- Eilat beaches
- Children's rest in Eilat
- Resort amusement parks
- Eilat landmarks
- Shopping in the Red Sea
- Delicious points on the map
- Festivals and Holidays
The Red Sea is not only in Egypt, and lovers of underwater beauty often fly to Eilat, whose coastal waters are also full of mysterious and variegated inhabitants. The coral reefs near the Israeli resort attract divers, and the Eilat Mountains attract tourists who prefer the earthly ground under their feet. And yet the most popular vacation here is the beach, especially since the climate allows you to fly to Eilat all year round, and the tourist infrastructure is ideal for spending a vacation with the whole family. Guests of the city do not experience a shortage of entertainment, and restaurant patrons, fans of shopping, and adherents of an active nightlife are ready to answer the question of where to go in Eilat.
Eilat beaches
The beach coast of Eilat stretches for as much as 12 km and is conditionally divided into two parts:
- The northern coast is located within the city limits. All beaches in this sector of the resort area are classified as hotels, but you can go to them free of charge and without hindrance. If you require beach equipment, umbrellas and sun loungers can be rented. The covering of the Northern beaches is mainly sandy, but there are also areas with medium-sized pebbles.
- Popular in the Coral resort area, Migdalor Beach is distinguished by its particularly clear water due to the fact that it has a rocky bottom. The reefs on Migdalore are very close to the coast, and therefore snorkeling in this part of the resort is especially convenient.
There are also a couple of paid beaches in Eilat. They are called Dolphin and Coral Reefs. The ticket price includes the opportunity to use all beach equipment and infrastructure.
Children's rest in Eilat
By the way, Dolphin Reef is not just a beach, but an amusement park, where you should definitely go with your children. The attraction is located in the southern part of the resort and is an arc-shaped coral reef, near which observation pontoons and towers are built. Dolphins living in the reef area are happy to communicate with bathers, and the park staff offers dolphin therapy to everyone.
Dolphin Reef is home to many other marine animals. While scuba diving or snorkeling, you will see stingrays, colorful fish, cuttlefish and bizarre coral.
The park has a nice sandy beach, a bar with drinks, and the pools are filled with fresh water. On weekends, the Dolphin Reef Restaurant offers a special program and special menus.
Resort amusement parks
In Eilat, there is another place for family vacations, where all guests of the resort will certainly go. The City of Kings theme park opened in 2005. It is based on biblical themes and consists of several entertainment areas:
- In Journey into the Past, visitors get to know Ancient Egypt and learn everything about the life of kings and pharaohs. The construction is based on a four-dimensional model of the palace, created using panoramic screens.
- Then visitors enter the "Cave of Illusion and Wisdom" dedicated to King Solomon. Dozens of displays that create optical illusions help to immerse yourself in its surroundings.
- The "Biblical Cave" houses the mines of King Solomon. The artificially created cave is deepened by 60 m.
- The next stage of the virtual journey into the past is "The Falls of King Solomon". Going on a boat trip along the river, guests are imbued with the wisdom of the king and pass seven caves symbolizing chapters from his life.
- Going down the waterfalls, the heroes of the epic find themselves on the "David's Spiral" slides and again find themselves in the "Cave of illusion and wisdom".
You can spend several hours in the City of Kings, especially since all the infrastructure necessary for a comfortable rest has been created in the park. You will find shops and restaurants on the territory of the center with adapted children's menus.
Another children's park has been opened in the center of Eilat, where carousels and other "land" attractions operate. The park is called "Fantasy" and is usually popular during the winter when the city is not too hot.
In contrast, the Ice Palace is always full of visitors even at the height of the Israeli summer. At the Ice Park Eilat shopping and entertainment center on North Beach, you can rent skates and spend a couple of hours on the cool ice. Or play hockey if you come to the center with a big company. For the youngest visitors on the territory of Ice Park Eilat there is a small train that rolls the kids, and older guests have fun on the playground. There are craft workshops in the center, where it is interesting to watch the craftsmen making souvenirs. Visitors are offered to buy the goods they like on the top floor in the pavilions of the “Craftsmen's Market”.
Eilat landmarks
Educational excursions around Eilat are extremely popular, and guests of the resort are happy to go on trips and walks, discovering the diverse world of the Red Sea and the desert surrounding the city.
