Villa Rimona Zimmers’ FAMILY FRIENDLY VACATION GUIDE TO NORTHERN ISRAEL (2012 Version)* Welcome to Northern Israel! We have put together this guide to help you and your family make the most of your time while staying at lovely Villa Rimona in Yavne’el. Just 15 minutes from Tiberias and within easy driving distance to many fun and exciting things to do. Whether you’ve come for a romantic anniversary or an outing with all your kids, the Galilee and Golan (and Villa Rimona) will be the perfect place to be. To find our more about our Kosher and Shomer Shabbat Vacation Suites call us at 077-419-9001 or visit www.VillaRimona.com If you have any corrections or addtional attractions, restaurants or ideas to add to this guide please contact us. Looking forward to seeing you soon! Your Hosts, Shmuel and Chana Veffer Villa Rimona Zimmers *as a first draft, please do not make any assumptions about kashrut, shmirat shabbat, tzniut, prices or times of these entries. We have not personally visited all of these places. This document is to help you with initial planning of your vacation only. If you discover any errors or have comments or suggestions, please send them to Chana at [email protected] Table of Contents Sports & Adventure ATVs & Jeeps ATV Dishon - Moshav Dishon Hatzbani Nature Tour Plus - Kibbutz Hulata Biking Hotel Aviv - Tiberias Ofen Harim Bike Rentals - Ramot Boating & Waterskiing Water Sport Center - Tiberias Bowling Afula Bowling - Afula Cable Car/Zip Line/Rappelling Manara Cliff - Kiryat Shmona Fishing Dagei Dafna Fishing Park - Dafna Hiking Swiss Forest - Poriyya Horseback Riding Vered HaGalil Guest Farm - Rosh Pina Mini Golf Mini-Golf - Kibbutz Farod Paintball & Shooting Range Gan Hair Shooting Range - Tiberias Paintball Ayelet Hashachar - Rosh Pina Rafting/Kayaking HaGoshrim Rafting - HaGoshrim Jordan River Rafting - Rosh Pina Kfar Blum Kayaking - Kfar Blum Swimming Yavniel Swimming Pool - Yavniel Tiberias Beaches (southern entrance) - Tiberias Mehadrin Beach & Miriam’s Well Beach (northern entrance) - Tiberias Extreme Sports Israel Extreme Animals & Nature Zoos Gan Garoo - Bet She’an Ostrich Farm - Haon Nature Reserves & Parks Hamat Gader Park - Hula Nature Reserve - Hula Valley Nahariya How Do They Make That? Marzipan Marzipan Museum - Kfar Tavor Milk & Cheese (a dairy farm) Me-v-moo - Yavne’el Olive Oil Golan Olive Oil - Katzrin Toister Ranch - Givat Yoav Silk (not milk) & Honey Dvorat HaTavor Honey Bee & Silkworm Farm - Shadmot Devorah Wine Golan Heights Winery - Katzrin Tavor Winery - Kfar Tavor History & Archaeological Sites Alsheich Synagogue - Safed Ancient Cemetery - Safed Ancient Katzrin Park - Katzrin Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park - Bet She’an Bet She’an - Bet She’an Hamat National Park - Tiberias Hatzor Archaeological Site & Museum - Hatzor Megiddo Archaeological Site - Megiddo Sephardic Ha’ari Synagogue - Safed Tzadik Tombs & Graves - Tiberias Zippori National Park - Nazareth Museums Beit Ussishkin Nature Museum - Hula Valley (Kibbutz Dan) Donna Grazia’s House (Historical Museum) - Tiberias Golan Archaeological Museum - Katzrin Kfar Tavor Village Museum - Kfar Tavor Kinneret Museum - Tiberias Open Museum of Photography - Kiryat Shemona Pioneer Museum - Kibbutz Yifat Tractor Museum - Kfar Tavor Culture Bet Gabriel Gallery and Movie Theater - Tzemach Restaurants Decks - Tiberias Pagoda - Tiberias Sports & Adventure Some of the companies listed below offer a variety of adventures e.g. the companies listed under Kayaking and Rafting. So read the descriptions to see what else they offer. Any activities that involve water, assume there will most likely be people around not dressing modestly. ATVs & Jeeps ATV Dishon - Moshav Dishon Guided ATV trips to the Dishon River, Naftali Mountains, Golan Heights and more, using Polaris Ranger vehicles. Each trip involves a short safety briefing and training. Phone 04-695-0441, 052-248-8014, 050-544-1773 E-mail [email protected] Website: www.tractoron.co.il (English - 15% discount Coupons available on website) Directions: Between Tzfat and Kiryat Shmona, off road 886. (1 hr) Located inside the Moshav Hatzbani Nature Tour Plus - Kibbutz Hulata They plan, organize, and carry out jeep tours for individuals or groups that last from 2 hours to an entire day. They also provide English-guided nature tours, birdwatching tours, guided hikes, bicycle riding, and rafting & kayaking in the Jordan River. You can also go absailing in certified sites such as: Keshet Cave, Dalton Cliff, Gefet Cliff, Kedumim Quarry, Luzit Cave and many more locations. Phone 077-205-0477, 052-424-8248, 054-777-0233 E-mail send a message from their website Website: www.hatzbani.co.il (English - 10% discount coupons available on website) Directions: Hwy 90 north to Tzomet Yesod Hamaala - on road 9119.