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Israel
Few places on earth stir up passion the way that Israel does: the breathtaking beauty of its hills and valleys, the eerie stillness of the Dead Sea, the multi-coloured canyon of Makhtesh Ramon, and the ancient walls and pathways of Nazareth and Jerusalem. The call of the muezzin and the quiet prayers of Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall reflect how the religious devotion of the Muslims, Christians and Jews who live here runs through every facet of life.
As, of course, does the political – and visitors will rarely leave without encountering the country’s complex politics. But there are also plenty of ways to relax: the bars and beaches of Tel Aviv and Haifa, the wineries of the Galilee and tables loaded with mezze. For the curious visitor, Israel never fails to challenge and confound, excite and surprise, leaving an imprint that lingers long after the return flight home.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Israel.
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Baha’i Gardens
These formal gardens flowing down 19 steep terraces to a resplendent domed shrine – the final resting place of the prophet-herald of the Baha’i faith – are Haifa’s crowning attraction. There are bird’s-eye views from the platform at the top, but we highly recommend the free, 45-minute Panorama Tour. Tours begin daily (except Wednesday) at 11.30am in Hebrew and noon in English. Arrive half an hour ahead as it's first come, first served. Men and women must be covered from shoulders to knees. The gardens are tended by the Baha’i World Centre, the religion’s global headquarters. Emerald lawns and bright flower beds ripple down to the Shrine of the Báb, which is even more dazzling against a backdrop of deep blue Haifa Bay. Completed in 1953, this glinting dome guards the mortal remains of the Báb, the spiritual predecessor to the Baha’i faith’s main prophet Baha’ullah. After persecution and imprisonment, the Báb was executed in Persia in 1850 and his remains were secretly kept by his followers. They were brought to Haifa in 1909 and Baha’ullah chose this spot for the Báb’s burial place. Combining the style and proportions of European architecture with motifs inspired by Eastern traditions, it was designed by a Canadian architect, built with Italian stone and decorated with Portuguese fire-glazed tiles. Framing the shrine, the gardens were laid out on the slopes of Mt Carmel between 1989 and 2001. They were given Unesco World Heritage status in 2008 along with Akko’s Shrine of Baha’ullah. Impressively symmetrical, the well-tended terraces have a regal feel: gurgling fountains, flower beds, stone eagles, hedges trimmed into eight-pointed stars, and lawns with barely a blade of grass out of place. (Suddenly, the stringent rules of conduct – no food, no smoking, no setting foot on the lawns – make a whole lot of sense.) The gardens are illuminated throughout the night, a spiritual solace for the Báb’s years of imprisonment in near-darkness; you can enjoy this sparkling view from the German Colony. Buildings (closed to the public) around the gardens include the Universal House of Justice, a domed neoclassical structure with Corinthian columns from which the Baha’is’ spiritual and administrative affairs are governed; and the Archives, in a green-roofed structure that looks like the Parthenon, in which are kept more than 100 different translations of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the holy book of the Baha’i faith. To get to the start of the Panorama Tour from Carmel Centre (the Carmelit’s Gan HaEm stop), walk 1km north along Yefe Nof St, which affords the city’s finest bay views. Alternatively, from Bat Galim Egged bus 136 zigzags via Ben Gurion Blvd up to HaNassi Ave (parallel to Yefe Nof). The tour finishes down on HaTziyonut Blvd – to get back up to Carmel Centre, there is usually a sherut (10NIS) waiting; count on paying about 30NIS for a taxi. Bus 115 links the lower entrance on HaTziyonut Blvd with Haifa-Hof HaCarmel bus station and Talpiot market. Note that the line for the Panorama Tour can be long when there’s a cruise liner or US Navy ship in port. Admission is limited to 60 people (120 if there are two guides available). See the website for a monthly schedule of less regular tours in Russian and Arabic.
