4 Treasures in Northern Israel

We’ve spent a lot of time traveling around the country, but we’ve never managed to get ourselves as a family unit to Kiryat Shemona and the surrounding area. So this year, I decided that this would be our destination for Pesach (Passover). We spend a few days each chol hamoed (the interim days of Pesach) traveling and hiking to another destination in the country. Many people know about the hikes in the Banias, about Nachal Snir and about rafting on the Yarden. We found some other interesting locations to enjoy that I thought were worth highlighting. So here are four gems in the Kiryat Shemona area:

*The Helicopter Memorial: I’m, quite frankly, shocked that I’ve never seen this memorial. In 1997, two Israeli Air Force transport helicopters taking soldiers to the security zone in southern Lebanon crashed above the community of She’ar Yeshuv. Right next to She’ar Yeshuv there is a stunning memorial to the 73 Israeli soldiers. We are friendly with an amazing woman in Neve Daniel whose first husband, Moshe Moalem, was the highest ranking officer killed and we’ve seen how she has created another life after this tragedy. We saw his name, of course, and were moved by the beauty of the memorial and the thoughtfulness that went into the creation of it.

* Tabula Rasa: If you’re looking for delicious food in an eclectic, funky atmosphere, this is a great restaurant. We were scouring the streets looking for Kosher-for-Pesach food and Matan happened to stumble into this cute little place. It’s a vegan restaurant that opened about six months ago and they were gracious and excited to have visitors from out of town. Send them business! Enjoy!

*The Dado Lookout: If you’re in the area, it’s well worth the extra few minutes to drive from Kiryat Shemona to Metulla. The lookout there is absolutely breathtaking and offers views of Lebanon to the (very close) North and down to Kiryat Shemona and even the Kinneret to the South.

*Sa’ar waterfalls: Our first night in Kiryat Shemona, we followed signs to a Kosher-for-Pesach restaurant and ended up in this cute little collection of stores. It was absolutely packed with cars (Pesach!) but then the restaurant was empty and we thought hmmmmm…what’s going on here. Turns out it was the parking lot for Sa’ar waterfalls. The falls are right off of the street, requiring absolutely no hiking to enjoy. This really makes them accessible for almost anyone. There were three falls cascading one from the next and you can even walk along a little bridge and get in between them. It was breathtaking at sunset and well worth adding to any travel plans.