For your next Israeli adventure, look north

If you’ve been to Israel more than twice, you’ve probably done the Greatest Hits tour. The falafel in the shuk, the long, dusty trek up Masada at 5am, the dip in the Dead Sea that leaves your skin dry and your Instagram full of sunburnt selfies. And that’s all great. If you haven’t floated in hypersalinity and had a spiritual epiphany by the Kotel, have you really been?

But here’s the thing. Once the highlights have been ticked off, once you’ve debated the two-state solution with your cousin’s friend’s army boyfriend over hummus in Tel Aviv, then what next?

The answer should be, go north.

Haifa, the Galilee, and the Golan Heights are places that most British Jews have either vaguely driven through on the way to somewhere else, or visited once on an Israel tour in 2006 and mentally filed away under “green, a bit foggy.” But they’re also home to some of the most intriguing, creative, and unexpectedly moving places in Israel, especially now, when the country is both immeasurably changed and defiantly the same.

Here are 10 reasons to head north on your next visit.

Haifa's Baha'i gardens[Missing Credit]

1. Haifa’s Hills and Harmony
Start at the Louis Promenade, where Haifa unfurls at your feet. Port cranes, blue water in the pristine bay, the rolling hills of Lebanon beyond. It’s peaceful in a way that surprises you. From the top of Haifa, the meticulously manicured Baha’i Gardens cascade down the mountain in terraced perfection and are the perfect place to start exploring the city.

2. Wadi Nisnas: Coexistence on a Plate
Just downhill is Wadi Nisnas, a neighbourhood where Muslims, Christians, and Jews work and live side by side in a way that feels… ordinary. That’s the miracle. The market is fragrant and loud – think za’atar, citrus, freshly prepared Arab delicacies – stone balconies and spice shops, alleyways with Arabic graffiti and Hebrew street signs, messy coexistence in every direction.

The view from Mount Carmel in Haifa[Missing Credit]

3. Graffiti and hipsters in the Port of Haifa
Back in Haifa’s port, a once-derelict neighbourhood is now the city’s artistic soul, where the walls speak volumes. Take a tour and you’ll spot vibrant street art, where some pieces mourn the October 7 attacks, honour Maccabi Haifa fans lost in battle, or quietly rage at the world’s indifference. There’s also a tribute to Inbar Haiman – the artist known as Pink, murdered by Hamas on October 7. 

4. Acre’s Timeless Layers
Half an hour north, Acre (Akko) feels like Jaffa’s moodier cousin – older, thicker-walled, more mysterious. You can walk through Crusader halls under Ottoman roofs, down tunnels built by Templars who had no idea TikTok would ever be a thing. At the harbour, Uri Buri – one of Israel’s most famous seafood chefs – still hosts diners with his Santa Claus beard and gentle soul. He stayed even after his restaurant was firebombed during unrest in 2021. It’s a lesson in resilience, with raw fish. In a just world, he would have a Netflix show and a seat in the Knesset.

5. Artisan Arak in Mi’ilya
In a sleepy village called Ma’ilya, we drank arak with Bassil, a Christian distiller whose family has lived on that hill for generations, but he’s now part of a new movement of artisanal distilleries in Israel.

Local bread and cheese at the Assaf winery[Missing Credit]

6. Greenery to rival Europe in the Golan
The National park at Tel Dan is part archaeological site, part rainforest trail. You walk past ancient city walls and gurgling streams (one of the Jordan’s main sources) under trees that look suspiciously Edenic. There’s also the Banias, where waterfalls crash under a suspended footbridge surrounded by luscious forest.

7. War’s Long Shadow at Tel Faher
At Tel Faher, war history is on full display. Once a Syrian bunker, now a memorial to the IDF’s Golani Brigade who bravely captured the hill from the Syrians in 1967. The site includes trenches, lookout points and is a great place to learn about the story of Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy who infiltrated Syria at the highest levels. Impossible not to feel the weight of history here.

Perfumed cocktails at the Sadé lavender farm in kibbutz Ein Zivan[Missing Credit]

8. Wasabi, Lavender and excellent wine in the Golan
Yes, really. This is still Israel, where ingenuity and agriculture are a way of life. Sadé is a field of lavender and Damask roses turned into boutique cosmetics. There are snacks and serenity. Nishi Wasabi, a pioneering farm growing real wasabi root in the Israeli climate – not the dyed horseradish imposter you’re used to. Finally, at Assaf Winery, sip wine in a stone courtyard with goats bleating in the background. It feels Tuscan. But kosher.

A bar mitzvah at the ancient synagogue of Ein Keshtaot in the Golan Heights[Missing Credit]

9. Moshav Ramot and Sussita
From the Golan’s high fields, ride down toward the Sea of Galilee and you’ll find Moshav Ramot, home to artists, off-grid dreamers and a ranch with sunset horseback rides. For 90 minutes, you’re part of the land – galloping past fig trees and fire trails, the lake glinting below. Up above is Sussita, an ancient city once Roman, later Byzantine, now mostly reclaimed by weeds and history buffs. The view from the ruined amphitheatre makes you forget your phone battery’s at 2%.

10. The mystic mountains of Tzfat
End your journey in Tzfat – the blue-doored city of mystics and merchants. Here, you’ll find gallery owners who speak in half-parables and a tasting tour that includes Yemenite lahoh, Georgian cheese and pickled everything. The Artists’ Quarter is Instagram gold.

Why Go Now?
Tourism is down. Hotels are half-empty. And yet, life goes on. Loudly, colourfully, defiantly, Israeli-y. Artists paint. Chefs serve. Nature blossoms. And in the north, especially, there's something both grounding and hopeful in seeing that, despite it all, people are still showing up.

For those of us watching from London, the war can seem overwhelming. A mess of grief, anger, and helplessness. But on the ground, Israelis are still doing what they’ve always done: building, arguing, kvetching, laughing. Supporting that, not with platitudes, but with presence, is one of the most Jewish things you can do.

Josh Kaplan was a guest of the Israel Government Tourist Office.