Israeli Landscapes

Northern Israel
Central Israel
Southern Israel
Israeli landscape links

Despite being a small country Israel is home to a large variety of landscapes. It's possible from north to south in less than a day and to drive from west to east in under 2 hours. Israel's compact size makes it easy to visit every corner of this fascinating country, and one of my favourite pastimes is exploring.

Rosh Hanikra, north-west Israel

Many people imagine that this part of the world is simply one big desert full of sand, but even if Israel only had deserts it's landscape would still be varied, with the mountainous red and brown rock formations around Eilat, the flat yellow sandy areas in parts of the Negev, the canyons and gulleys of the Judean desert ranging from bright yellow to dull beige and the salt formations near the Dead Sea. As it is Israel is blessed with many non-desert landscapes, from the coastal cliffs and grottoes of Rosh Hanikra to the semi-tropical lush green of the Ein Gedi oasis to the snow capped peaks of Mt Hermon.

Jerusalem - Old City ramparts

The short drive from the west coast to the eastern border with the Kingdom of Jordan goes through a varied selection of topography and climate zones. For example, you might begin amidst the office buildings of greater Tel Aviv on the flat, humid coastal plain and make your way east through the humid Shfela lowland with it's orange groves, farms and small towns. The road would

Roadside pottery stand in the Jordan Valley
gradually start to climb into the Judean foothills around the Modi'in area, passing through red roofed villages, fields and forested or stone covered hillsides. Eventually you would come to the mountains around Jerusalem, some barren and rocky, others covered in forests of pines and cypresses, with small towns and villages nestled amongst them. Driving through Jerusalem you'd come to the desert road leading down to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. The rocky desert scenery on either side of the road is broken by the occasional Bedouin encampment, agricultural villages and huge signs marking your descent from the mountains of Jerusalem to 300m below sea level.

Banias waterfall, north-east Israel

Whenever I travel around the country I try to photograph the different landscapes to try and capture the variations in colour, shape and climate. I hope that over time I'll have the chance to photograph and scan more interesting views of Israel and add them to this page.

Below is a sample of the views you might see on a journey from north to south, starting in the fertile northern mountains, through the Judean Desert, Jerusalem, the Negev and Arava deserts and ending up at the Red Sea resort of Eilat.The photos have been taken over a period of several years during different seasons. Jerusalem only gets snow every few years, not every winter and the snow photos were taken just after a big snowstorm in January 2000.

Northern Views

Prehistoric dolmen at Gamla	Ancient synagogue at Baram	Hula Valley, Mt Hermon in the distance
Artists' Quarter in Safed	Mt Hermon ski lift	Neve Ativ, on the lower slopes of Mt Hermon
Nahal Taninim	B'hai shrine, Haifa	Nahal Meshoshim

Central Israel

Jerusalem forest and suburbs in snow	Jerusalem - View of Ben Hinom Valley towards Abu Tor	Tel Aviv viewed from Jaffa
Nahal Mikhmas, Judean Desert	Sunset, Nitzanim beach	Tel Aviv beach, view toward Jaffa
Railroad crossing near Beit Hilkiah	Date palms by the Dead Sea	Dead Sea salt formations

Down South

Acacia trees in the Arava	Rock formations in the Timna national park	The Red Sea off Eilat
Nahal Bsor, north-west Negev	Nahal Zin	Ein Avdat canyon floor
Nahal Shchoret, the Black Canyon	Ein Avdat canyon	Tomb of Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, near Sde Boker

Israeli Landscape links

Below are some other Israeli landscape sites which might be of interest:

Return to Land of the Gazelle homepage