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Masada National Park
The plateau atop Masada, which measures about 550m by 270m, is some 60m above sea level – that is, about 490m above the surface of the Dead Sea. The easiest way up is by cable car, though you can also hoof it – up the Roman siege ramp from the western side or up the Snake Path from the eastern side. On the ruins, black painted lines divide reconstructed parts (above) from the original remains (below). Visitors are given an excellent map-brochure of the ruins, and historical background can also be gleaned from an audio guide (20NIS, including admission to the Masada Museum). Both are available – in eight languages – at ticket windows, atop Masada and at the museum. On the eastern side, between the ticket windows and the cable car, an eight-minute film uses dramatic clips from an American miniseries (1981) starring Peter O'Toole to introduce Masada's bloody last stand. Drinking water is available so bring a bottle to refill. Eating atop Masada is forbidden, as is carrying large backpacks – these can be stored in lockers (10NIS) near the ticket windows on the eastern side. Look down in any direction and chances are you’ll be able to spot at least one of the Romans’ eight military camps and their siege wall. The effort put into the siege by the Roman Legions is mind-boggling – no surprise, then, that they commemorated their victories over the rebels of Judea by erecting a monumental victory arch in the centre of imperial Rome, the Arch of Titus, whose design would later inspire Paris' Arc de Triomphe. Masada has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 2001. The entire site, except the Northern Palace, is wheelchair accessible. Historic events atop Masada After the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70 CE, almost a thousand Jews – men, women and children – made a desperate last stand atop Masada, a desert mesa surrounded by sheer cliffs and, from 72 CE, the might of the Roman Empire’s Tenth Legion. As a Roman battering ram was about to breach their walls, Masada’s defenders chose suicide over enslavement. When Roman soldiers swarmed onto the top of the flat-topped mountain, they were met with silence. Until archaeological excavations began in 1963, the only source of information about Masada’s heroic resistance and bloody end was Josephus Flavius, a Jewish commander during the Great Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE) who, after being captured, reinvented himself as a Roman historian. He writes that as the Roman siege ramp inched towards the summit, the defenders – Zealots known as Sicarii (Sikrikin in Hebrew) because of their habit of assassinating their (Jewish) rivals using a curved dagger ( sica in Greek) hidden under their cloaks – began to set fire to their homes and possessions to prevent them falling into Roman hands. Ten men, who would have the task of killing everyone else, were then chosen by lot. Nine of the 10 were executed by one of their number before the last man alive committed suicide. When the Romans broke through everyone was dead – except for two women and five children, who had survived by hiding.
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Basilica of the Annunciation
Dominating the Old City’s skyline is the lantern-topped cupola of this Franciscan-run Roman Catholic basilica, an audacious modernist structure that’s unlike any building you’ve ever seen. Constructed from 1960 to 1969, it’s believed by many Christians to stand on the site of Mary’s home, where many churches (but not the Greek Orthodox) believe the Annunciation took place. The Upper Basilica, its soaring dome shaped like an inverted lily, ‘glorifies Mary as the Mother of God’. With lovely mid-20th-century flair, the bare cast concrete is adorned with indented dots. In the dimly lit lower church, a sunken enclosure shelters the Grotto of the Annunciation, the traditional site of Mary’s house, and remnants of churches from the Byzantine (4th century) and Crusader (12th century) eras. The walls of the courtyard and the upper church are decorated with a series of vivid mosaic panels, donated by Catholic communities around the world, depicting Mary and the infant Jesus in styles that boldly reflect the cultures of their countries of origin. A panel from Brazil was added in 2016. Confessions can be made in a variety of languages from 8.30am to 11.30am and 3pm to 5pm. Regular events: Angelus Prayer At noon daily, in the Grotto Marian Prayer 8.30pm Tuesday Eucharistic Adoration 8.30pm Thursday Candlelight Procession 8.30pm Saturday Live webcasts of some events can be seen via www.cmc-terrasanta.com. Free brochures in a dozen languages – and shawls and skirts to cover exposed shoulders and knees (deposit of ID required) – are available at the Pilgrims Office, 20m to the left of the basilica’s main gate. Inquiries can be sent in by email.
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Beit She’an National Park
Beit She’an’s extraordinary Roman ruins are the best place in Israel to get a sense of what it was like to live, work and shop in the Roman Empire. Colonnaded streets, a 7000-seat theatre that looks much as it did 1800 years ago (the original public bathrooms are nearby), two bathhouses and huge stone columns that lie right where they fell during the 749 earthquake evoke the grandeur, self-confidence and decadence of ancient Roman provincial life. The path to the theatre and the Cardo, the hugely impressive colonnaded main street, is wheelchair accessible. Towering over the Roman city, known in Greek as Scythopolis, is Tel Beit She’an, created by at least 20 cities built and rebuilt one on top of the other. The viewpoint atop the tel offers near-aerial views of the Roman ruins. On Monday to Thursday evenings from March to November, She’an Nights, an after-dark multimedia spectacular in English or Hebrew (adult/child 55/45NIS), brings alive the ruins with projected images but is not a satisfactory substitute for a daylight visit – it's too dark to read the signs and most of the site is off-limits. The show is cancelled if it rains. Call ahead for reservations on 04-648-1122 or 1222-3639. To get to the park entrance, head down the hill for a few hundred metres from the Bank Leumi branch at 81 Sha'ul HaMelech St.
