THE HEART OF THE WESTERN GALILEE

Galiloka — Culinary Tours & Cooking Workshops

Daniela and David are a couple in life and in business, home cooks and avid culinary enthusiasts from northern Israel. After many years of investigating traditional and modern cooking methods, searching for quality raw materials and local, unique cuisines in Israel and around the world, they opened a business in which they provide culinary tours in rural areas in the Galilee. Daniela and David invite those with the passion and love for local food — food rich in flavors and textures reserved mainly for local foodies — for a day of culinary experiences that has never been seen before! A day full of tastes, smells, sights, and an unforgettable experience. Galiloka offers culinary tours, workshops, private cooking classes, and group activities combining tours, workshops, and amazing dinners! All culinary experiences by appointment only.

Sweet Moments

Nohad Bisan is a cook and confectioner who hosts groups, couples, and families from all over the country in the courtyard of her home in the picturesque Druze settlement of Yanuh-Jat for unique baking workshops as well as for tasting desserts of spectacular beauty and handmade delicacies, in front of a Galilean landscape.  The hospitality at Sweet Moments includes getting to know Nohad, the story of her life and the story of the Druze community, and a tasting of traditional desserts such as knafe, Turkish baklava filled with cheese and pistachios, authentic Druze cookies, and a variety of other desserts full of color, aesthetics, and beauty, all handmade! Nohad also conducts baking workshops at her home that include making traditional cookies as well as baking workshops on the Tava. Between the months of December and April, she holds experiential baking and foraging workshops in the field, which combine foraging and preparation of traditional foods such as fatayer stuffed with spinach and za’atar, combined with spices from Druze cuisine.  Sweet Moments, the business Nohad dreamed of all her life, is a combination of her three greatest loves ― cooking, baking, and hospitality. She fulfilled her dream about 7 years ago, and the business name was chosen by one of her four daughters.

Therapeutic Styling Tours with Orna Rothbert Nitzan

When we open up to new styles and colors, there is movement. According to therapeutic styling, the garment is a deep tool for self-presence and change. Our emotional connection with the garment allows us to feel better about ourselves. Therapeutic Styling Tours in secondhand stores are intended for women only. Currently, the tours are held on a variety of routes through the Western Galilee, Haifa, Tel Aviv, and more! We start by gathering with coffee and pastry, in local cafes, and a discussion about clothes with activities of intention and cards. A visit to secondhand stores, where we experiment with different types of clothing, fabrics, and colors while examining the relationship of each of the participants with the various clothes and reconnecting with herself in a way that will allow each to choose who she wants to be through the clothes. It is possible to add to the tour, a visit to a local artisan, and also an authentic Druze lunch. Orna Rothbert Nitzan, originally from the center of the country, moved to the Galilee with her family 11 years ago and fell in love with the Galilee landscape and the diverse initiatives and entrepreneurs. Dealing over the years in the fields of culture and tourism with groups of visitors out of love for the Western Galilee and a desire to empower women and entrepreneurs in the Galilee. When she set out on her independent path, she naturally chose to focus on tours for women in the Western Galilee with an emphasis on female empowerment. Today, Orna combines the tours with her studies: training in the Satya method, styling studies at Shenkar College, and styling therapy by Dr. Tali Stolovi’s method. All of these are reflected both in the personal training she gives, in lectures, and in meetings. The group tours are a great method of female empowerment and creating a feeling of perfection with every female body through clothing items and accessories.

The Artists’ Quarter in Akko: Recommended Half-Day Trip to Old Akko

An Accessible Trip Combining Nature, Wine, Ecology & Inspiring Social Businesses

A recommendation for an accessible route throughout the Western Galilee. Suitable for all seasons and all ages!

An Accessible Route Through the Western Galilee

Start the tour with a rich breakfast at the Alto Dairy – a boutique family dairy for rural goat cheeses in Kibbutz Shomrat.

Day Trip in Akko Following Three Religions & Authentic Cuisine

Trip through Peki’in in the Western Galilee

Noalush is located between Kfar Vradim and Tarshiha. Drive on the Galilean road from Kfar Vradim in the direction of Tarshiha and turn in front of it in the direction of Kibbutz Ga’aton.  

