12 nights from Haifa

Haifa is Israel’s third largest city. It sits on the slopes of Mount Carmel facing the Mediterranean Sea. Some call it ‘Israel’s San Francisco’.  Although traditionally a working city, there are a number of great things to do in Haifa. Be sure to cross them off your Haifa bucket list. These include the Bahai Gardens and German Colony. It also houses a number of top museums. The city is also famous across Israel for its mixed population of Jews and Arabs. Here, they peacefully coexist. The result is some amazing fusions of Arabic and Jewish cultures across the city.

Ashdod is the sixth-largest city and the largest port in Israel accounting for 60% of the country's imported goods. Ashdod is located in the Southern District of the country, on the Mediterranean coast where it is situated between Tel Aviv to the North 32 kilometres (20 miles) away, and Ashkelon to the South 20 km (12 mi) away. Jerusalem is 53 km (33 mi) to the east. The city is also an important regional industrial center.

Modern Ashdod covers the territory of two ancient twin towns, one inland and one on the coast, which were for most of their history two separate entities, connected by close ties with each other. This article deals with these historic towns, including other ancient nearby sites, and modern Ashdod.

The first documented urban settlement at Ashdod dates to the Canaanite culture of the 17th century BCE, making the city one of the oldest in the world. Ashdod is mentioned 13 times in the Bible. During its pre-1956 history the city was settled by Philistines, Israelites, Greek colonists coming in the wake of Alexander's conquests, Romans and Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks.

Modern Ashdod was established in 1956 on the sand hills near the site of the ancient town, and incorporated as a city in 1968, with a land-area of approximately 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi). Being a planned city, expansion followed a main development plan, which facilitated traffic and prevented air pollution in the residential areas, despite population growth. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Ashdod had a population of 222,883 in 2017, with an area of 47,242 dunams (47.242 km2; 18.240 sq mi).

Ashdod today is home to the largest Moroccan Jewish community in Israel, the largest Karaite Jewishcommunity in Israel, and the largest Georgian Jewish community in the world.

the chief port of Egypt; population 4,084,700 (est. 2006). Founded in 332 bc by Alexander the Great, it was a major center of Hellenistic culture, renowned for its library and for the Pharos lighthouse.

the chief port of Egypt; population 4,084,700 (est. 2006). Founded in 332 bc by Alexander the Great, it was a major center of Hellenistic culture, renowned for its library and for the Pharos lighthouse.

Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes. The city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey. Rhodes' nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land.

Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. The name of the U.S. state of Rhode Island is thought to be based on this island.

Santorini, classically Thera, and officially Thira, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast of Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 (28 sq mi) and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km2 (34.990 sq mi).Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit.

The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption(sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred about 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of metres deep. It may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km (68 mi) to the south, through a gigantic tsunami. Another popular theory holds that the Thera eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.

It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled caldera. The volcanic arc is approximately 500 km (310 mi) long and 20 to 40 km (12 to 25 mi) wide. The region first became volcanically active around 3–4 million years ago[citation needed], though volcanism on Thera began around 2 million years ago with the extrusion of dacitic lavas from vents around the Akrotiri.

Милос, самый южный остров Западных Киклад, выделяется своим вулканическим ландшафтом, а также богатыми полезными ископаемыми недрами. Милос славится своим кружевным побережьем, с более чем 75 пляжами, с кристально чистой водой ярко-голубого цвета и красочными монументальными скалами.

Благодаря вулканическому происхождению, Милос впечатляет ландшафтом и разнообразием пляжей. Здесь по соседству могут находится пляжи с белоснежными песком и заливы с галькой, окруженные белыми, красными, желтыми и даже черными скалами.

Слава острова распространилась по всему свету благодаря обнаруженной здесь в XIX в. статуе Афродиты  - шедевру, находящемуся в настоящее время в Лувре. Главный порт, Адамас, с одной из наиболее надёжных в Эгейском море естественных бухт, - живописный городок с мощёными плитами улочками, белоснежными побелёнными домиками с утопающими в цветах балкончиками и воспетыми поэтами благоухающими кустами «армирикья» (солянки). Рекомендуем здесь посетить музей металлов с богатой экспозицией полезных ископаемых острова.

Sorrento is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination due to its variety of small antique shops and location on the Amalfi Coast, it can be reached easily from Naples and Pompeii as it is at the south-eastern end of the Circumvesuviana rail line. The town is most commonly known for its small shops selling an arrangement of ceramics, lacework and marquetry (woodwork).

The Sorrentine Peninsula has views of Naples, Vesuvius and the Isle of Capri. The Amalfi Drive, connecting Sorrento and Amalfi, is a narrow road that threads along the high cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Ferries and hydrofoils connect the town to Naples, Amalfi, Positano, Capri and Ischia. Sorrento's sea cliffs and luxury hotels have attracted celebrities including Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti.

Limoncello, a digestif made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water and sugar, is produced in Sorrento. Other agricultural production includes citrus fruit, wine, nuts and olives.

Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437[1] while there were 1,570,283 permanent residents in its metropolitan area as of the 2011 census. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center, which includes an oil refinery, and its chief port, where it exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels.