Eilat City Tour
A unique blend of natural beauty, tourism, shopping, entertainment, and vibrant nightlife awaits you in the city of “eternal summer.” With 345 sunny days a year and crystal-clear waters that remain at no less than 22°C (72°F) both in winter and summer, Eilat offers ideal conditions for year-round vacations.
Located at the crossroads of four countries—Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan—Eilat holds a truly unique geographical position.
Israel2Go offers a comprehensive city tour covering the main highlights of Eilat. Traveling in a comfortable coach with a Russian-speaking guide, you will visit the city’s most notable landmarks. You will enjoy panoramic views of the mountains, luxury hotels, and the entire city, which rises like an amphitheater along the mountain slopes.
Eilat is a compact city, centered around the sea, so after this short tour, you will easily find your way around.
The tour also includes a visit to a showroom of jewelry and сувениры at a factory specializing in the processing of the unique semi-precious Eilat stone.
Timna Park Tour
Timna Park is a unique destination that leaves visitors with unforgettable impressions of desert landscapes and strikingly beautiful rock formations. The bizarre shapes of the hills—aptly named the Sphinx, the Mushroom, the Spiral Hill, and others—captivate the imagination. Time and erosion are the true “designers” behind these incredible natural sculptures. Timna Park is also known as the “King Solomon’s Mines.”
Located about 25 km north of Eilat, the park covers an area of 60 square kilometers in the heart of the Red Valley, on the edge of the Arava Desert. It was formed millions of years ago as a result of the Syrian-African Rift.
Visitors to the park can journey millions of years back into geological history and thousands of years into human history. Copper mining in Timna began as early as the 4th millennium BCE—around 6,000 years ago—making it one of the oldest known copper mining sites in the world.
It was here that an early technological revolution began, as humans started using metals in everyday life. Later, around 1500 BCE, the Egyptians established a large-scale copper mining and production center, which operated from the reign of Pharaoh Seti I to that of Ramses V. The processed copper was transported by donkeys to the only port in the Gulf of Eilat on the Red Sea.
Over a thousand years later, copper mining resumed under the Romans, and subsequently continued under Arab rule.
Today, the park attracts numerous visitors with its unusual rock formations, multicolored mountains, and abundant ancient rock carvings. Tourists explore the area on foot, horseback, bicycles, or as part of organized bus tours.
Visitors can also relax and enjoy their time by a surprising desert lake, which appears like an oasis in this almost lunar landscape.
Jeep Tour to the Hai-Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve
The Hai-Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve is a unique place where many animals live in conditions close to complete freedom. Covering an area of 16 square kilometers, the reserve is home to species that roamed the region thousands of years ago. Predators and venomous snakes are safely separated from visitors by protective barriers. In addition to daytime animals, visitors can also observe nocturnal species—such as owls, bats, and hedgehogs—in a special pavilion where moonlight conditions are artificially recreated. The reserve is located about 40 km north of Eilat.
In Hebrew, “Hai” means “living,” and is related to the word chaya (“animal”), while “Bar” means “wild” or “free.” The reserve is dedicated to the conservation and breeding of rare and endangered species.
Although the reserve is fenced, the animals roam freely within it. Many of them are mentioned in the Bible, including Ethiopian ostriches, onagers (wild donkeys), and the Arabian oryx—a white antelope sometimes associated with the biblical “unicorn.” Other inhabitants include wolves, foxes, hedgehogs, owls, bats, panthers, snakes, reptiles, and amphibians.
Visitors often describe the experience as both relaxing and invigorating—a perfect way to relieve stress and reconnect with nature.
Established in the 1970s, the reserve is explored by car along specially designed routes, allowing visitors to see the entire area. It is open during the day, and in July–August, special evening programs are offered, including feeding sessions for bats, snakes, and predators.
Hiking Route from Eilat to Mount “Shlomo” and the “Waterfalls” Wadi
Botanical Garden
At the entrance to Eilat lies a true wonder—a lush, blooming oasis in the heart of the desert. The garden was created on land that once belonged to a military base. Its pathways, designed like ancient terraces, are paved with stone, and the entire area is filled with vibrant greenery and fluttering life. Informational signs and explanatory plaques are placed along the walking routes.
Visitors to the botanical garden can admire an artificial waterfall, a small pond, and a man-made riverbed.
Several elevated viewpoints within the garden offer stunning views of the Red Sea and the Edom Mountains.
The plant life in the Eilat Botanical Garden is remarkably diverse—you can find baobab trees growing alongside fruit trees and a wide variety of herbs. A walk along the narrow paths, surrounded by flowers and trees and accompanied by the sound of flowing water, creates a true sense of paradise.
Ornithological Center
The Ornithological Center in Eilat was established by the International Birdwatching and Research Center. Eilat lies between the Arabian and Sinai Peninsulas, directly along one of the world’s major migratory routes from Europe to Africa. Twice a year, millions of birds stop here to rest. Scientists have recorded over 230 species of migratory birds in this area, and it is considered one of the places with the highest concentration of birds of prey in the world. Notably, the migration seasons coincide with the туристический сезон—from February to May and from August to October.
The Ornithological Center is divided into two parts: a scientific section, where bird ringing and research take place, and a visitor-friendly area. A scenic trail begins at the North Beach, and along the route, visitors will find wooden observation huts overlooking ponds, ideal for watching herons, cormorants, coots, swallows, lapwings, and many other species.
At the bird-ringing station, birds are identified, measured, weighed, ringed, and assessed for fat levels and feather condition before being released back into the wild through a wide window. This process is fascinating for visitors, and groups of schoolchildren, families, and tourists often gather to observe. Researchers explain their work and its importance, and sometimes visitors are even given the opportunity to release a ringed bird themselves.
Eilat is the only place in Israel—and one of the few in the world—where birds of prey, waders, and passerines are ringed simultaneously. Since 1984, when bird ringing first began here, over 170,000 birds from 278 species have been recorded and studied.