Israel's northern region boasts beautiful countryside, forested mountains, vineyards, olive groves, kibbutzim, Arab villages, and the remains of ancient cities and holy sites.

Tiberias, on the shore of Lake Kinneret, is famous for its therapeutic hot springs. Today the town is a bustling lakeside tourist center, where archaeological remains of the past blend with modern houses and hotels. Founded in the 1st century and named for the Roman Emperor Tiberius, it became a center of Jewish scholarship and the site of a well known rabbinical academy.

Climaxing with Mt. Hermon, the Golan Heights region, taken by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967, is a major strategic asset and a pristine natural wonderland. At the heart of the Galilee is the Sea of Galilee, a lake inspiring both for its beauty and its association with Biblical sites. The North offers great hiking and nature trails but also boasts Israel's third-largest city, the port of Haifa, which has a spirit of peace and productivity all its own. Though a business and industrial town, Haifa is beautifully spread on a stepped mountain overlooking the harbor. It can serve as an ideal urban base for exploring Israel's North.

Safed, perched high in the mountains of Galilee, is a popular summer resort and tourist site, with an artists' quarter and several centuries-old synagogues, In the 16th century, Safed was the most important center of Jewish learning and creativity in the world - the gathering place of rabbis, scholars and mystics who laid down religious laws and precepts, many of which are still followed by observant Jews today.

Jewish & Christian religious and historic sites in the North of Israel

• one of the sources of the jordan River
• site of the ancient town of Caesarea Philippi, where Peter confessed the nature of Christ

• site where story of Saul, first king of Israel, came to an end

• site where "Peter made his confession of faith"

• site of Jesus' first miracle, the turning of water into wine
• the Franciscan and Greek churches

• believed to be site of miracles on Sea of Galilee shore
• ancient Jewish town on Sea of Galilee
• headquarters of Jesus' ministry
• excavations of St. Peter's house

• a unique fishing boat dating from the time of Christ was found

• remains of a fine Byzantine church and monastery

• the village of Mary, one of Christ's most devoted disciples

• traditional site of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
• modern church

• the Cave of Elijah the Prophet

• site of the tombs of several venerated rabbis of the Roman period

• site of the prophetess Deborah's victory over the Canaanites
• traditional site of Jesus' transfiguration

• angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus
• huge Catholic church, and Greek Orthodox church built over "Mary's Well"

• 16-th century center of Jewish mysticism, and one of Judaism's four holy cities
• the gravesite of the Ari; the gravesite of Rabbi Yosef Karo

• site of Miriam's well

• early center of Talmudic writing
• the gravesite of Maimonides (Rambam)
• in the time of Jesus, it was the capital of the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas

• modern site for baptizing, where the jordan River leaves the Sea of Galilee

• a new settlement (1882) noted for Rothschild vineyards