Opening hours, accessibility, getting here and parking, cancellation terms and ways to reach us. Everything you need before your visit, on one page.
הסדרי נגישות פיזיים באתר ראש הנקרה: אתר ראש הנקרה מונגש באופן חלקי בלבד. גשר ההנגשה שאורכו כ-100 מטר מוביל בצורה נוחה אל הרכבל אשר מוריד אל מתחם הנקרות. הנקרות, בשל חציבתן הטבעית בסלע, אינן מונגשות לגמרי. ניתן להיכנס עם כיסא הגלגלים עד לנקרה הראשונה ולצפות בה מלמעלה וכן בחלק מהנקרה השנייה. בשלב זה יש לחזור לאחור עם כיסא הגלגלים שכן שאר המסלול כרוך במעבר צר ומדרגות. הסרטון והשירותים מונגשים. אחראי נגישות: גיא לביא.
The booking is completed directly with the hotel, in its own booking system.
Beyond the striking grottoes and the white cliffs, Rosh Hanikra is a rich habitat for a wide range of animals and plants, which turn every visit into an experience of nature, history and sea in one place.
The best-known residents of the site. You will see them sunning themselves on the rocks, hiding among the grottoes and roaming freely across the site. Despite their small size, their closest zoological relative is in fact the elephant.
Fruit bats live in the ceiling of the grottoes, feeding on ripe and fragrant fruit. On quiet days you can even hear their distinctive calls during the tour of the grottoes.
The Rosh Hanikra area was once home to the Mediterranean monk seal, one of the rarest marine mammals in the Mediterranean. Although it disappeared from the area decades ago, several rare sightings have been recorded in recent years, raising hope of its return.
In summer the turtles come to the area to breed, and the females lay their eggs on the nearby beaches. After about two months the tiny hatchlings emerge and set out on their first journey to the sea.
Sea daffodils, narcissi, desert broom and other rare species, some of which grow only in this area, adapted to the winds, the salinity and the demanding conditions.
The cliffs above the sea are made of soft, pale limestone, and the sea carved the grottoes into them over thousands of years. It is the same rock you can touch along the route inside the grottoes, and it is also the first thing you see on the way to the site.
Rosh Hanikra is not only a striking natural site. It is one of the most important historical meeting points in the Land of Israel. For thousands of years this pass served as the country's northern gate, and through it moved traders, kings, armies and cultures that shaped the region.
Rosh Hanikra sits on the Ladder of Tyre ridge, a striking ridge that drops steeply into the Mediterranean. For many generations the narrow pass between the mountain and the sea served as a central strategic route between the Land of Israel and Lebanon, and so many armies marched through it, among them Sennacherib, Alexander the Great, the Crusaders, the Ottomans and the British.
The ancient sources already describe the area as a land of plenty. Legend tells that when Abraham reached the Ladder of Tyre, he was struck by the land's beauty and richness.
During the British Mandate the famous railway tunnels were cut into the cliff, linking Haifa, Beirut and Tripoli. To this day you can see the remains of the track and the tunnels at the site, a reminder of how strategically important this place has been across the generations.
One of the most influential peoples who lived in the area was the Phoenicians, also known as the Sidonians. For thousands of years they ruled the coastal cities between Tyre, Sidon and Acre, and were regarded as among the finest traders, seafarers and shipbuilders of the ancient world. They supplied cedar wood from Lebanon, building materials and craftsmen for the building of the Temple, and were important partners in the economic and cultural development of the region. Their greatest contribution to the world was the development of alphabetic writing, the basis for the modern scripts we still use today.
Thriving ancient industries existed along the shores of Rosh Hanikra and Achziv. The rocks served as stone quarries, and later also as pools for producing salt. One of the most prized products of the ancient world was made here: the purple and blue dyes, extracted from sea snails and regarded as a symbol of wealth, royalty and holiness.
For thousands of years sea waves pushed through cracks in the rock, widened them gradually and created the striking system of grottoes we see today. The famous white cliff is made of layers of limestone, flint and dolomite, formed on an ancient seabed millions of years ago.
The process continues today. The shape of the seabed in the area lets the waves build up considerable energy, so they break against the cliff with unusual force. In winter, during storms, you can see up close how nature is still shaping the grottoes in our own time.
