Haifa (חיפה) in Hebrew; Hayfa (حيفا) in Arabic

Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel above one of the eastern Mediterranean's finest natural harbours, Haifa is Israel's third city and its great port — a place with a proudly different character from both Jerusalem's religious intensity and Tel Aviv's secular hedonism. It is known throughout Israel as a model of Jewish-Arab coexistence, a working port city of pragmatic tolerance, and the world centre of the Baháʼí Faith, whose extraordinary terraced gardens cascade down the mountainside in one of the most formally beautiful landscape compositions in the Middle East. The Baháʼí World Centre and its Terraced Gardens — nineteen terraces of immaculate formal gardens descending symmetrically from the summit of Mount Carmel to the German Colony below, centred on the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb — are among the most visited and most photographed sites in Israel, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. The gardens are open to visitors of all faiths (except on Baháʼí holy days) and the view from the top terrace over the bay, the city, and the Mediterranean is extraordinary. The city divides into distinct vertical layers: the lower Hadar HaCarmel neighbourhood (the older commercial centre), the Wadi Nisnas area (a predominantly Arab neighbourhood of great charm, narrow lanes, and excellent Middle Eastern restaurants and hummus establishments), the German Colony (a neighbourhood of Templar stone houses from the 19th century, now the city's most fashionable café and restaurant precinct, centred on Ben Gurion Boulevard facing the Baháʼí Gardens), and the upper Carmel plateau with its residential suburbs, the University of Haifa, and the Carmel Forest. Haifa has a reputation as Israel's most politically and socially balanced city — Arab and Jewish residents coexist with a relative normality that attracts admiration and occasional scepticism in equal measure. The Wadi Nisnas Christmas market is one of Israel's most popular winter events, celebrated jointly by Arab Christian, Jewish, and other residents. The city's mixed population drives a genuinely diverse food scene, from excellent Arab-Israeli fusion restaurants in the German Colony to traditional Arab bakeries and falafel stands in Wadi Nisnas. The Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) and the University of Haifa give the city a strong academic and scientific character; the Technion has produced more Nobel laureates per faculty than almost any institution outside the United States. The Haifa Museum of Art, the National Maritime Museum, and the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum (documenting the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivors to British Mandatory Palestine) add cultural depth. The Carmel National Park, the Druze villages of Daliyat al-Carmel and Isfiya on the mountain, and the Crusader city of Acre (Akko) just 25 kilometres north are outstanding day trips.

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Population

500,000

Weather

Sharing the general Mediterranean character of the Israeli coast, Haifa has a hot-summer climate moderated by its unique topography: the city climbs from the bay to the summit of Mount Carmel (550 metres), creating a notable altitude gradient between the lower harbour districts and the upper Carmel neighbourhoods, where temperatures are several degrees cooler. Spring (March–May): 13–24°C (55–75°F). Warming pleasantly, with wildflowers on the Carmel slopes. The Bahai Gardens are at their most lush. A fine season. Summer (June–September): 21–31°C (70–88°F). Hot and humid in the lower city near the port; noticeably cooler on the Carmel. The sea is warm and swimmable. Evenings on the mountain terraces are pleasant. Autumn (October–November): 17–27°C (63–81°F). Often the finest season — warm, clear, and with the first rains refreshing the parched slopes. The sea remains swimmable into late October. Winter (December–February): 8–16°C (46–61°F). Mild and rainy. Snow on the Carmel summit occurs very occasionally. Generally greener and more Atlantic in character than Tel Aviv.

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