Israel packs a lot into a small country, mountains, desert, coast, forests (over the past 100 years, the Jewish National Fund has planted over 240 million trees and in fact, Israel is the only country that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees). There are 4 seas, the Mediterranean, Red, Dead and the Sea of Galilee (at 209 m below sea level, the lowest fresh-water lake in the world), in Hebrew, the Kinneret.

Because Israel is small, it’s possible to hike the width of the country in a few days, from sea to sea, yam l’yam, from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee.

Coastline of Mediterranean Sea

Overlooking the Kinneret, Sea of Galilee

There are even rituals to perform, you start and end by immersing all or part of your body in each sea and you carry some water with you from one sea which you pour into the other sea when you arrive.

The hike starts at Achziv, follows Nahal Kziv past the Crusader Montfort Castle, Ein Tamir and on to the Druze village of Horpish. From there we join the Israel Trail, past Har Meron to Nahal Amud. We climb to Mizpe Yamim with a view of the Mediterrranean Sea from whence we came and below us the Sea of Galilee where we will end our hike. This hike takes 3 to 4 days, accommodation can be arranged at Bed & Breakfasts along the route.

You can also hike or drive between the other seas: 2) from the Red Sea at Eilat, along the southern part of the 940 km. Israel Trail to the area of the Dead Sea, 3) from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, 4) follow the Great Rift valley and drive between the Dead Sea and the Kinneret. Before you do, you might want to read Haim Watzman’s personal account in his recent book, A Crack in the Earth: A Journey up Israel’s Rift Valley:

“This rift is one of the globe’s largest features, clearly visible from space, and I live on its edge. It forms an intricate landscape that makes the human soul turn end over end in wonder…”