Tel Aviv is vibrant, modern and liberal. This 24-hour city combines sandy Mediterranean beaches with a buzzing culture scene, UNESCO recognised architecture, incredible food, and a world-renowned nightlife. Here you will find one of the biggest collections of Bauhaus buildings in the world and the old port town of Jaffa, with its wooden fishing boats, winding backstreets lined with artists’ studios and galleries and well-known flea market.  In Ahuzat Bayit take a walk under the fig and Poinciana trees of Rothschild Boulevard to see Independence Hall and some of the Bauhaus style houses of White City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Overlooking the Mediterranean, Haifa is Israel’s third largest city and the only one with a subway system albeit the worlds shortest!  What it lacks in size is made up by the magnificent views it affords as it climbs 900 feet to the top of Mount Carmel. The city’s crowning glory however are the glorious Baha’i Gardens and Baha’i World Centre. The famous German Colony as the base of Mount Carmel is also worth a famous for its pretty streets and restored templar buildings.

The Sea of Galilee or Yam Kinneret, is the lowest freshwater lake on earth and is one of the earliest settled areas in Israel. The afternoon is becomes slightly pensive on a visit to the Golan Heights, overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan river. Originally a part of Syria the region came under Israeli military occupation in 1967 and we see signs of old minefields and depopulated villages as e have a coffee next to the bunkers of Mount Bental, overlooking the Valley of Tears.

Located just 5 miles south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is known the world over as the birthplace of Jesus but the city predates this Jesus by many millennia to the Canaanite tribes who are first thought to have established the city and named it Beit Lahama. They built a temple to the god Lahama on the present day Mount of the Nativity. Around 1200 BCE, the Philistines captured the city and build a garrison here. They were followed by Israelites and  Greeks, with the Romans only arriving here around 160 BCE.

Like many cities in Israel, Bethelem is of biblically importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For Jews, it is the burial place of the matriarch Rachel and the birthplace of King David. It is also where Samuel anointed David as king of Israel in Bethlehem and where King David's ancestors, Ruth and Boaz were married.

For Christians, Bethlehem is recognized in the gospels of Matthew and Luke as the birthplace of Jesus and is one of the religions holiest sites in the world. Islam also recognises Jesus as an prophet of god and come to visit his birthplace. Additionally, the tomb of the biblical matriarch sacred for Muslims and Jewish faits lies here, which many Muslim women visit to pray for safe and smooth pregnancies.

As with most of Israel's cities Jerusalem has a long and impressive history going back some 3,000 to 2,500 BC, long before any of the the three major religions that occupy it today were conceived.

It remains one of the oldest living cities in the world with the first inhabitants thought to have been pagan tribes. since this time the city has fallen into many hands and is said to have been completly destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Masada, on the Eastern edge of the Judaean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea, is King Herod’s 2000-year-old mountain top fortress, complete with elaborate palaces and bathhouses. One of the greatest archaeological sites in Israel, the remains of the fortress are well-preserved, and many parts have been reconstructed for a glimpse into their original glory of the fortress.  The most impressive structure still standing is northern palace, built on three rocky terraces overlooking the gorge below. Masada can be ascended on foot via the winding “snake path” or by the cable car.