mandess.com - My tourist guide to Israel » Between The Dots

Upper Galilee trek – optional plan including Keshet Cave and Monfort Fortress

Ilan — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:41:57 +0000

Keshet cave - Click to enlarge

Galilee is the greenest area of Israel. It is hilly with many historic sites, carefree scenery, recreational and gastronomic offerings for tourists.

This post is an optional plan that is suitable for one or two days in the Galilee area, weekend or middle of the week.

Day 1 , Saturday:

Visiting Adamit Park - the Keshet Cave and Garden Trail.
Visiting the Pottery fair at Vradim Village.
Checking in our wooden house at Elkosh village.
Dinner at Hurfeish village.

we woke up early and left Tel Aviv at 10:00 heading for the north. Our first attraction to visit was the Adamit park, 400 meters above sea level (click here to open a map) in which you can see the Keshet cave and walk the “Garden trail” and more.

The trail for the Keshet cave is paved and suitable for all walkers and even a wheel chair which allow you to get a few meters from the magnificent Keshet (arc), and takes 15 minutes to get there. There are signs and a paved parking lot. There are toilets and drinking water too.

From there we went to a nice pottery fair in Kefar Vradim. We saw nice hand made pottery, sculptures, Judaica, Pitchers and cups. We bought two cups and a pitcher.

Our Wooden house in Elkosh

We then headed to our room at Elkosh village not before we stopped at Hurfeish village which is a few minutes drive, to eat. We sat down at one of the places for a lamb Sambusak (like a pita bread with minced lamb meat on it), Salad and Tea.
After that, we headed to our cozy room at Elkosh village.

Day 2 , Sunday:

Breakfast in the garden
Visiting the Dalton winery which is located at a town called Dalton. The winery is at the industrial area number 3. Dalton is close to Gush-Halav village. You can take a
Goren Park – Observation of the Monfort Fortress. An easy 5 minute walk on a paved trail, suitable for all ages.
Goren Park – Going down the valley for the Kziv river, takes about 45 minutes one way. Difficulty level – medium to difficult.

We started day 2 with a breakfast in our garden, and we then headed to Dalton winery for a tour. We had wine tasting inside the visitors center. Israel is known for it’s good red wines, which is what we tasted. Two wines I can recommend were the Cabernet Sauvignon and The Shiraz. They are very good red wines, that are aged in wooden barrels.

Monfort Castle

We then headed to the Montfort Fortress (Hebrew: מבצר מונפור‎, Mivtzar Monfor) which is a ruined crusader castle, about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of the city of Haifa and 10 miles (16 km) south of the border with Lebanon.
The site is now a national park inside the Kziv nature reserve, and it constitutes an important spot of tourism and attracts many tourists both from inside and outside Israel. The Kziv river flows all year long.

There is a choice of 4 to 6 hour trek, but we came at 13:00 which would of been too tight, as it gets dark at around 17:30 in October. So, we just stopped at the Monfort observation and then followed the unpaved road (1km) east and a bit up to the Ein Tamir “Olives” parking lot, which is the Kziv river trek starting point .
We follow the trail marking and went down the mountain to the Vally.

So, to sum it up you have these options for Park Goren:

7 km trek, 4 to 6 hours of medium to difficult difficulty level – Start at the Monfort Castle observation point and go down the red marked trail. At the river you’ll see the remains of a crusader farm. Up on the hill you’ll see the Monfort castle. Head east while you cross the river a few times , until you get to remains of an old mill. Trail continues in flora bushes and trees, ponds and fountains. After 3 km from the farm, you’ll get to the Ein Tamir fountain which is waters that flow from underground, surrounded by white stone and magnificent flora. Very nice place for lunch!
From there you’ll take the blue trail which is steep , and onto the Parking lot above. Last part will take you about 45 minutes to an hour. Please bring drinking water.

