Highlights

• Bahá’í Gardens Haifa- you can only see it from the top of the first set of stairs if you don’t book a guided tour in advance
• Stella Maris Lighthouse and Carmelite Monastery
• Madatech-Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space
• Wadi Nisnas neighbourhood shops
• Haifa Port- a working port and there are ferries up to Akko
• Mount Carmel cable car
• Bat Galim Beach

Before you go

• Haifa is a port city with a lot of history and many different inhabitants
• Note that there are three different rail stations in Haifa so you can choose the one closest to what you’d like to see
• It is a large city and has a big hill, so be prepared for walking
• Although there is a lot of coastline, the only beach I found near the city centre is called Bat Galim. There is also Carmel beach which you can see from the train

Transport

• Haifa is easily reached by train from Tel Aviv and takes about 1 hour 10 minutes via the Coastal route. You can buy a ticket at the machines with cash or credit card. It cost me 26 NIS for a single in May 2022. There are three different train stations in Haifa.
• The city is walkable in the centre but is quite large and hilly so you may consider Gett taxis or the bus.

Accommodation

• I only went for a day trip from Tel Aviv so I don’t have a recommendation for where to stay

Food

The only food I tried while in Haifa was the ice cream. I can highly recommend Cremerie de l’eclair for ice cream and cookies. I tried the pistachio flavour with pieces of pastry and honey. It was delicious and made even more decadent drizzled with extra pistachio sauce. The caramel cookies were also very tasty!