The bicycle has long ceased to be just a means of transportation. Bicycle is a lifestyle. When choosing a place to relax, cycling enthusiasts often look for a place where they can ride interestingly and safely. Israel is, as a rule, not considered as an option, since it is widely believed that a holiday in Israel is a treatment or a pilgrimage.
In fact, cycling is extremely popular in Israel due to its accessibility and environmental friendliness. Most of Israel’s tourist sites can be reached by bicycle. On it, in a fairly short period of time, you can travel around the entire Holy Land.
The climatic conditions of the country are also very conducive to cycling. Tel Aviv is rightfully considered the most bicycle-friendly city in Israel. The length of bicycle paths in it is more than 120 kilometers; rental points are widespread, where anyone can rent a bicycle for a very reasonable fee. Israel’s main Mediterranean resort, Netanya, has one of the country’s largest bicycle parks, which will appeal to both amateur and professional cyclists. The city has also created special routes that allow schoolchildren and students to safely ride a bicycle to their place of study. Most of the routes are laid out in such a way that the views along the way from the walk are no less picturesque than its main attractions.
Multi-day bicycle rides are no less popular among Israelis than among tourists. At a distance of 30-40 kilometers from each other, there are specially equipped parking lots on the bike trails where you can rest and have your bike repaired. The route running between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is very popular, as well as trips along the “Israeli bike path”, laid from Mount Hermon to Eilat. These routes pass through both important cultural sites and agricultural land, and are equipped with road signs, overnight stops and drinking water stations. In general, if you wish, you can become a participant in a fairly comfortable and memorable cycling tour.
In Israel there are cycling routes of varying levels of difficulty. Among European tourists, two are most popular:
Bike tour to Mar Saba
The purpose of this bike tour is to visit the largest Orthodox monastery in the Judean Desert, Mar Saba, one of the oldest in the world, where services have been carried out continuously for the last 1,500 years. The challenging 35-kilometer route, designed for well-trained cyclists, passes through virtually deserted terrain filled with wildlife, caves and rocks.
The beginning of the route is the southern part of the Kidar settlement. You will have to drive through the Judean Desert on a dirt road. You can see Mount Muntar and Herodion from afar. In the Kidron gorge, crossed by bicycle, there are caves dug into the slopes by hermit monks. An old paved road leads directly to the monastery. Since the monastery is for men, women are not allowed into the monastery territory. Men, when visiting a monastery, must wear clothing covering their legs.
Bike tour to Herodium
The journey to Herodion is a difficult, but very interesting route, designed for 1 day. The route passes through lands returned by Jordan to Israel in 1967 after a 19-year occupation. By car from Jerusalem you can reach Herodium, the palace complex built by the famous King Herod, in 15 minutes. The 50-kilometer cycling route runs through the desert and is not designed for beginners. Due to the lack of any vegetation or water sources in the desert, and taking into account the duration of the trip (about 10 hours), bicycle tours to Herodium are made only in winter and spring. The route begins on the Dead Sea coast. The road continues to climb, and along the way there are views of rocks and deep gorges. The ride back is easier, the journey takes about 3 hours, and cyclists have time to arrive at the starting point of this route before sunset.
A bicycle in Israel is not only the most popular urban transport, but also an all-terrain vehicle that can travel off-road in the desert, opens up a lot of tourism opportunities and gives a comfortable, but extremely interesting and active holiday.
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