Galilee Panhandle

The northernmost community in Israel. Somewhat yuppified. Until 2000 it was home to the "Good Fence", a border crossing where Lebanese citizens could cross into Israel to work and receive medical care. But since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, the border has become heavily militarized and little trace of the Good Fence can be seen.

Established in 1907 by workers from the nearby Jewish town of Metulla, Tel Hai was attacked by an Arab militia in 1920. Eight people were killed in the attack, including Joseph Trumpledor, one of the few Jewish pioneers at the time to have any military experience. In retrospect this is often seen as the very first military confrontation of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Trumpledor's alleged last words were "No matter, it is good to die for our country" and for decades afterwards he was seen an Israeli military hero. Now the site has been restored as a museum about the early Jewish pioneers who lived here.

The eight pioneers killed in Tel Hai are buried here. Near their grave, in 1934 a large statue of a lion was erected as a memorial to them.

Exhibits prehistoric artifacts recovered in the area, particularly from ancient burial caves located near the museum. Among the exhibits is the oldest known domestic dog skeleton in the world, 12,000 years old.

The largest ancient ruin in modern Israel and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the Israelites first entered the Holy Land, this was the largest city in the land, and the book of Joshua describes them conquering it. Later on, King Solomon fortified Hatzor, and still later a sophisticated underground water supply system was built. You can see all these ruins, including the water system which you can climb down into. At the entrance of Kibbutz Ayelet HaShachar (just across the street from Tel Hatzor), there is a museum which holds some artifacts from the site, although the most important artifacts are kept in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

One of Israel's best-known nature sites. This national park follows the Banias stream, and includes some easy and fairly short hiking trails that pass by old water mills, vigorous rapids, a waterfall, and an old overturned Syrian tank. The river Nahal Hermon, one of the Jordan River's main tributaries, originates here, passing through a series of rapids and the most powerful waterfall in Israel. You can also see ruins from the Hellenistic city of Paneas (after the Greek god Pan), whose name became Banias in Arabic. A little down stream a trail with numerous pillars ("suspended trail") to the Banias waterfall.

A beautiful nature reserve following one of the tributaries of the Jordan River, next to Metulla. The river flows through a canyon and goes over several waterfalls, the highest of them over 20 meters tall.

A nature reserve on one of the Jordan River's tributaries. The Snir Stream (Hatsbani) has a powerful flow here, and if you're lucky you can see various forms of wildlife.