Kziv river (Ein Tamir)
Second option is to separate the two – see the castle and then take the car to the end point, and go down to the river. So, just enter the Goren park, stop at the first parking lot you see, that is the Monfort Observation, park the car and follow the paved trail that leads to the observation of the castle, that’s a few minutes walk.
Then take the car and drive strait along the road , about a km east (maybe more) until you get to the Ein Tamir / Olives parking lot. That’s the starting point of the blue trail that gets you down to the Kziv river, the white stone and the cave. That option is shorter and will take you about 2.5-4 hours to cover depending on your pace.

Follow the RED, GREEN and BLUE markings.

Goren park map - Click to enlarge

The narrow cave - not for clastrophobics...

White rocks

Breakfast at Elkosh

Turned out there was a pottery fair at Vradim Village, so we stopped there.

Gush Halav village from a distance

Dalton is only one of several wineries in the green north, you should visit at least one.

Links:

View Larger Map

Ramat-Hanadiv park, gardens and hiking area

Ilan — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:04:16 +0000

At the southern end of Mount Carmel, between Zikhron Ya’akov and Binyamina, lies Ramat Hanadiv, a natural gem dedicated to the memory of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
Its located a bit north, 66 km and about an hour drive from Tel Aviv.

The memorial gardens sprawl across approximately seven hectares (17.5 acres), surrounding the Baron and Baroness Rothschild’s crypt. It is situated in the heart of Ramat Hanadiv, and its broad lawns, trees and colorful seasonal flowers are only some of the points of interest that attract many visitors to the gardens. The garden is comprised of several small gardens including the Cascade Garden, Rose Garden, Palm Garden and Fragrance Garden, as well as an Amphitheatre for outdoor concerts.

Hiking - Throughout the Park, are color marked, 3 circular hiking trails ,1.5 to 4.5 km in length . One is on easy to moderate difficulty level and the other two are moderate to difficult level. suited to walkers of all kinds and capabilities. Passing through typical Mediterranean terrain, hikers can stop along the trails to enjoy magnificent views at the observation points or to discover sites of prehistoric settlement, a hidden spring, and an acclimatization cage for hikers – all meant to help preserve the ancient living landscape of Israel.

Ramat-Hanadiv park offers a large parking spot at the entrance to the park, and has all facilities as a restaurant and cafe (open Sun-Fri), drinking spots, and rest rooms. It also has an information center.
Gardens have one level pavement trails and are suitable to handicap persons as well as wheel chairs. Hiking trails are good for children and adults.

Ramat Hanadiv web site

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Hamei Ga’ash spa and hot pools

Ilan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:25:23 +0000

There are 3 hot pools

Ga’ash is a kibbutz in central Israel, between Herzelia and Netania city. There is a nice spa there under the name of Hamei Ga’ash. In this spa are 3 hot pools of mineral water drawn from the depths of the earth, at temperatures of 36°C for the big pool and 40°C for the 2 smaller ones. All 3 pools have jets in their sides too.

There are also showers, lockers (bring your own lock) and hot and dry saunas. There is also a hall with live music and drinks and a cafe that serves light food, hot and cold drinks and more.

The place is nice if you are looking to sooth your body and get your core temperature up. It is however covered, so expect it to be a bit noisy too when it’s full.

Opening hours:
Sunday 10:00 – 18:00
Monday 08:00 – 23:00
Tuesday 08:00 – 23:00
Wednesday 08:00 – 23:00
Thursday 08:00 – 18:00
Friday 08:00 – 16:00
Saturday 08:00 – 18:00

You are advised to call for the latest information prior to your arrival: tel. +972-9-9539404

Entrance fee to all the above mentioned facilities is 67 nis for a child and senior and 77 nis for an adult.
Free large parking lot.

More info on their site.

More sites between Tel Aviv & Haifa (road #2 or the paralel old #4):

Ein Ovdat canyon

Ilan — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:08:09 +0000

Ein Ovdat is a canyon in the Negev Desert of Israel, south of the kibbutz Sde Boker (Famous for being Ben Guryon’s residence). It’s about 2 hour drive by car from Tel Aviv (169 km far, see map on the bottom of the page).

