We took the train from Tel Aviv to Haifa. We spent two nights in the Wadi Nisnas section of Haifa (just outside the German Colony) and then rented a car and drove to Acre for a night.
Day 1. After getting situated in our hotel, we wandered off and grabbed a late lunch at Libira. We walked around the city a bit more, but that was basically it.
Day 2. The next day we went to see the Baha’i Gardens. They were incredible and definitely a must visit. We started in the German Colony and walked to the lower entrance. (You can enter only enough to get to the gate where the stairs start, but you can’t actually enter the gardens that way). We then followed the path of stairs outside the gardens to the mid-level entrance (where you can enter and walk around the grounds). After spending some time there, we walked back outside and around the mountain to the upper entrance of the gardens. (It was a fairly long, uphill walk in the sun but it was worth it for the view).
At that point, we were pretty hungry (in hindsight, I should have eaten breakfast or brought a snack) and we had already walked around the interior of the gardens earlier so we decided not to wait for the tour to see the upper part of the gardens. (It’s free to get in, but you can only enter that section with a tour – they have them in multiple language and the times are posted at the entrance to the gardens).
We walked back down the mountain toward the German Colony and grabbed lunch at Fatoosh (highly recommended!). After lunch, we visited the Maritime Museum (not recommended, but it later made sense why the woman at the ticket booth asked us like five times if that was the museum we actually meant to visit). From there, we walked toward the beach along the northern coastline and stumbled upon Tel Shikmona, an archological site with ancient ruins. It was right off the beach and just sitting there in the open. We hung around there while the sun set and then headed back toward the hotel.
We had dinner and drinks that night at Maayan HaBira (a casual restaurant with outdoor seating and heat lamps in the winter). The perogies/dumplings were amazing!
Day 3. The next morning we rented a car and drove out to the Carmel Mountains for a hike (see Sefunim Loop Hike). It was one of those hikes where you just kind of pull your car over on the side of the road and start walking. It was an easy but very pretty hike.
Instead of driving back to Tel Aviv, we decided to drive up to Acre for the night. We stayed in a basic hotel on the “beach.” There wasn’t much there, so I don’t really recommend it, but it was fairly cheap and it served its purpose. It was about a twenty minute walk to the old city. After settling into the hotel and showering, we walked to the old city and grabbed a few drinks at Marsa Bar (a super cool bar hidden away in the back of the restaurant). To be continued…