Discover Tiberias

Tiberias combines leisure activities with Jewish history and archaeological sites. If you’re looking for a hotel in Tiberias, setting your priorities in advance can help you plan your trip: activities, historic buildings, or a trip on the Sea of Galilee. The city and its wider surrounding region offer different options for this.

Leisure and boat trips on the Sea of Galilee

Bercu Park in Tiberias is a leisure and attractions center offering challenging extreme activities for the whole family. This gives it a different focus from the city’s historic sites.

In the wider surrounding region, Holyland Sailing operates boat trips along various routes across the Sea of Galilee, accompanied by music in different styles. If you’re planning a trip like this, check current availability in advance.

Jewish history and archaeology in Tiberias

The visitor center at the Maimonides Heritage Center displays rare manuscripts and works of art created by Jewish communities around the world and devoted to Maimonides. The center is near the Tomb of Maimonides in Tiberias.

Centrally located, the Tiberias Archaeological Park includes the remains of a 6th-century CE synagogue, as well as a large building that was part of the Crusader city. Etz HaChaim Synagogue reveals another layer of history: Rabbi Haim Abulafia had the old Sephardic synagogue built in 1740. The lower part of the historic building from old Tiberias has been preserved; newer courses of stone were built above it.

Nearby, Hamat Tiberias National Park contains the remains of Jewish synagogues, some of which have been reconstructed. Together with the Archaeological Park and Etz HaChaim, it offers a distinct perspective on the area’s synagogue and architectural history.

Archaeological sites in the wider Northern District destination

The wider Northern District destination also offers distinctive archaeological themes that differ from the sites in Tiberias. Tel Hazor is a biblical tell with significant remains of a city with biblical connections; visits focus on the Upper City. Solomon’s Gate is part of Tel Hazor: a gate with six chambers and two towers dating to the 10th century BCE.

Further insights into Tel Hazor’s history can be found at the Canaanite palace used by the kings of Hazor in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE, and among the remains of an underground water collection system. The excavated shaft is 45 meters deep. Steps three meters wide are carved into its vertical walls; the system represents sophisticated engineering adapted to the geography for water storage.

Tel Megiddo in the Northern District offers a different archaeological focus: its Early Bronze Age temple complex is exceptional in terms of the number of temples, the continuity of religious activity, and the documented ritual practices. The Iron Age orthogonal city plan has few parallels in the Levant. These different examples show the variety of archaeological themes in the Northern District.

Discover more destinations: Safed

Go to the wider travel overview: Safed.