but travelers who are flustered or evasive may face additional scrutiny. Israeli airport security is widely regarded as the most effective in the world, and the country has maintained an exceptional safety record for its aviation.

Eilat Ramon Airport serves the southern resort city of Eilat and receives charter flights and some scheduled services during the tourist season.

Getting Around

Israel has a good and growing public transportation network. The national bus company Egged operates an extensive network of intercity and local bus routes connecting all major cities and many smaller towns and villages. The central bus stations of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are major transportation hubs. The Rav-Kav smart card can be loaded with credit and used on buses and trains throughout the country, simplifying the payment process for transit users.

Israel Railways operates a network of trains connecting Tel Aviv with Haifa, Beersheba, Jerusalem, Nahariya in the north, and the northern Galilee. The Jerusalem-Tel Aviv express train, completed in 2019, reduced the journey time between the two cities to thirty-five minutes, transforming the transportation relationship between them. Train travel is generally reliable and comfortable.

Car rental is widely available at all major airports and cities and is the most flexible way to explore Israel, particularly for visiting the Dead Sea, Galilee, Negev, and other areas where public transport is infrequent. Roads are generally in good condition and signposted in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Driving in Israel requires alertness as Israeli drivers can be assertive, but the road system is modern and traffic laws are enforced.

Taxis are widely available and metered in Israeli cities, though drivers sometimes prefer to negotiate a flat fare rather than use the meter, particularly for longer distances. The Gett app (similar to Uber) operates in major Israeli cities and provides a reliable and transparent taxi booking service.

Currency and Payments

The currency of Israel is the Israeli New Shekel, abbreviated ILS or NIS. The shekel is freely convertible and ATMs dispensing shekels are widely available throughout the country. Major credit cards are accepted in most hotels, restaurants, and shops, and Israel is moving rapidly toward a cashless economy in urban areas. However, cash is useful in traditional markets, small restaurants, and rural areas.

Language

Hebrew and Arabic are the two official languages of Israel. English is very widely spoken throughout the country, particularly in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and other urban areas, and in tourist sites. Most restaurant menus, museum labels, and road signs are available in English. In Arab communities, Arabic is the primary language, and many Arab Israelis also speak Hebrew and some English. The Hebrew alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are used respectively for the two official languages, but Latin-script transliterations and English translations are widely provided.

Religion and Observance

The Jewish Sabbath, known as Shabbat, begins at sunset on Friday and ends at nightfall on Saturday (approximately forty minutes after sunset), and it is observed very differently across different communities in Israel. In most of Tel Aviv and other secular cities, Shabbat has little practical impact on tourists other than reduced public transportation and some closures. In Jerusalem and other religious centers, however, the change is dramatic: most shops and restaurants in the Jewish areas close, public transportation essentially stops within the city limits, and the streets of religious neighborhoods become quiet and empty.

Travelers planning to be in Jerusalem on Friday evening through Saturday should plan their dining and transportation accordingly. Many restaurants, particularly in areas with large secular populations such as the city center, do remain open on Shabbat. Hotels continue to operate normally. The Shabbat mood in Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods has its own beauty and can be deeply affecting for visitors.

For travel during major Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), Passover, and Sukkot, travelers should be aware that public transportation is significantly reduced or absent, many businesses close, and tourist sites are either closed or extremely crowded with domestic visitors. Yom Kippur is the most complete public shutdown, with virtually all businesses closed and the roads nearly empty of motorized traffic as even secular Israelis largely refrain from driving in respect for the day.

Dress Code and Etiquette

Modest dress is required when visiting religious sites of all three faiths. At the Western Wall, men must cover their heads (disposable kippot are freely available at the entrance) and women must cover their arms and shoulders. In most mosques, both men and women must remove their shoes and women must cover their hair. At churches, modest dress (covered shoulders and knees) is generally required. In the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, modest dress is strongly expected regardless of religious affiliation.

Emergency Services

In Israel, the emergency number for police is 100, for ambulance (operated by Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross) is 101, and for fire is 102.

Accommodation

Israel offers accommodation across all price ranges, from luxury five-star hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to budget-friendly hostels, kibbutz guesthouses, and desert camping. The kibbutz guesthouse tradition, where rural agricultural communities have converted facilities into comfortable country inns, is one of the most characteristically Israeli accommodation experiences and provides an excellent opportunity to learn about kibbutz life. Boutique hotels in the renovated stone buildings of Jerusalem's historic neighborhoods offer a particularly atmospheric lodging experience. In the Negev, glamping sites and desert camps allow visitors to sleep under the extraordinary star-filled desert sky.

Best Times to Visit

Spring, from March through May, is considered the finest season for travel in Israel. Temperatures are pleasant throughout the country, the wildflowers are spectacular in the Galilee and Negev, and the pilgrimage sites are not at their most crowded. Autumn, from October through November, is similarly pleasant and is considered by many to be the best time for hiking, particularly in the desert regions. Summer is the peak tourist season but can be extremely hot, and the Dead Sea and Negev regions are genuinely dangerous without proper hydration and sun protection. Winter brings rain to the north and center but the south is often pleasant, and Jerusalem can be magical when dusted with snow.

Visa Information

Many nationalities, including citizens of the United States, European Union countries, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and many others, do not require a visa to enter Israel for tourism and receive a visitor's stamp at the border. Israel no longer stamps passports for most visitors but instead issues a separate entry slip that should be retained throughout the visit. Travelers who are concerned about the visa stamp's implications for future travel to certain Arab countries should request that the entry be recorded on a separate slip.

Festivals and Events

Israel's festival calendar is rich, reflecting both the Jewish religious year and a growing secular cultural scene that has made the country one of the most interesting destinations in the world for music, arts, and outdoor events.

