Alice Hancock

Why vaccinated Israel is worth a visit

  • From Spectator Life
Haifa, Israel (iStock)

Have you been watching Shtisel during lockdown? Or maybe you are just one of the hundreds (thousands?) of us eyeing vaccination rates and realising the obvious candidate for this year’s summer holiday green list: Israel. Land of mountains, sea, multiple religions, ancient and knotty history, and copious amounts of houmous.

Whether the 8,550 square mile country, just a fifth of the width of England and its widest point, can fit us all is another matter but if you are searching for more or less any type of holiday, it’s likely that Israel can provide.

Historic city break

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The Western Wall, Jerusalem (iStock)

No prizes for guessing Israel’s most storied city. Legends, tales and parables seem to hum from Jerusalem’s old town walls. Taking a walking tour (the Sandeman’s ones are free and excellent) is an advisable start to even begin to grasp the complexities of this uneasy hub. Browse an Edenic feast of Israeli produce and nibbles at the Machane Yehuda market and walk it off up the Mount of Olives and to the Garden of Gethsemane following Jesus’s last steps. 

If you can bear the queue, Jerusalem’s most famous holy sites – Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – can be a moving experience whatever your spiritual inclinations. Chase an early evening trip to watch prayers at the Western Wall with a sundowner at the truly old world American Colony hotel. From there a dive into the bustle around the Damascus gate feels like a world away from the streets inside the city walls. The Israel Museum is also a day well spent: it has a compendious collection of ancient and modern art including the famed Dead Sea Scrolls.

Contemporary culture

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Jaffa Old Town with Tel Aviv in the background (iStock)

Tel Aviv is an almost perfect four day city break spot. A day spent browsing the old town Jaffa – of orange fame – and Shuk Hapishpishim, its buzzy fleamarket; a day learning about the so-called White City’s striking Bauhaus architecture and how it came to rear up so suddenly out of the desert sands; time meandering through its artistic neighbourhoods of graffiti-laden, craft beer-swilling Florentin and chi-chi Neve Tzedek with its boutiques and languid cafes; and a day to either hit the museums, the drool-worthy Carmel Market (seek out some sabich – the Tel Avivian lunch staple) or lounge along the city’s remarkably Rio-esque beach and promenade.

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