The Grottoes and Chalk Cliffs of Rosh Hanikra | The Perfect Day Trip from Nazareth Pt. 3

As we drove north through the Galilee region, the warm afternoon sunlight seemed to turn the whole world a glowing golden hue. Towns turned to date farms, lined with hundreds of palm trees planted all the way up to the edge of the road. Before long there was nothing left to obstruct our view and beneath us we could see the Mediterranean Sea stretching out. At this northernmost tip of Israel, on the border of Lebanon, you will find stunningly white cliffs jutting out against a turquoise blue sea.

These cliffs, made of chalk, have been worn down by the
waves over time forming grottoes that once were only known to boats on the sea.
Luckily for us, a cable car has been built and for 35 NIS we took a quick ride
down to the entrances.

Just before getting into the cable car, you get the most magnificent view of the cliffs against the water and the jagged coastline. I decided long ago that the colors of the sea at sunrise and sunset are my favorite colors, and with the stark white of the chalk they stand out even more.

I’m not sure if you can tell yet, but Rosh Hanikra was definitely my favorite place on this trip so far.

Below the cliffs, there are narrow walkways that lead into the grottoes. While the air is cool and crisp along the sea, we were immediately hit by the warm salty air as we entered the caves. There was a table of colorful lanterns but the glow of sunset pushed its way in, gently lighting the smooth, damp walkway.

As we walked deeper the sound of rushing water echoed loud until it formed a giant crashing boom and shook the cave. The feeling of the waves rushing in and out of the grottoes created a magical atmosphere (way better than Ariel’s grotto at Disney World, I will tell you). Despite all this, I let myself run around, pretending to be a little mermaid as the bright turquoise rushed in and sprayed us with a light mist.

The pictures honestly don’t do it justice, but you can see a little bit of what we discovered in this video around 0:50.

I could have stayed in this peaceful place for days.

We wandered through just in time to catch the sun turning the sky a golden orange before it slipped away. We made our way back up on the last cable car and hopped into the van, curling up on the back seat as the evening turned dark. It was a long day, but our tour of Haifa, Acre and Rosh Hanikra made for an amazing one. I have fallen in love with Israel and Rosh Hanikra just may be my favorite place I’ve ever visited.

Overall, I really enjoyed the freedom of this self-guided tour and was impressed with how many cities we hit in one day. You can read about the other parts of this day trip here and here.

Do you prefer self-guided tours to those with a strict schedule?

Planning your own trip to Israel and looking for suggestions? Check out my itinerary for one week in Israel plus a second week to visit Jordan and Egypt.

Wondering why I’m in Israel? Read this post here.

A big thank you to Tourist Israel, Abraham Tours, Abraham Hostel, Hayarkon 48, Fauzi Azar Inn and everyone else who has helped plan this trip and make it possible.

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,’script’,’//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js’,’ga’);

ga(‘create’, ‘UA-49466220-1’, ‘auto’);
ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);