new Israel - The North

Introduction

The North of Israel is off course an enormous area with plenty of sights. Unfortunately, we had only 1 day so we had to make a selection. We choose for Nimrod and Banyias, and we stopped for lunch in Tiberias. Apart from that there's of course Nazareth for the pilgrims among you, Bet Shean, Belvoir, Megiddo etc... We didn't visit Bet Shean and Belvoir because I thought it would be a lot of ruins. We wanted to do Megiddo but we were just too late (closes at 4 pm). These last 3 sights are on the Green Card.

It's almost impossible to do this with public transport, unless you have plenty of time to wait for buses, or unless you want to hitch hike (in competition with the local soldiers).

Hotel

We spent 1 night at a Kibbutz at the Golan Heights in Merom Golan. They have bungalows with a small kitchen and bathroom for 50 US$ (58 during weekends). You get 10% off as a foreigner if you pay in foreign currency.

Our guide book said you could have the best steak in Israel there, but unfortunately the restaurant was being refurbished. However, it should be reopened by the time you read this.

What to do

Banyias
We expected a lot of this walk, but we were disappoin

ted. I can imagine that in a dry country like Israel a waterfall can be a big sight, but it couldn't impress us. Not that it's not a nice walk, but to drive all the way to the Golan for this...

Entrance is 15 NIS. The walk from 1 parking to the other takes about 60 minutes, you can either hitch hike back to your car (20 minutes by road) or walk back and follow a slightly different path.

Start early, since it can get very hot.

It's possible to start a walk up to Nimrod Fortress, this will take 2 hours.

Nimrod Fortress
Those of you who've seen the Crac des Chevaliers will probably be disappointed, since again the fortress is mainly ruins. However the setting is quite spectacular, so we still liked it.

Entrance is 13 NIS, you get a good leaflet and there's a well marked path so you can see everything in a systematic way in about 1 hour.

Tiberias
We only stopped for lunch along the Tiberias lake. We had a good dinner (St. Peter's fish) for 55 NIS each in the Caramba restaurant. This included salad and mineral water (10/98).

Go to Jerusalem & around