Israel Off The Beaten Path Tips by Sharon Top 5 Page for this destination

Kangaroos Farm

Gan-Garoo is a lovely farm, located near Mount Gilboa in the north east of Israel and not far from Bet She'an.
In Gan-Garoo you can meet the sweet Ozzi kangaroos as well as Kuala bears and other anmals. You can spend time with the kangaroos as they arewalking, or shell i say jumping around free and used to people, The Kuala bears though are having their own kept area and people can NOT touch or bother them as they are very delicate and sensitive
and most time sleepy.
Its a wonderful attraction for Kids but even to me as an adult it was really lovely to finally meet those sweet sweet kangaroos personaly ! I just loved them.

Hatzbani (Snir) Stream

This is one of my favorite nature preserves in Israel ! Located in the north of Israel
near Kibbutz Dan and Dafna.
The area is so relaxed.. the hiking is partly in the water and partly along the srteam, pretty easy rout actually. Basically there are 2 walking routs, one which is shorter and the other one which is longer.
I was there just last Friday, We have done the long one which is really fun. At some point we stopped for some rest and relaxing time, took our clothes off and enjoyed the cool water.
If you're looking for hikes and less regular places to visit or lets say the none touristy sites than you should visit here, just better not during the Jewish holidays time when its more packed with locals. The hike it self in a relaxing walk should take less then an hour....
well... depends on you..

Mount Gilboa

Mount Gilboa is located in the north east area of Israel and not far from Bet She'an.
The views from this mountain is amazing as it watches all the area of Jizrael Valley.
The best time to visit this area is between Feb' - April. At this period everything bloom !
Many flowers, among them the most famous one, the Gilboa Iris which blooms
on March and is rare ! Oh And better arrive a day after the rain where the chances to have a better visability on the beautiful valley is higher.

If you like excitments then on the top of the mountains you can do paragliding ! i have no idea of what the cost is but it looks great though a bit scary ...maybe next time when im there.

I wasn't too lucky and didnt have best visability and therefore this photo.... which could obviously be a much more beautiful one.

Church of the Beautitudes

This Church of the Beautitudes is believed to be the place were Jesus christ is
said to have given the Sermon of the Mount.
You can find it on the road that goes aroud the sea of Galile, on the
north west side, Located on Mount of Beautitudes and overlooks the Sea of Galilee.
The View from the church is beautiful and Its basically near by many other holly sites.

Zichron Ya'akov

A lovely little town the mountain on the way (from south) towards Haifa... its location is great and it watches the coast line. about 40min' drive from Tel Aviv.
There are some beautiful things to see here besides the beautiful streets and houses.
Ha'nadiv Gardens for example, located on 4500 dunam ! dont miss the roses gardens and the waterfalls garden. Another thing is the Smells garden which was mostly made for blind people or people whom have problems with their eyes, they can touch the plants and smell them and they have signs in braille writing.
In the summer Concerts are taking place there on Sunset times ! (04-6293333)
the Winery (Yekev in Hebrew) which is in a nice old building from 100 years ago, you can have guided tours there and even take part in the vintage (if you're visiting in the season).
Besides all that and more you can find beautiful little cafes' and restaurants. nice place for a day visit.

Nimrod Fortress

Definitely off the beathen path for most tourists ! but worth a visit if you travel to the Golan Hights in the North of Isreal.
The fortress is located on a mountain about 800m' above the sea level.
It is named after a biblical hero, the hunter Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-9) who, according to local tradition, dwelt on this summit.
Better check in advance their opening hours for visitors.

Website: http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=337736

Achziv

Achziv beaches are known as one of the best in Israel... yes all though not al of the area is sandy its still quite a peaceful and very beautiful area.
The beauty of the rocks and the torquize water is amazing.
Achziv is Located in the north of Israel on the road that leads from Akko to Rosh Hanikra (which is the northern coastal point if Israel).
In this photo you can also see Rosh Hanikra and some of the border's equipment on the rock.

Mount Bental

Mount Bental is situated in the north east of Israel almost near the border with Sirya.
It used to be under Syria territory until the war in 1967 when all the Golan area turned to be an Israeli territory.

The View from the mountain is amazing, On one side you can watch all over its northern side and see some druze vilages as well as mount Hermon. if you look down you can see Kibutz Merom Golan and if you look east... just down the mountain you will be watching Syria ! its pretty amazing.

On the mountain it self there are a remains of the Israeli (underground) Bunker from the wars time and you can see how things were at those days and how sensitive all this area is ....
I really recommend you to visit there, personaly i always like going there but i also know that tourist whom arrives there always get a different point of view of the situation there ...

The hexagon Pool

Fantastic little Nature wonder !
A short hiking (aprx 20 min') from the entrance to the Yahudiya nature Preserve will
lead you to a pool of hundreds of hexagonal rock columns which were caused by the rapid cooling of molten rock, which skirt the water's edge.
The pool is fantastic and great to swim in during summer... (although we saw some travelers whom were about to swim there just as we left !! and it was only 18c brrrr !!)
Another 40min' hiking will lead you to the Yehudiya Stream and waterfalls.
Thats a definite Off the beathen path but if you're here for a long time then its worth a visit.

Few min' drive from Katzrin (in the Golan Area.

Majd Al Shams

This Druz Village is located in the northern point of Israel at the eastern side. Majd al Shams used to be a Syrian village until the war of 1967 when all the Golan Heights area was conqured by Israel.
Many of the people in Majd al Shams still have relatives in Syria and since there's no way to keep in contact (except for the internet this days and that is if its possible there...) there's the shouting hill... where people from both sides of the border comes to see each other and the only way of hearing each other is shouting.... and therefore its name ...

For all of you who wants to get some sort of clue about it look for the Israeli movie " The Syrian Bride".

Do NOT TOUCH IT !

When we arrived to Majdal Shams we went to see the shouting hill where relatives talks to each other from both sides of the border by shouting.
We sneaked through one of the locked gates that was possible to go under it and we were right there, on the border it self !! as you can see in the photo I’m standing by the electric fence and of course not touching it. Behind the fence...simply Syria !
Unfortunately cause of the sun its hard to see well but on the other side on the hill there's a little balcony where people can watch the Israeli side with a binoculars or with unarmed eyes.

The best way to explore the Golan hights and Magd Al Shams area is by Car.