Ein Ovdat has always been an attractive place for habitation due to its luxuriant fauna,flora and wild life in the middle of the desert. Consequently, the canyon and its surroundings have been inhabited for some 80,000–90,000 years by many peoples such as Neanderthals, Nabateans, and Christian monks. The canyon attracts numerous species of animals, like Ibexes and various birds, to its fertile vegetation.

The flourishing environment is caused by the water of numerous springs that begins at the southern opening of the canyon, and descends into deep pools in series of waterfalls. The springs in Ein Avdat emerge from between layers of rocks, although the source is still not known definitely. Around the springs grows salt-loving plants like Poplar trees and Atriplexes.

The entrance to the reserve is from the Ben Guryon tomb. Entrance fee is about 25 nis per person.
You enter with a car and about a couple of km down, you can park and head by foot to the canyon. You reach the first lake in about 10 minutes walk. The walk to the first lake is quite easy and is good for all ages. You can reach the first lake, and return back the way you came. But, the rest of the route (aprox one hour) and up the mountain to the reserve’s end, is for good walkers only. It requires climbing narrow and steep stairs.

Visiting Hours:
Reserve is open 7 days a week, 8:00 – 16:00/17:00 (winter and summer respectivly)

Telephone:

08- 6555684 (+972-8-6555684)
08 – 6554418 (+972-8-6554418)

View Larger Map

More sites in the Negev area (Between Be'er Sheva & Eilat) road#40:

Ovdat ancient Nabatean city (Archeological site)
Mizpe Ramon (Southern quiet town)
Ein Ovdat Canyon (Natural reserve)
Ben Guryon's hut (Historic site)

Apollonia ancient city (Arsuf) & national park

Ilan — Sat, 15 May 2010 10:53:00 +0000

Apollonia is located in Herzliya city, on a cliff overlooking a lovely Mediterranean sea shore.

During the summer, on Friday evenings, music ensembles are being held in the crusader fortress. This fortress was built in 1241 but was partly destroyed a couple of decades later.

The site has two trails, the main first, leads to the fortress and is a one level trail (no steps to climb), good for almost anyone. It’s about 250 meters to get there. The other trail is the Sea trail and is the same length but has many levels and quite a few steps. It takes about an hour to cover the site, but if you got there, you might as well stay a bit more and enjoy the nice Mediterranean breeze.

History:

This area was settled some 2500 years ago by the Phoenicians and they have named the village Arshuf after Reshef, god of war and storm. It was later (1-4 centuries BCE) renamed to Apollonia after the god Apollo. In the Roman era the place had developed into a city with a Samaritan and maybe Jewish community too.

In the Byzantine era (5-6 centuries CE) the city had thrived . It was about 70 acres big , had wine & olive presses, a developed glass industry and an advanced watering system based on reservoir structures.

The Muslim conquered the city during the 7-11 CE and the city was named Arsuf . It was then fortified with a wall to protect it from the Byzantine attacks from the sea.

The city was conquered by the crusaders in the year 1101 after a few failed attempts. The crusaders strengthened the walls and built a few moats .The Muslims occupied the city again in 1187 CE for 4 years. The Crusaders victory in 1191 established their hold on the place for the next century, until it was conquered again by the Sultan Baibars and the Mamluks ( a Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who had converted to Islam). The Mamluks ruled the city for a few years and then deserted it. It was never resettled again.

