Getting Oriented

Two seaside cities anchor this stretch of coastline. Haifa, a hilltop city on a peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean, offers the magnificent Baha'i Shrine and Gardens, the bustling German Colony, fine restaurants, the Carmelite Monastery, and more. The ancient port city of Akko has underground ruins dating from the era of the Crusaders.

Many people come to this area for the beaches, but the coastal Route 2 and the slightly more inland Route 4 can whisk you to such sites as King Herod's port city of Caesarea, the 19th-century town of Zichron Ya'akov, and the artists' colony of Ein Hod. Far to the north are the cliffs and grottoes of Rosh Hanikra.