A Visit in Acre (Akko) – An excursion from Tel-Aviv

Note : You are on Page 2, Start with Page 1, about Haifa city.

Intro – The planning of your day

See The following Map :

After you have visited Haifa (see Page 1), you can continue to visit  Acre (Akko) + Nahariya + Rosh-Hanikra. In brief :

  1. Haifa – The main attraction are the Bahai Gardens.
  2. Acre (Akko) – An ancient city with a lot of history (recommended to visit).
  3. Nahariya – There is a nice beach.
  4. Rosh-Hanikra – A border point to Lebanon. There is a nice cave to visit (with a cable car).

You can easily reach Haifa, Acre and Nahariya with the train. The train doesn’t reach Rosh-Hanikra, you will need to use a bus for a short distance (see page 3).

  • The Travel time with train between Tel-Aviv and Haifa is : About 1 hour.
  • The Travel time with train between Haifa and Acre is : About 30 minutes.
  • The Travel time with train between Acre and Nahariya is : About 30 minutes.
  • The Travel time with bus between Nahariya and Rosh-Hanikra is : About 30 minutes.
  • The Frequency of the train : About every 30 minutes.
  • See how to pay for the transports in the Transport Page.

Can you visit everything in one day ?

If you have only 1 day, you should skip Rosh-Hanikra and Nahariya city. (Rosh-Hanikra is more difficult to access with public transport (no train) and Nahariya has no special sightseeings). You can limit yourself to visit the Bahai gardens in Haifa and then continue to Acre (Akko).

How to arrive to Acre

Option 1 : By Train : The train is the most pleasant way to arrive to Akko. There is a train going between Tel-Aviv and Nahariya and it stops in Haifa and Akko. Frequency : every half hour. Unfortunately, the train station in Akko is a little bit far from the port, so you’ll need to compliment the journey with a short bus ride (or walk half an hour).

Option 2 : By Bus : You can take a bus from the northern bus station in Haifa. The station is called “Merkazit Amifratz” (also a Train station). See on Map.

Option 3 : By boat : There is a touristic boat between Haifa and Akko, operating in some seasons. It starts from the port in Haifa, near the railway station “Haifa Center” and it arrives to the port of Akko. The frequency is low. The website.

Where to Stay ? (Hotels)

Rosh-Hanikra is not a place to stay, is is just a tourist attraction with no hotels.
The distance between Haifa, Acre and Nahariya is short so you can stay in either one of the cities.  Nahariya may be a good option for 1 night. It is a small, cute city with beaches and quite a lot of places to eat. Acre is special for sleeping because the old town is mainly busy during day time (most tourists just arrive to Acre for a day trip). Haifa is a big city.

Or if you are planning to do just a day excursion to this area, you can stay in Tel-Aviv or stay in Jerusalem.

What to Visit in Acre  (“Akko”) ?

Acre is just 20 Km from Haifa. It is an ancient city on the sea.

It is nice to walk in the old port and the market of Akko.

There are several cafés near the lighthouse, with a nice view.

And Fish restaurants

Akko is mainly inhabited by Israeli-Arabs and there are some good Hummus restaurants in the old town, for example Humus Said.

There is also a famous Falafel called Falafel Arafe

If you insist, you can do a boat trip from the old port (promoters will address you…)

A lot of Art shops in Acre

There is a rampart surrounding the old city and it is possible to walk on part of it.

Akko was an important city for the Christian crusaders in the middle age. There are several interesting museums to visit in Akko and there is a combined ticket for several of them.

The museums you can visit in Acre

The Knights Halls

This is the main museum of Acre. A very impressive place. This Fortress served as a hospice and a hospital for the pilgrims who came to visit the land during the crusaders period (12th and 13th centuries). It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

For the visit, you receive headphones and you can listen to explanations in front of each exhibit.

I was specially impressed by the Latrines room. There was no privacy in this era.

The Acre citadel (and later a prison) was built above the ruins of this fortress.

Turkish Bath

It is recommended to visit this place. It is a short visit and a pleasant one.
It is “Hammam” from the 18th century, a Turkish Bath House that was built by Jazzar Pasha the famous ruler of Akko. In the main hall there is an audio visuel show, telling about the history of the place in an amusing way and with stories about Jazzar Pasha.

The bath house was an important social center for the city.

Templar Tunnel

This tunnel was discovered in 1994, by chance, and later opened to the public. The tunnel was constructed by the Templars, a monastic order who aided pilgrims coming from Europe to visit the holy land. The tunnel is about 150 meters long and leads to the port.

The visit is easy. There is not much to see. It is part of the combo ticket for the museums in Acre.

Ramchai Synagogue

A very small Synagogue from the Ottoman period.

The main interest of the place is that is that Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) used to pray here. Ramchal has an interesting background : He was born in Italy and needed to escape because his fellow Jews judged him to be too smart (apparently, the best is to be a mediocre person in our society).

There is a visitor center adjacent to the Synagogue with explanations about the Jewish community in Acre during the middle age.

Ethnographic Museum

It is a small and cute museum with old objects from the last 100 years.

I especially liked the room with children toys.

It may remind you your childhood.

Acre Prison

It is an old prison where Arab and Jewish were held by the British when they were caught fighting before the independence of the state of Israel (1948).

The British empire controlled the territory of Israel.

In the museum there are mannequin to demonstrate the life in prison.

Here is a typical cell. The prisoners had to prepare by themselves carpets that served as mattresses.

Here is a representation of a trial.

It is interesting to see objects from that era

The prison was built inside a Citadel from the Ottoman period. The Citadel was build on the ruins of the Fortress (The Knights Hall), mentioned earlier.

Unfortunately, there were also executions in this prison.

After the visit, you can relax in a nearby nice garden.

Al Jazzar Mosque

There are many mosques in Acre.

The most prominent mosque is Al Jazzar Mosque. It was built in 1781.

The Mosque can be visited.

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Haifa – What to Visit and where to Stay ?

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Jerusalem – What to Visit and where to Stay ?

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