Information:

see on Google maps (labeled “B”)
Tel.: +972-9-9550929
20 nis entrance fee per person, including parking
for Friday evening music ensembles – about 70 nis per person, including parking and entrance to the site
suitable for families and any walker
the trail to the fortress is suitable for a handicap
there are picnic tables, shades and water

More sites between Tel Aviv & Haifa (road #2 or the paralel old #4):

Alexander river National park & Beit Yanai beach

Ilan — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:29:36 +0000

Alexander river wildlife

Alexander river is named after Alexander Jannaeus (also known as Alexander Jannai/Yannai; Hebrew: אלכסנדר ינאי), king of Judea. It is one of the few coastline rivers, where water flows all year long. There is a large population of large sea turtles, and also beavers, birds and fish.
The area is green all year long, and the river area is a recommended to see all along the year.

At the north shore of the river there is a eucalyptus forest with camping grounds.

the Bet Yanai (a village named after Alexander Jannaeus) beach, where the Alexander Stream meets the Mediterranean, is a nice sandy beach with picnic tables, life guard (in season), first-aid facilities, showers, restaurant and overnight camping options.

The beach and park are located about 5 km north of Netania city.

Information:

Visiting the Alexander river national park is free.
entering the beach is free unless you enter with a car. There is free and paid parking
Yanai beach office : +972-9-8664238 , +972-9-8666230
see on Google maps (labeled “B”)

Antipatris Fortress and Afek Park

Ilan — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:16:32 +0000

The Antipatris fortress built in 1571 by the Ottomans

National park Yarkon is the name of this park, and in it you can find the remains of the biblical city Afek and the ancient city of Antipatris from the Roman and Byzantine era. The later was destroyed in an earth quake in the year 363 AC.

In the years of 1571-1574, a fortress was built by the Ottomans, on the remains of these cities.

The place is situated on what used to be a major route throughout history, a gate connecting Egypt to Mesopotamia, evidence by the many villages that were built in the area at this time or another. Earliest findings in this area, go back to 3300-4500 BC.

See video on the bottom of this page.

What to see:

the Fortress in Tel Afek
the Yarkon lake and spring
the British water factory
the British pill-box and rail bridge
water lily ponds
El-mir Ottoman old mill
concrete house – the first concrete made house in Israel

Information:

Entrance fee – 25 nis each person
telephone: +972-3-9030760
hours of operation:
Apr-Sep- park closes on 17:00
Oct-Mar- park closes on 16:00

How to get there:

See a Google map (it’s “A” on the map)

A dry Silybum marianum

The Yarkon river

Heliotropium (Heliotropium bacciferum)

The Park near by

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tel+afek&sll=32.106279,34.930408&sspn=0.008034,0.019119&ie=UTF8&hq=tel+afek&hnear=&ll=32.107879,34.930515&spn=0.060634,0.15295&z=13

Mini Israel park

Ilan — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 11:54:36 +0000

Park Map. Click to enlarge.

Mini Israel is a large park featuring over 350 replica models of historical ,religious, archeological and modern sites in Israel, from the Eilat in the south and up to the Golan in the north.

It is a very nice place to visit, and it will take you about 60-120 minutes to see all of the replicas. The park also has a cafe, souvenir shop, audio tools, toilets and electric carts for those who need it.

Entrance fee for a person is around 50-70 nis. There are also organized packages, see details in Mini Israel web site.

How to Get There:

From highway no. 1:
Turn off at the Latrun junction towards the Armored Corps site. At the traffic light after about 500 meters, turn right, and after 1 km turn left into the Park.

From the road from Beer Sheva (highway no. 3):
Continue from Nachshon junction to Latrun junction (Sheva junction), turn left at the junction, (just before the Armored Corps Memorial), and after about 1 km turn left into the park.

Safed city - The Meiri House serves as a museum for the history, culture and mysticism of Safed.

The Western wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

The Monastery of the Cross, Jerusalem

Jaffa

Places to visit near the area:

Yad Vashem (Holocaust memorial)

Ilan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:10:22 +0000

Established in 1953, as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is today a dynamic and vital place of inter generational and international encounter.

For over half a century, Yad Vashem has been committed to four pillars of remembrance:

Commemoration
Documentation
Research
Education

Hall of Names: The new Hall of Names, part of the new Holocaust History Museum. Photo: Sasson Tiram, courtesy: Yad Vashem. Click to enlarge photo.