(54 min) Halom Olami - Migdal They plan, organize, and carry out jeep tours, horseback riding and watersports on the Kinneret. The company is Shomer Shabbat. Phone 050-537-7488, 050-579-0193 E-mail send a message from their website Website: www.halomolami.co.il (Hebrew website) Directions: In Moshava Migdal, just north of Tiberias.(29 min) Biking Hotel Aviv - Tiberias Rental of bikes by the hour or day. Open daily. Phone 04-671-2272 or (tel. 04/672-0007 or 672-3510), Directions at the southern end of HaGalil Street (20 min) Fees Starting at NIS 40 for standard bikes and NIS 50 for mountain bikes for a full day, hourly and half-day rates also available. Ofen Harim Bike Rentals - Ramot Organized individual or group bike tours in the Golan, the Galil or Kinneret. Mountain bikes with or without gears. BMX bikes and baby seats. Also, bike rental by the day or hour. Phone 04-673-2418, 052-851-5058 (Boki Bar Tzur) Email [email protected] Website hebrew only with 10% discount coupon Directions in Moshav Ramot - on east side of Kinneret (32 min) Boating & Waterskiing Water Sports Kinneret- Tiberias Marina Rental of boats, jet skis, waterskiing, banana boats, tubing and speed boats for up to 8 people. Also waterskiing lessons for children. Phone 052-807-7790, 052-269-2664 (Mica) Website hebrew only with 10% discount coupon Directions Tiberias Marina (below the Ceasar Hotel) (20 min) Bowling Afula Bowling - Speedball - Afula Phone 04 642-4912 Directions Yehoshua Henkin 1, Afula (Near Afula Home Center) (29 min) Cable Car/Zip Line/Rappelling Manara Cliff - Kiryat Shmona Manara Cliff has the longest cable car in the country. The other activities are ,linked to the stations of the cable car. The first station offers a trip in mini-jeeps along the Manara cliff, a bungee trampoline, and an extreme 1,200-meter-long mountain slide.The middle station offers rock climbing and rappelling, a 200-meter omega, and a climbing wall. At the upper station, there are two options to hike along the cliff with a local guide. Children up to 10 can enjoy creative activities. Phone 04 690-5830 E-mail [email protected] Website www.cliff.co.il Directions: On route number 90, just south of Kiryat Shmona (60 min) Fees General entrance NIS 59 includes cable car ride full Hebrew pricelist here Fishing Dagei Dafna Fishing Park - Dafna The park is surrounded by trees and green pastures, with picnic tables & BBQs. You can fish in the Dan River and even cook your fish on the BBQ and have a real family picnic. A fantastic experience for the whole family. You can also camp here. Fishing equipment rental is available Phone 04- 694-1154, 052-3992070 E-mail [email protected] Website: http://www.dagei-dafna.co.il (15% discount coupon on website) Directions: near Kibbutz Dafna on Route 99 (1hr 12min) Opening hours: Sun-Thu 09:00 to 17:00, Fri 09:00 to 16:00 Fees: daily: 35 NIS (Jul-Aug 30 NIS) Hiking Swiss Forest - Poriyya Illit The forest provides beautiful hiking opportunities and breathtaking views of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. Directions: 13 Minutes from Villa Rimona. Enter Porriya Illit for 768. The JNF paved a road from the Poriyya Youth Hostel northwards, leading the visitor into the heart of the forest and to the best vantage points. The road continues into "Schunat Dalet" of upper Tiberias Horseback Riding Vered HaGalil Guest Farm - Rosh Pina You can join tours of from half-hour to full-day rides. Vered HaGalil also has pony rides for the kids (2 to 8 years) and riding lessons. Phone 04- 693-5785 E-mail [email protected] Website: www.veredhagalil.com Directions: located on road 90 between Tiberias and Rosh Pina (35 min) Fees: one-hour ride - 128 NIS, two-hour ride - 250 NIS, 10-min pony ride - 35 NIS Mini Golf Mini-Golf - Kibbutz Farod This attraction, suitable for the entire family, offers 16 challenging mini-golf tracks, ranging in levels of difficulty. It also has paintball, mini-cars and a tent with games for toddlers. Phone 050-869-7802 - CALL in advance to arrange hours- open evenings in summer Email [email protected] Website: www.minigolf-farod.com (in Hebrew) Directions: located on road 866 north off hwy 85 (40 min) Fees: - NIS 29 mini-golf (unlimited time), Kiddie Games (up to 6 yrs), Painball NIS 1 per ball. Paintball & Shooting Range Gan Hair Shooting Range - Tiberias Phone: 04-672-5680 Directions: Hagalil 4, Tiberias (20 min) Paintball Ayelet Hashachar For families, you need a minimum of 4 participants age 10+ to participate in the paintball course. There is also the “hunting course” mainly for children 3 to 10. There is also a shooting range for target and skeet shooting. They also have a maze set on 7 dunams. There are also mazes, bike tours, pedal carts and more. Phone 04- 693-2226 (book in advance) E-mail [email protected] Website www.pbl.co.il (English with coupons on site) Directions: located off road 90 between Rosh Pina and Kiryat Shmona on Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar (48 min) Fees: starting at NIS 80 per person.