The Jewish High Holidays in autumn are the most significant events on the Israeli calendar. Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is a two-day celebration that falls in September or early October and is marked by synagogue services, family gatherings, and the eating of symbolic foods including apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, ten days after Rosh Hashana, is the holiest day of the Jewish year, marked by fasting, prayer, and an extraordinary stillness that descends over even secular cities. Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, follows five days after Yom Kippur and is a joyful week-long harvest festival during which families build temporary huts (sukkot) and eat meals outdoors in them.

Passover (Pesach), celebrated in March or April, commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and is marked by the Seder meal, at which the story of the Exodus is retold and symbolic foods are eaten. The eight days of Passover are a major school holiday in Israel and see large numbers of Israeli families visiting tourist sites throughout the country, making it a particularly crowded time to travel.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, falls in December and is marked by the lighting of menorahs (chanukiahs) in homes and public spaces, the distribution of small gifts to children, and the eating of oil-fried foods such as doughnuts (sufganiyot) and potato pancakes (latkes). Large public menorahs are illuminated in central squares throughout Israel, and the lighting ceremonies are often accompanied by concerts and public celebrations.

Purim, falling in February or March, is the most carnivalesque of the Jewish festivals, marked by costume parties, public celebrations, and the reading of the Book of Esther. Tel Aviv's Purim celebrations, centering on Dizengoff Square, are among the most exuberant and spectacular in the world.

Tel Aviv Pride, held in June, has grown into one of the largest and most vibrant Pride celebrations in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators from Israel and around the globe. The event reflects Tel Aviv's status as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the Middle East and creates a week of parties, cultural events, and the famous parade along the beachfront.

The Jerusalem Film Festival, held in July at the Sultan's Pool amphitheater below the Old City walls, is one of the premier film festivals in the region and screens Israeli and international films against the backdrop of the illuminated Old City.

The Tel Aviv White Night festival, held in the summer, is a citywide celebration of arts, music, and culture that takes over the city's public spaces with free concerts, performances, outdoor cinema, and street events throughout the night.

The International Oud Festival in Jerusalem, held in autumn, celebrates the music of the oud, the traditional Arab lute that is also central to Israeli-Arabic musical culture, with concerts by leading musicians from Israel, the Arab world, and beyond.

The Jacob's Ladder Festival, held in spring at the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), is Israel's largest folk and roots music festival, attracting musicians and audiences from across the country for a weekend of American and British folk music in a beautiful lakeside setting.

The Jerusalem Light Festival, held in summer in and around the Old City, transforms the ancient stones and alleys with spectacular light installations, projection mapping, and illuminated art, creating a magical experience of the ancient city at night.

The Eilat Jazz Festival, held in winter, brings international and Israeli jazz musicians to the Red Sea resort for a weekend of music in an extraordinary setting.

Shopping

Israel offers a diverse and rewarding shopping experience, from the ancient bazaars of the Old City of Jerusalem to the sophisticated boutiques of Tel Aviv and the artisan markets of smaller towns and villages.

The Old City of Jerusalem bazaar is one of the most atmospheric and comprehensive markets in the Middle East, offering an extraordinary range of products reflecting the city's complex cultural and religious heritage. Armenian hand-painted ceramics, in the distinctive blue and white floral patterns of the Armenian tradition, are among the most beautiful and portable souvenirs available in Jerusalem. Olive wood carvings of crosses, nativity scenes, and decorative objects are produced by Christian craftsmen in the region and are available in dozens of shops in the Christian Quarter. Judaica, the broad category of Jewish religious objects including menorahs, mezuzot, kiddush cups, and Passover Seder plates, ranges from mass-produced tourist items to exquisite hand-crafted pieces of genuine artistic value. Spices, including za'atar, sumac, ras el hanout, and dozens of other Middle Eastern seasonings, are available in beautiful quantities at the market spice shops and make excellent edible souvenirs. Dead Sea cosmetics, particularly the products of the Ahava brand, are available at specialized shops and duty-free outlets throughout the country.

The Nachalat Binyamin Pedestrian Mall in Tel Aviv hosts an excellent arts and crafts market on Tuesdays and Fridays, where Israeli artisans sell handmade jewelry, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, and other crafts of generally high quality. This market is a much better source for unique and high-quality Israeli craftsmanship than the tourist-oriented shops of the Old City.

The Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem is an outstanding destination for food products including exceptional spices, coffee, halva, tahini, nuts, and preserved foods that make wonderful gifts and souvenirs.

Israel is a major center of the global diamond trade, and Israeli diamond merchants in Tel Aviv and other cities offer high-quality certified diamonds at competitive prices to knowledgeable buyers. The Israel Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, is one of the largest diamond trading floors in the world.

Wine from the Golan Heights Winery and other premium Israeli producers makes an excellent and distinctive souvenir, and wine shops throughout the country stock a comprehensive range of Israeli wines. Israeli olive oil, particularly from small artisan producers in the Galilee, is among the finest in the world and is available at markets and specialty food shops.

Druze woven bags and textile products, available in the Druze villages of the Carmel Range and Golan Heights, are distinctive and high-quality handmade items that reflect the traditional craft skills of the Druze community. Bedouin carpets, jewelry, and embroidered textiles from the Negev are available in markets in Beersheba and at craft stalls near the desert tourist sites.

Yemenite silver jewelry, a tradition brought to Israel by the Jewish community that immigrated from Yemen in the mid-twentieth century, is distinguished by its intricate filigree work and is available from specialist jewelers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Travelers should be aware that Israeli law strictly regulates the sale and export of antiquities. All genuine antiquities must be accompanied by a certificate from the Israel Antiquities Authority confirming their legal provenance. Purchase of uncertified antiquities should be avoided both for legal and ethical reasons.