Tour in the Druze Village of Hurfeish with a Local Guide & Authentic Meal with Safta Maha

A tour of the Druze village of Hurfeish with a local guide combined with a meal. You are invited to walk with the guide Amir Amer (Maha’s husband) through the alleys of the beautiful village of Hurfeish. The tour will emphasize the ancient core, the hysteria of the Druze village of Hurfeish. There is the option of combining a home meeting with creative Druze women, where you can hear their personal story and their dealings with the dilemmas of tradition versus progress. It is recommended to start or end the tour with an authentic traditional meal at Maha’s. Tour Duration: 2-4 hours

Safta Maha — Druze Experience

Safta Maha, from the beautiful Druze village of Hurfeish, is known for her amazing cooking skills. Several years ago, she decided to combine her two loves – cooking and hosting, and since then, Maha and her husband Amir, a tour guide by training, have hosted many groups from Israel and abroad in their home located on the edge of the village. Guests are treated to a royal (kosher) meal on a terrace facing a breathtaking panoramic view of the Galilee, and get a taste of her incredible life story. You can invite Safta Maha for a rich Druze meal or an experiential cooking workshop and meal. Maha’s signature dishes: shulbato, beef or chicken mansaf, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage, maqluba, mughribi (a stew of chickpeas with meat, pumpkin and bulgur).  

Personal Story & Tastings at the Malabi House for Groups

You are invited to hear the story of Tina, who is both a businesswoman and a single mother from Akko. The story is about female faith and empowerment. Her story will be accompanied by authentic black coffee and of course a taste of malabi. Tina says, “I am a person of creation and I realized that in order for the Malabi House to look and feel like myself I decided I would do everything with my own hands including renovating and designing. And so for a whole year right after I put the kids to sleep at night I kept working on my dream at night. Over time the Malabi House has undergone many changes, but the main message remains as it was. The main message I want to convey here to the people of the country is a message of closeness, unity, and love. If my grandmothers were successful then we all can be. I believe that at the end of the day we all came here for a short journey and would like to live well and together. Happily, I am in a place that embodies this unity. The Malabi House represents to me a place that allows for variety and diversity, the dominant color in the place is turquoise and the message is that anything is possible under the sky.” For groups of 8 and up and by prior arrangement only.

Culinary Tour in Fassuta with Rima

You are invited to a guided tour of the alleys of ancient Fassuta, accompanied by Rima Khoury. After a meeting at the Rima House, where we will hear Rima’s story, and the story of her unique path. Then we will set off on a tour of the alleys of the picturesque Christian village of Fassuta. We will enter the magnificent Greek Catholic Church (which still belongs to the papacy), the homes of the locals for warm human encounters, we will taste homemade bread from the local bakery and za’atar. We will taste special and rich cakes that are considered the “Bavaria of Europe” and also traditional cookies that were prepared especially for us and that can usually only be eaten during the Christmas period. We will visit Raida’s Roasting House, taste the roasted coffee, smell and experience the local spices, and taste Raida’s crackers. The duration of the meeting is about 3 hours by prior arrangement (cost 100 NIS).

