Israel Sights and Sounds

The ancient ruins of the Casearea port are a fascinating walk though history - ampitheatre, acqueducts, ruins of homes and a roman theatre. Beautiful Mediterrannean sea views from all around the archaeological park. There are some shops and restaurants. Fantastic photo opportunities. If you are an avid diver and archeology lover, there is also an underwater museum, where you can dive to see ruins of King Herod's harbour.

If you are an archaeological enthusiast, and you don't make it to Jerusalem, this is a interesting bit of history. If you aren't an archaeology enthusiast, this is a beautiful place to walk to see the sea views, and walk through huge archways and cobblestone ruins as well as climb on a sculpture of a horse and chariot.

It can get quite chilly and blustery around the open areas in Jan to April time.
Some parts are stroller friendly, but most of the historical areas will be harder to handle a stroller.

Also in Caesarea you'll find the Caesarea Gold Museu, the Rally Art Museum, the Roman Aqueduct, The home of Hannah Senesh at Kibbutz Sdot Yam, as well as the Caesar Spa and the Sdot Yam Caesarea Museum of Antiquities.

This is a real adventure - depending on how curious and precocious the animals are on the day that you visit. This safari allows you to drive around and see animals from ostriches to rhinos, to a special caged area of lions. There is a lake which is home to quite a few hippos that imitate islands in the lake which occasionally wake up to open their mouths and make the birds that are on their backs, fly off. You can drive around and around the safari as much as you like, or park and watch your favourite animals. Though windows are supposed to be closed and feeding of animals is absolutely prohibited, there are those who honk at the animals, feed them and hang out of their window for a perfect photo.

The safari is attached to the zoo. When you are done with the safari, you can pull into the zoo parking lot and make your way to the admission counter where you buy a separate ticket for the zoo. Golf carts are available for rental if you have trouble getting about on foot.

Israel's capital, Tel Aviv is located about 30 minutes to 1 hour drive from Jerusalem. In this city, you'll find a vast array of activities to fill many days of exploring from the Time Elevator and Biblical Zoo for the children, to caves and gardens. Jerusalem is probably most famous for The Old City, where there is also the most concentration of archaeological, religious and historical sights and sites. However, there are museums and sites all around Jerusalem to fill as many days as you have to spend exploring.

Tips:

*While free exploring is great, this is one of those locations that you can probably more easily navigate if you have a friend to show you around, or you hire a guide or at very least, have a guide book with map.
*There are many temples and holy places around Jerusalem and women are advised not to wear spaghetti strap dresses, or sleeves shirts. I purchased a shawl at one of the markets so I was able to go into some of the Holy buildings.
*Women are only permitted along certain sections along the Western Wall. No photos permitted on Saturdays by the Holy Wall and it is forbidden to remove stones from the site.
*Since this area is close to the area of political strife, depending on the situation, some sections are closed to off to tourists and some times safer than others to travel to Jerusalem.

Some of the many places to see:

Church of the Holy Sepulcher - probably the holiest and most important spot for Christians, where it is believed that Christ was buried.
Dome of the Rock - a famous structure in Jerusalem's skyline. This golden dome atop of a mosaic walled, octagonal base houses a huge rock which is of historical significance to Jews and Muslims.
Western Wall, also known as the Wailing wall because of the chanting of prayers that can be heard by the wall.
Markets (also called "shook" in Hebrew) - where you can take a stroll back in time to see street bazaars selling trinkets to antiquities to fantastic falafels. This is a real labyrinth of cobblestone streets that make fabulous photo opportunities. It is quartered into the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian ethnic sections and can be a whole day of exploring in itself!

Appollonia
Once a vital crusader post and fortress, this is now a national park that continues to be an archaeological and historical site. Grand views of the sea and a glimpse into history. Only about 10 minutes drive from the Herziliya Marina.

Arena Mall

This mall is right on the Marina. There are several eateries and coffee shops located on the Marina, with fresh air and beautiful views. The mall houses two floors of stores and a grocery store. Though it has a great view, the actual mall indoors is dark and somewhat oppressive. The stores are pretty much the same stores in other malls, so unless you are planning to hang around the marina, there is no special reason to come here. If you are looking for a nice, large mall, check out the Ramat Aviv mall.

Herziliya Marina and beach.

You can park right near the beach on the main street and then walk to the small boardwalk that winds partly around the marina. A great spot to walk the short but picturesque sea wall, with view of the Mediterrannean sea and the yachts, hotels, beach and also close to the mall. Great place to walk with a stroller, though there were a lot of signs of irresponsible dog owners who did not scoop after their dogs, so be careful where you step. Though too cold when we were there, it looks like a gorgeous beach to swim at (when you walk a little further away from the boat launching area), with long sand banks and clear waters. However, there were lots of boats going in and out, so not sure exactly how clean it was. Not much of a beach to go beach combing.

Downtown Tel Aviv is home to a hugely mixed bag of attractions, from shopping to the beach to delicious eateries where you can sit and watch aspects of the city pass by.
Dizengdoff street is a long, wide street with wide pavements for you to stroll and window shop the high end designer clothing and up market knick knack stores, also some fancy markets with fresh produce. You'll also find coffee shops along here and at the end of Disengdoff, you can shop at the once super trendy Dizengdoff shopping mall.
Extremely stroller friendly area.


Rothschild Street and Neve Tzedek
Rothschild Street is similar to Dizengdoff in many ways, with shopping, cafes and lots of opportunities to people watch. We didn't get to the Sheinkin street area which is off Rothschild, but apparantly this is a bustling and trendy area to visit too with art shops and galleries. Best part of Rothschild Street for me was that if you follow it South, you reach Neve Tzedek, a small but ever so quaint artist/writer's areas with artsy stores, old houses that are converted into boutique looking stores and homes. It's a small area, but similar to Soho in New York.
This area is also home to the Susan Delal Dance Center (if you are looking for a landmark to give a taxi driver).

If you like to window shop, people watch and walk, these are nice areas to do all three.