Leisure

Probably one of the least known aspects of travel to Israel is its considerable offerings of leisure vacation opportunities. It has an enormous collection of resort and resort/spa properties throughout the country, but many are particularly focused on its seaside vacation centers on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea coastlines, as well as on the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee in the interior.




The Mediterranean

Tel Aviv

The country’s port of entry, Tel Aviv, sits on more than 10 miles of Mediterranean coastline, lush with virtually every level of beachfront hotel property and 12 municipal beaches, as well as a major marina.

A walk along the beachfront Tel Aviv Promenade takes visitors to Old Jaffa, the original port in the ancient land of Israel. Today it’s comprised of stone buildings, narrow, winding alleys, a fisherman’s port, an artists’ quarter, cafes, restaurants and shops. Here, too, are ancient Christian churches, along with the famous Clock Tower built by the Turkish Sultan Abed-el-Hamid II in 1906. Visitors can wander the alleyways of the nearby Flea Market area and see its collection of historic buildings, many of which are in the midst of being renovated. Old Jaffa itself sits on a high hill overlooking the sea and its alleys of Old Jaffa, named after the signs of the zodiac, are filled with art galleries and Judaica shops, kiosks, cafes and restaurants.

Clients can also enjoy a variety of traditional city markets in Tel Aviv itself that operate on different days, including:

• The Nachlat Benyamin Pedestrian Mall, which runs between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, and which hosts a bazaar filled with art goods, souvenirs, gifts, street theater acts, musicians, conjurers and fortune-tellers.
  

• The Creative Artists’ Fair, which features original artworks on Dizengoff Street between Frishman St. and Dizengoff Circle on Mondays from noon to 8 p.m. and on Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The art works include wood, glass and ceramic pieces; jewelry; drawings; a variety of sculptures and metal works; special greeting cards; mystica; and functional art from Israel.

Additionally, the Yarkon Estuary, in what was once the Tel Aviv port, is now one of the city’s most popular shopping and entertainment areas and, since there are no residential neighborhoods nearby to complain, theater-, nightclub-, bar-, restaurant- and cafe-goers find it possible and not at all unusual to party all night. Tel Aviv, in fact, boasts world-class entertainment venues on par with New York, Miami and L.A.

Tel Aviv’s other tourist sites include the:

• Memorial Garden to the Fallen, created in memory of the residents of the city who have fallen in Israel’s wars.
  

• The White City area, built in the 1930s by the young architects and German immigrants Arie Sharon and Yaakov Rechter—graduates of the Bauhaus School of Art and Design, who brought with them fresh, new architectural styles and ideas—as well as many other young Bauhaus architects fleeing Hitler. As a result, Tel Aviv has more Bauhaus buildings than any where in the world and in 2003, UNESCO proclaimed “The White City” a World Cultural Heritage site.
  

• Rothschild Boulevard, a shady, tree-lined street, is one of the most exclusive streets of the city. Many of the original buildings, in the Bauhaus style, have been restored.

Three of the country’s largest museums are also located in Tel Aviv:

• The Eretz Israel Museum

• The Tel Aviv Museum of Art

• The Museum of the Jewish Diaspora

Beach Towns

Just north of Tel Aviv is Herzliya, a growing resort town with some of the best beaches in the country, with a variety of cafes and restaurants along the city’s broad shoreline.

Netanya is still another seaside city with more than its share of beautiful beaches. Founded in 1929 by citrus farmers, it’s now primarily a center for tourism.

The city of Ashkelon, located about 36 miles south of Tel Aviv, has archaeological and historical attractions, as well as more than seven miles of breathtaking beaches—the Delila and the Bar-Kochba beaches being two of the most popular.

Jerusalem

There’s no doubt Jerusalem comes under the classification of a “Holy City,” and it is definitely Israel’s most important tourist destination. But as Israel’s capital and as a tourism center, there’s also plenty here to keep a leisure traveler happy, as well. This is a city, after all, that shares its ancient heritage with a wealth of the most modern and trendy four- and five-star accommodations you’ll find anywhere in the world. Theaters, dance companies and entertainment venues are more than plentiful, particularly in West Jerusalem, and dining options run the gamut. Like any contemporary city, there’s also a host of lively bars, pubs and clubs that cater to diverse tastes.

Shopping is truly a cultural adventure here, too, particularly in the teeming Arab market with its twisting alleyways, delicious and diverse aromas that emanate from the varied spice and food stalls and, of course, the constant hum of the shoppers as they haggle over the price and the quality of the goods.

Here, too, is as broad a collection of museums as Tel Aviv, including:

• The Israel Museum Jerusalem, with some 500,000 archaeological and anthropological exhibits, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, and relics from the time of Bar Kochva, as well as a large collection of art.
  

• The Tower of David Museum, constructed some 2,000 years ago by Herod the Great and which traces Jerusalem’s eventful history through state-of-the-art displays.
  

• The Bible Lands Museum, with a unique collection of Ancient Near Eastern art.

Haifa

Israel’s third largest city, Haifa, fronts the Mediterranean under the towering Carmel Mountain. Its terraced landscape offers breathtaking panoramas, particularly from the must-see Baha’i World Centre on Mount Carmel’s northern slope. With its golden-domed Shrine of the Bab, terraced gardens and administrative buildings, this is the holiest site of pilgrimage for the members of the Baha’i faith, as well as its administrative center. Other must-see sites include:

• The Cave of Elijah on Mount Carmel, the dwelling place of Elijah, considered a prophet by Jews, Christians and Muslims.
  

• Stella Maris, a French Carmelite church, monastery and hospice and the founding place of the Roman Catholic Carmelite Order. Located atop Mount Carmel, there is a hiking trail connecting it to the Cave of Elijah below.
  

• The German Colony, founded in 1868 bymembers of the German Templar Society (not to be confused with the Knights of the Templars) who set out to build the first planned agricultural community in the Holy Land. Many of the original Templar houses have been preserved and undergone gentrification in the 1990s.
  

• The Druze Villages, located on the top of Mount Carmel; visits to a Druze family can be arranged.

For dining, the city’s selection of restaurants run the gamut from contemporary creations to inexpensive but tasty falafel counters and Arabic restaurants located in the port area (lower city). Central Mount Carmel also offers a selection of mid-class restaurants, bars and trendy cafes.

Towards the northeast and across the harbor, sits the magnificent, medieval walled fortress city of Akko. This sightseeing paradise offers historic attractions that go back to the Crusades, the Arab occupation, the Ottoman Turks and finally, the British Mandate, all the way into the 20th century.