Haifa in One Day: Gardens, Markets and the Sea

Haifa is built on a mountain that falls straight into the sea, so the easiest way to see it in a day is simply to work your way downhill.

Start at the top, on the Louis Promenade, for the view that explains the whole city: the terraces below you, the port, the bay curving round to Acre and, on a clear day, the white cliffs of Rosh HaNikra. Ten minutes along the promenade brings you to the upper entrance of the Bahai Gardens.

The gardens are the reason most people come, and they earn it. Nineteen terraces, a kilometre of perfectly kept geometry, and the golden dome of the Shrine of the Bab in the middle. The upper viewpoint is open daily; access to the middle terraces and the shrine is by set hours and modest dress, so time it deliberately rather than hoping.

Next, drop to the Stella Maris ridge for the Carmelite monastery and the cave associated with the prophet Elijah, then take the cable car down to the beach if you want the view from the air.

Mid-morning, move to the German Colony at the foot of the gardens. The Templer houses from the 1860s still carry carved German inscriptions above their doors, and the boulevard looks straight up the terraces. It is the best photograph in the city.

Lunch is one street away in Wadi Nisnas: hummus, manakish, knafeh and sculptures on the walls. Afterwards, choose your afternoon. Art lovers head to the Mane Katz or Tikotin Japanese art museums up the hill; families take the beach at Bat Galim or Dado; anyone with time left drives twenty-five minutes north to Acre, or up the Carmel to a Druze village for coffee.

End back on the ridge at sunset. The bay lights up, the gardens are illuminated, and Haifa quietly proves it is the most underrated city in Israel.