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Mount of the Beatitudes
Since at least the 4th century, this landscaped hillside is believed to be where Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), whose opening lines – the eight Beatitudes – begin with the phrase ‘Blessed are…’. The sermon also includes the Lord’s Prayer and oft-quoted phrases such as ‘salt of the earth’, ‘light of the world’ and ‘judge not, lest ye be judged’. An octagonal Italianate Roman Catholic church, built between 1936 and 1938 with help from Mussolini, is looked after by Franciscan nuns. The Beatitudes are commemorated in stained glass just below the dome, while the seven virtues (justice, charity, prudence, faith, fortitude, hope and temperance) are represented around the altar. The balcony and tranquil gardens have breathtaking views of the Sea of Galilee. The pilgrims hostel is open to visitors of all faiths. Monte delle Beatitudini (as it’s known in Italian), situated on the Jesus Trail, is a 3.1km drive up the hill from Tabgha’s Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fishes. Walking is also an option – from just outside the mount’s entrance booth, a 1km path leads down the hill to Tabgha, hitting Rte 87 at a point about 200m east of the Church of the Primacy of St Peter.
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Ein Gedi Nature Reserve
This reserve consists of two roughly parallel canyons, Wadi David and Wadi Arugot, each of which has its own entrance complex and ticket office. It is also home to an ancient synagogue. When you buy your ticket, you receive a colour-coded map-brochure that has invaluable details on the area’s trails (indicated using the same colours as the trail markings), how long each route takes, and the times by which you need to begin each circuit to finish by closing time. Park rangers make sure that visitors do not enter the park before it opens or stick around after closing time (they can fine violators 365NIS). The reason: desert animals such as the wolf, jackal and fox need some people-less peace and quiet to search for food and drink (the reserve has the only year-round water sources in the entire area). The last time a critically endangered Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) was spotted in the Ein Gedi area – carrying off Kibbutz Ein Gedi house pets for dinner – was in 2006. The species is now presumed to be extinct here. Eating, smoking and pets are not allowed in the reserve.
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Masada Museum
An outstanding and remarkably vivid introduction to Masada’s archaeology and history, this museum combines 500 evocative artefacts unearthed by archaeologists (one coin and four papyri are replicas). There are presentations on key Masada personalities – Herod the Great, who built a palace here in the 1st century BCE, turncoat historian Josephus Flavius and Jewish commander Eliezer ben Yair – to make the dramatic events of 73 CE seem close enough to touch. Visitors receive an audio headset, available in eight languages. Objects on display include Roman arrowheads; a leather sandal once worn by a woman rebel; the remains of Roman-era dates, wheat, barley and olives; and 11 pot shards, each inscribed with a name, that – as the Romans were about to breach the ramparts – may have been used to choose the 10 men assigned the task of killing everyone else. Unless you're doing a sunrise climb, this museum makes an excellent first stop at Masada.
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Hai-Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve
Established in 1968 to reintroduce animals that had died out in Israel, this 32-sq-km reserve on the Yotvata salt flats is home to a wide variety of desert creatures. You can drive through, safari-style, but only if you have your own car; count on spending about two hours. Herbivores you're likely to see include the Dorcas gazelle, Nubian ibex, Somali wild ass, scimitar-horned oryx and addax (white antelope). Drive slowly, don't get out of the car, and of course don't feed the animals. You can open the car windows, but watch out for the ostriches, who sometimes poke their heads in looking for a handout. The facilities for rehabilitating injured animals and reptiles are no longer open to the public. Staff can provide information on hiking in the Arava and the Eilat Mountains and sell 1:50,000-scale hiking maps. The entrance is 35km north of Eilat, across Rte 90 from Kibbutz Samar.
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Makhtesh Ramon Nature Reserve
Sometimes described as Israel’s very own grand canyon, Makhtesh Ramon is the largest protected area in Israel and is home to a huge number of hiking, cycling and horse-riding trails, as well as cliffs offering rappelling opportunities. About 300m deep, 9km wide and 40km long, it features multicoloured sandstone, volcanic rock and fossils. From Mitzpe Ramon, the best views are from the hanging lookout 300m south of the Makhtesh Ramon Visitors Center.
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