The Rima House — Visitors Center & Workshops

Rima Khoury, is considered the “Peter Pan” of Fassuta, full of inspiration, joy for life, and giving without limits. Rima is the granddaughter of Eid Habib Khoury. After her grandfather passed away in 1983, his house, which at the time of the establishment of the state was the crowned house of Fassuta, was locked and Rima decided to bring life back to the house, through significant social and artistic endeavors with the girls and boys of the village. Being a creator herself and also an art and English teacher she saw fit to bring her worlds of knowledge and deploy them to the girls of the village and allow them to meet new worlds out of a strong desire to create social and cultural change, female empowerment, hope and horizon out of meaningful doing, discourse and giving for better tomorrow. Rima, a significant member of the village, also founded the “Women’s Club” of Fassuta that connects not only the women of the village to a common and empowering cause but also many women from the area from all religions and sectors. Beit Rima is today a cultural, tourism, and art gallery center. The house is like going back in time to discover Galilean and rural Christian culture and tradition in the Land of Israel. A place of fulfillment and empowerment under the guidance of Rima Khoury, who hosts groups from Israel and abroad. In Beit Rima, peace dialogue meetings are held between the various communities in the geopolitical area, in addition to meetings for women and female empowerment through action, conversation, and meetings of multiple workshops and classes (some of them as a contribution to the community). In the field of workshops, you will find dance, the art of traditional sewing, creation through painting, preservation of heritage and customs through objects and stories, and more! Visitors are invited to hear Rima’s personal and local story as a child living in the Mukhtar village and a daughter and wife in Fassuta. We will meet and hear from the village women about the traditional customs, culture, and local holidays While placing special emphasis on the feminine and gendered aspects and the conduct in the private and public space in an Arab Christian village in Israel, from then until today. Beit Rima was established in 2015. It began by dreaming of a place that would allow for action in a neutral space, unaffected by the opinions and meticulous spirit of the local community of Fassuta. In a sense, it was to go in a new and different current, to march without fear and without hesitation and thus bring a fresh and special breeze that speaks and discourse of art, femininity, creativity, and development – a place that allows the female voice to be heard and resonate in space.” In addition, in 2019 a new project began in Beit Rima, the “giving from the heart project”, a donation of second-hand clothes and games. Everything was donated very generously from the local community – children, women, and men. All clothing is sorted by the girls and women in the village and donated to individuals and/or centers throughout the country, where required (regardless of gender or religion) in the belief that giving should be pure and genuine that sees the other’s pain and works to improve it in every way possible.

Ghosts in Akko with Tour Guide Gaby Zohar

Join tour guide Gaby Zohar for a unique and unusual tour of the alleys of the Old City of Akko and outside the walls through figures who worked throughout the various periods in Akko. A trip with the story of Akko through the ghosts, real characters from the city’s fascinating past. During the tour we will meet the Ramban, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazer, the Crusader king Henry II, Chaim Farhi the Jewish adviser who prevented the conquest of the city by Napoleon, a French officer who participated in the failed siege, Dov Cohen, commander of the Akko prison break-in and other figures. The characters are played by a professional actor during the tour.

Nature & Culinary Experience in the Western Galilee

We will start the day with an indulgent and popular gluten-free breakfast at the Tupelo Bakery & Cafe in Tarshiha.

A Day Trip in the Mateh Asher Area

We will go north on road 70. A little after the village of Sheikh Danun, we turn left to the Yehi’am Memorial parking lot. On the site, you can hear the story and get an impression of the special monument.  

Ein Hardalit

Ein Hardalit is one of the springs that feed Nahal Kziv A large portion of the spring’s water is pumped to supply drinking water to the residents of the area, but some of it is returned to the stream channel, helping preserve its natural living environment. The area where the clear water flows has become a true paradise for hikers. It features giant plane trees that provide wide shade, fig trees that bear fruit, impressive cliffs rising above, and several wonderful, peaceful wading pools. The recommended and deepest pool is located at the point where the water bursts out of the pipe that returns it to nature, and it is worth continuing all the way to reach it This trail is an addition to the travel-guide series 365 Springs – a spring for every day Starting and ending point: Ein Hardalit parking area, near Moshav Abdon Type of visit: Suitable for small groups, families, and couples; ideal for a long outing Recommended season: Suitable year-round Distance from the car: About 200 meters to the first pools; about 1 kilometer to the pipe pool Walking time: About 5 minutes to the first pools; 15–20 minutes to the pipe pool Type of walk: A moderate walk on a wide and flat path, partly shaded and partly exposed to the sun, including crossings of shallow water streams. Return along the same path Entrance fee and hours: Free of charge and open at all hours Crowds: Busy on weekends, holidays, and school vacations. In short — take a day off. It’s worth it Trail map: Map no. 2 – Upper Galilee Special equipment: Sandals suitable for walking in water

Ein Hardalit & the Secrets of the Area

We will go up road 70 to the north and turn right to road 8911 towards Abdon. After a small bridge, we will turn right onto a dirt road that will bring us to the entrance to the reserve. Don’t be scared by a lot of cars, sometimes it just looks busy and actually inside you will find nice corners to sit in.

A Taste of Galilean Food, Wine & Magical Corners in Nature

Romantic Experience of Fine Dining & Wine