Reproduction of Lezno Street in the new Holocaust History Museum. Photo: Sasson Tiram, courtesy: Yad Vashem. Click to enlarge photo.

Inside the new Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem. Photo: Sasson Tiram, courtesy: Yad Vashem. Click to enlarge photo.

Entrance to the new Holocaust History Museum. Photo: Ardon Bar Hama, courtesy: Yad Vashem. Click to enlarge photo.

Transportation

The following bus lines reach the Mount Herzl bus stop:
13,16,17,17a,18,20,21,23,24a,26,27,27a,33,39

Most of the bus lines listed can be accessed from the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, as well as from many locations around the city.

The tourist Bus #99 stops at Yad Vashem. For information about Bus #99 and its schedule visit www.city-tour.co.il

For more information on public transportation, please visit the “Egged” website: www.egged.co.il
Free Shuttle Service

A free shuttle continuously runs between Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem during the opening hours of Yad Vashem. The shuttle makes six stops along its route on the Yad Vashem campus.
Download a timetable for the shuttle service.
Parking

Underground parking is available for private visitors, at a daily rate of 20 shekels. The parking facility is located at the entrance to Yad Vashem, adjacent to the main traffic circle.

The parking lot for buses of organized groups is situated after the entrance gate to Yad Vashem, to the right of the access road. Bus drivers are requested to disembark their passengers at the traffic circle, and then park in the assigned parking lot.
Disabled Parking

Eight spaces are reserved in the underground parking lot for cars with a valid disabled badge. Exit from the parking lot is possible via a direct elevator to the Entrance Plaza and Visitors’ Center.
Directions by car

From Tel Aviv, Route 1: When you arrive at the entrance to the city, turn right to the Herzl Route, and follow the signs to Hadassah Ein Kerem, Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem.

From Tel Aviv, Road 443 and Begin Route: Exit at “Givat Mordechai”. Turn right and continue until Herzl Route. Turn left and follow the signs to Yad Vashem

General Information

Hours

Sunday to Wednesday: ‬09:00-17:00
Thursday: 9:00-20:00*
Fridays and Holiday eves: ‬09:00-14:00
Yad Vashem is closed on Saturdays and all Jewish Holidays

The Holocaust History Museum, Museum of Holocaust Art, Exhibitions Pavilion and Synagogue are open until 20:00. All other sites close at 17:00.

Contact information
Archives and Library Services

Sunday-Thursday 8:30 – 17:00
(Books and documents can be ordered until 15:00)

Entrance to the museum and all other sites is free and does not require a reservation
Entrance to the Holocaust History Museum is not permitted for children under the age of 10. Babies in strollers or carriers will not be permitted to enter.
Entrance to the Holocaust History Museum is permitted until one hour before closing.

Edith Wolfson Park (Levana Square)

Ilan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:27:33 +0000

Click to enlarge

Edith Wolfson Park is a must see park located on top a hill, on the border between Tel Aviv and Givataim. Edith Wolfson was the wife of Izik Wolfson, a philanthropist and a Jewish-British businessman. They both contributed to the establishment of the park.

The park has large grass areas, different trees and plants, playground, picnic areas and a small lake. The park was opened in 1976.

On top of the hill and in the middle of the park there is a square with different geometrical statues. Some are hybrid with plants too. The statues were formed by the artist Danny Caravan, as appreciation for Tel Aviv pioneers. From the hill, there’s a nice view of Tel Aviv, and if you come at day time, you can climb up the stairs of the high statue and get an even more nicer view.

The park address is Derech Hatayasim 8, Tel Aviv, very near to Ort Singalovski Highschool.
It’s Located where these 3 roads meet: Derech Hashalom, Derech Hatayasim, La-Guardia. Get Directions on Google Maps.

Sites near by:

Ramat Gan national park is a few minutes drive away