Best Time to Visit Israel
Dec 09, 2022
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It’s hard to predict the weather anywhere with any real certainty these days but the good news is that there is really no bad time to visit Israel. While for hikers and nature lovers, the best time of year is during the spring and fall, when the days are pleasantly warm, with sunshine and clear skies, beachgoers, young families and students love the soaring temperatures of the summer, while the winter is ideal for those who enjoy the relative quiet of off-season.Put a Spring in your Step
This incredible Spring weather is an ideal time to take in breathtaking scenery and hike around the Ramon Crater, the largest crater in the world that was formed by erosion, and Masada, an awe-inspiring ancient fortress in the Negev Desert, built by King Herod. While Easter and Passover usually fall within a week of each other in April, the Jewish festival of Purim – a cross between Halloween and Mardi Gras, offers a week-long celebration with street parties, pop-up shops selling costumes for kids and adults, bakeries stocking customary triangular hamantaschen cookies, and the now famous Tel Aviv Zombie Walk. If you prefer flying creatures over walking zombies, then the Hula Nature Reserve is worth visiting. Every spring in northern Israel, this area, once 15,000 acres of swampland, becomes a pilgrimage site of its own for many types of birds, including cranes, storks, pelicans, and many more. A most important wetland reserve in the Middle East, it is a photographer’s dream and one of the best locations in the world for bird-spotting, sitting on a major migration route for birds travelling from Europe to Africa and Asia.
Soak up the Sun
If you crave your daily dose of vitamin D, there is nothing like summertime in Israel. With soaring daytime temperatures, these are the months when Instagram and other platforms are heaving with glamorous photos of beach life in Israel. Promenades are dotted with public gym stations, tanned runners and volleyball players enjoying the sandy coastline, and bronzed surfers trying their luck in the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, June sees Tel Aviv typically welcome more than 200,000 visitors for the city’s incomparable Tel Aviv Gay Pride Week, with a wide range of eclectic parties and events to cater to the broadest tastes. June also sees the Jerusalem Festival of Lights, when you can walk around the Old City, absorbing a rare and enchanted ambiance, with its ancient walls and cobblestone streets illuminated with breathtaking modern light art installations designed by local and global artists.
When Temperatures Fall
With a slight dip in the mercury, the Fall is a charming time to visit, allowing you to enjoy the country’s top attractions without the hustle-and-bustle of the summer. Off-season, Israel hotels typically offer lower rates and there are competitive discounts to enjoy. You can also gain a fascinating insight into the many festivals that take place in this season. Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), two of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, arrive in September, with Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) following shortly after in October. While on those few days, many attractions are closed, it is still a great time to witness the eerie silence as the whole country grinds to a halt for Yom Kippur and children and adults ride their bikes down empty highways and boulevards.
Winter of your Content
Between December and February, Israel basks in bearable temperatures and fewer crowds. Those with ‘Christmas in the Holy Land’ on their bucket list indeed head to cities that played a major part in the life of Jesus — Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem — all hosting special Christmas time celebrations. There are larger crowds here, but if you want to swap the chillier north for the perennially warm Red Sea, this is a superb time to head down south to Eilat for warmer, drier weather and to enjoy snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming with dolphins, Coral World Underwater Observatory Marine Park, hiking and other exciting outdoor activities. In February 2023, Eilat also sees the arrival of some of the greatest musicians from around the world for the annual Eilat International Chamber Music Festival. Hosted by the Dan Hotels, there are concerts, masterclasses and workshops that draw hundreds of thousands every year.