In the list of attractions, where it is worth going first of all in Eilat, the "World of Coral" is invariably in the lead. The underwater observatory is an aquarium arranged in the format of an entertainment park and a nature conservation center at the same time. The largest marine aquarium in Israel contains more than 800 species of the inhabitants of the Red Sea. The center is located in the Coral Beach nature reserve. It was created in the 70s. last century. The observatory hosts an exhibition about the underwater world of the Red Sea. Live exhibits live in an aquarium, in the center of which there is a place for spectators. The observatory is a single ecosystem where biological balance has been created for many years, carefully maintained by scientists. The observatory hosts an exhibition of rare fish and an exposition dedicated to the nightlife of the underwater world. Visitors to the aquarium can also look at the inhabitants of the "World of Sharks", see the process of pearl cultivation, get acquainted with the ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest and complete scientific research with active recreation in an amusement park.
The main land natural attraction of Eilat is the Timna Valley National Park, 30 km north of the resort. It is believed that it was on the territory of the valley that copper mines, called the mines of King Solomon, were located in ancient times. Archaeologists have discovered several thousand copper mines and rooms in the Timna Valley where metals were processed at least 1000 years before the Common Era. Historians believe that many of the events described in the biblical stories took place in this area. Visitors to the reserve are also impressed by the natural formations created under the unique symbiosis of wind and hot climate. Sculptural forms made of stone amaze with bizarre outlines, and thanks to hundreds of shades of red, the landscapes of the valley resemble those of Mars.
Shopping in the Red Sea
Despite the fact that Eilat is located on the shores of the Red Sea, the products of the Sea of the Dead are everywhere in its stores. If you want to buy mud and other cosmetic preparations of the saltiest lake on the planet, you should go to the usual shopping centers and shops in Eilat. There you will find a rich assortment, but at more pleasant prices than in souvenir shops.
Jewelery and jewelry with Eilat stones are also brought from Israeli beaches. This is how the blue-blue ornamental stone known to gemologists as chrysocolla is called in the country. In the city, you can buy an excursion to the enterprise where the Eilat stone is processed.
If desired, at the resort, you can pick up more serious jewelry made of gold with diamonds. The country has long been renowned for its cutters, and the diamond industry is a family tradition for many Israeli jewelers. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the price of diamonds in the resort's shops is somewhat overpriced and you can significantly save money by going to the Diamond Exchange in Tel Aviv for “girls' best friends”.
Delicious points on the map
Restaurants in Eilat, like other cities in Israel, most often adhere to certain rules prescribed by kashrut. That is why be prepared that at breakfast in the hotel restaurant you may not find anything meaty, if there is already milk there, and after the onset of Friday twilight, you will not be served at all due to the coming Shabbat.
When planning your dinner in Eilat, carefully study the place where you are going to go:
- The Pedro restaurant in the old part of the city has been spoiling its visitors with exquisite cuisine and attentive attitude for the last almost 20 years. The highlight of his program is goose liver with ginger and pear. If you prefer something a little more serious, order the signature 300g entrecote.
- The fish restaurant Rak dagim has only positive reviews. The institution was opened on the site of the famous "Greek fisherman", which thundered at the end of the last century throughout Israel. On the menu you will find salmon, cod, dorado and seafood cocktail.
- The best Spanish restaurant according to food critics is Olla tapas bar. Magic paella and tapas will help you to feel the atmosphere of true Spain.
- The view of the pink sunset mountains and the Gulf of Aqaba are not the only advantages of Fish Market. This restaurant serves old-fashioned fish soup and juicy steaks despite the fish name.
At the resort, you can easily find restaurants serving Italian, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese cuisine.
Festivals and Holidays
All year round, the resort hosts various cultural events, some of which have a serious international status. For example, in winter, over the past two decades, they have been equipping a concert hall on the seashore. The improvised hangar area can accommodate up to 2,000 spectators. All of them are happy to attend concerts held as part of the "Classics on the Red Sea" festival. The apotheosis of the festival of classical music is the performance of the orchestra of the Marinsky Opera and Ballet Theater under the direction of V. Gergiev.
At the end of the summer, in Eilat, you can go to the performances of famous jazz masters. The festival is called "Jazz on the Red Sea" and takes place in the city's hotels and the seaport. Night jam sessions are replaced by daytime master classes, which give world-famous stars to novice musicians.
