It might look strange to find articles about the North of Israel in a blog called visitingnegev.com, but last July, on the day we received the keys to a holiday flat we just bought in Nahariya, we officially became people of the peripheries!
What is the periphery?
Let me explain with a little lesson in Israeli geography.
In the Israeli mind, you can separate the country in 5 areas. There is, most importantly, the Center, a narrow strip surrounding Tel Aviv, this is where everything happens. Jerusalem of course is in a category of its own. A narrow strip north of Tel Aviv, close to the shore and extending all the way to Haifa is still worth mentioning and considered to be the North. And too often on the news, you will hear about the South, when really they should talk about the Gaza envelope, an area that is close enough to Tel Aviv to still be desirable, but so close to Gaza that the constant firing of rockets make it affordable.
So what is there South of the South or North of the North, you ask me? In the Israeli psyche, you may just as well call everything else the Far Far West, but it has a different all encoumpassing name in Hebrew, less romantic and a lot more condescending: it is called the periphery.
And we love the periphery. So it is just fitting that we should also own a place in the northern part of the periphery. A mere three hours drive from Sde Boker (make it 6 hours if you are not careful and you set on crossing the country at rush hour – we’ve learnt it the hard way!)
The whole epic story of how we became the happy owners of this little gem of a flat is not for this post but for those interested (or if you would like to see pictures of the flat), you can read about it here. For a teaser, just a quick pic of the view from the livingroom.
Not bad, is it?
At this point, it will be enough to say that it was love at first sight and that it felt like the natural thing to do. We have created this place in the South that it is the perfect base to discover the whole of the Negev Highland area. We could now do the same for the North!
The perfect base to discover the Galilee and the North of Israel
Because I don’t know about you, but the thing I hate the most and I find exhausting when traveling is to pack and unpack suitcases. This is why whenever we travel, we always chose a spot with a lot of things to do within a 1.5/2 hours radius.
Of course, the North of the country is so small and compact that you can chose just any point on a map and use it as your base to travel all around the North, even all the way to the Golan. But in our Nahariya flat, you will have the added bonus of the sea, a swimming pool (in season), the Nahariya promenade and beautiful beaches walking distance!
But where exactly is Nahariya?
Nahariya is on the northern part of the Mediteranean coast, in a region called Western Galilee. It is about ten kilometers from Lebanon, tucked between the city of Akko and the cliffs of Rosh HaNikra, both spectacular and unmissable, and both a ten minutes car ride away.
Of course, for some people, the view, the sound of the waves, the pool, a stroll on the promenade stretching from Rosh HaNikra to Shavei Tzion, the many beaches, each with it’s different flavor (the well established Shavei Tzion, Akhziv and it’s rocky pools, the very savage Betzet – our personal favorite – or even the public beach of Nahariya, very safe for children and full of colorful Russian grandma’s with their flowery swimming caps) will all provide ample attractions. For a full report of the beaches and best places to swin in the area, click here.
If you’d like to know more about the city of Nahariya here. But the area has much more to offer.
Things to do in Western Galilee
This area has so much more to offer, and as it is very small, it is all in a 30 minute radius.
- For the hikers, the Western Galilee is full of green and watery trails, some among the nicest in the country. Nahal Kziv, Nahal Betzet or Nahal Geaton among others, which are all within 20 minutes drive.
- Amators of sensations will not want to miss snappling from the Keshet Cave.
- Those who like excentrics will love the painted house in Shlomi, the Akhziv museum telling the story of Eli Avivi, the foundator of the State of Akhziv and exposing all his archeological findings (how on earth was he allowed to keep all these treasures!) or even the charming and extremely photogenic Davidson garden in Kibbutz Eilon.
- I hear a lot about the fantastic culinary scene. But being busy trying all the patisseries (and they are in a surprisingly high number!), I haven’t really checked it yet, but it is very much on my radar. We have mainly tried a few Lebanese and Druze restaurants in some of the many Arab and Druze villages around, because the Western Galilee is probably the place where coexistance between Jews, Arabs and Druzes is the most peaceful. Buza ice cream for example, a joint Jewish/Arab establishment in Ma’alot Tarshiha is a well known institution for the quality of it’s products.
- Not to be missed if you come in December is the Christmas vibe, especially in Mi’ilya and Fassuta, the two only 100% Christians (or very close to) towns in Israel.
Willing to go a bit further?
Looking for even more adventures? You won’t have to go very far !
For example : Haifa, 30 minutes
Daliat el Carmel : 1h02
Cesarea : 1h05
Nazareth : 1h07
Safed: 1h03
Hula Valley : 1h07
Rosh Pina: 1h09
Capernaun : 1h11
Tiberias : 1h16
Qatzrin : 1h27
Madjal Shams and the Hermon : 1h50
Should I carry on? I think you get the gist of it.
Yes, this is official, with Krivine Guesthouse – the Annex on the Sea, we have become people of the peripheries and when it comes to visiting the Northern and Southern part of Israel, we got you fairly covered. For Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, I am afraid you will have to make your own arrangements…
You can’t wait to discover everything on this list and more? Come and stay in our holiday flat in Nahariya.
For more details, call John +972522712304
Whatsapp Marion +972527206860
Or email us johnjkrivine@yahoo.com
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