The desert Negev (Hebrew: נגב), rarely too Negeb, covers practically the entire southern half Israel. The region is only very sparsely populated and impresses the visitor above all with bizarre desert panoramas; the most famous tourist destination in the region is the seaside resort Eilat at the Red sea.
Regional breakdown
The Negev roughly corresponds to the southern district of the State of Israel; it has the shape of an inverted triangle. The region covers around 60% of the national territory, but only around 10% of the population live there. While the Negev partly consists of plains in the north, it is much more varied further south; there are higher mountains there, in between valleys and deeply eroded craters.
In the east the region borders in Wadi Arawa (also Arava or Arawasenke) Jordan, in the south it touches upon Eilat the Red Sea and to the west it borders the egyptianSinai and the Gaza Strip. In the north of the Negev lies partly Israeli territory, partly Palestinian Area in West Bank. From northwest to northeast the Negev borders the Schefela, the Judean hill country, the Judean desert and to the Israeli coastline on the Dead Sea.
places
- Arad lies in the hill country on the northern edge of the Negev; from here it is not far to the Dead Sea.
- Beer Sheva (Beersheba) is the largest city in the region with around 200,000 inhabitants; it is located in the northwestern Negev.
- Dimona has around 35,000 inhabitants, which is in the area of the city Negev Nuclear Research Center
- Eilat (Elat) is the southernmost city of Israel; the port and tourist city on the Red Sea has around 50,000 inhabitants.
- The town lies in the middle of the desert Mitzpe Ramon with an impressive view of the Machtesch Ramon crater.
- Neot Smadar is a kibbutz that has become home to numerous artists, it is located in the southern Negev between Mizpe Ramon and Eilat
- The kibbutz Sde Boker is known because the house is on this kibbutz and the grave of the Israeli state founder Ben Gurion is located in Midreshet Ben Gurion to the south; the place does viticulture and some industry.
- Yeruham
Occasionally, the oasis also becomes the Negev En Gedi, the spa or bathing resort En Bokek and the rock fortress Masada counted on the west bank of the Dead Sea. However, geographically they belong to Judean desert; at Wikivoyage, the region with the named locations is therefore shown separately in the context of the article Dead Sea (Israel) treated.
Other goals
- the Nabataean cities along the Incense Road, the Incense Route belong to the world cultural heritage, are the most important Avdat, Mamshit and Shivta
- An avdat is a beautiful nature park along the Nahal Tzin between Beer Sheva and Mitzpe Ramon.
- Kfar Hanokdim is a farm with overnight stays in Bedouin tents on the road between Arad and Masada
- extraordinary geological phenomena are those called Makhteschim (plural of Makhtesh) Erosion crater in the Negev desert: Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol (Great Makhtesh) and Makhtesh katan (Little Makhtesh).
- in the southern Negev in the vicinity of Eilat can be found with the Timna Park and the Red Canyon worthwhile destinations.
background
language
Many places in the Negev have a Jewish population; Hebrew is the colloquial language here. The Bedouins, who are also native to the Negev, speak Arabic. However, many people understand and speak English - as elsewhere in Israel - so that you can usually get along well without any knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic.
getting there
By plane
Most flights from the German-speaking area lead to Ben Gurion Airport
(IATA: TLV) , some charter flights to Ramon Airport Eilat(IATA: ETM) on the Red Sea.
By train
The rail connections of the Israel Railways lead up Beer Sheva, some connections daily are on a stub line up Dimona continued. For a rail connection for the transport of people and goods to Eilat there are plans.
By bus
From Beer Sheva there are bus connections (including the Egged) through the Negev, in 3h45 is for example Eilat reached. Certain bus connections are from Metropoline operated, the website with the timetable information is currently only available in Hebrew.
In the street
In the Negev one comes from the west from the greater area Tel Aviv resp. Ashkelon over the 40, in the middle goes the 60 of Jerusalem from across the West Bank over Hebron to Beersheba (To be avoided with a rental car, as there is no insurance cover), the 90 along the Dead Sea to after Eilat.
mobility
On the main axes Beer Sheva - Eilat buses run regularly from Egged and Metropoline, the latter run more frequently, but the website with the timetable information is only in Hebrew, at Otobusim there is a list of the Metropoline courses in English. The smaller towns and the nature parks and archaeological sites can often only be reached by rental car or, if necessary, by hitchhiking.
Tourist Attractions
- 1 Tel Beersheva National Park (Close to the city Beer Sheva). Tel.: (08) 646-7286. Traces of settlement from the time of Abraham.Open: Apr-Sept 8 am-5pm, otherwise 8 am-4pm.Price: Adults 14 NIS, children 7 NIS.
- 2 Eshkol National Park, near Road 241. Tel.: (0)8-998-5110, Fax: (0)8-998-5267. Recreation area Eshkol National Park with ponds and picnic areas.Open: Summer 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in winter 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Fri 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.Price: 22/10 NIS.
- 3 Shivta National Park (Near Nitzana, Nabataean and early Christian settlement remains. Belongs to the world cultural heritage). Ruins of the Nabataean city Shivta.
- 4 Tel Arad National Park. Tel.: (07) 776-2170. Open: Apr-Sept 8 am-5pm, otherwise 8 am-4pm.Price: Adults 12 NIS, children 6 NIS.
- 5 Arad Visitors Center. Tel.: (07) 995-4409. Open: Apr - Oct 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., otherwise 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.Price: Adults 23 NIS, children 12 NIS.
- 6 Mamshit National Park (Nabataean city of Memphis, UNESCO World Heritage Site) (between Beer Sheva and Dimona). Tel.: (08) 655-6478. Ruins of the Nabataean city Mamshit.Open: Apr-Sep. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., otherwise 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.Price: Adults 22 NIS, children 9 NIS.
- 7 National Park at the tomb of David Ben Gurion (at Sde Boker). Tel.: (07) 655-5684. Open: open all year round, free entry.
- 8 En Avdat National Park (Canyon) (on the Be'er Sheva - Mitzpe Ramon road). Tel.: (07) 655-5684, Fax: (07) 655-5684. the An avdat-Park is located in Nahal Tzin.Open: Apr - Sept 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., otherwise 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.Price: Adults 23 NIS, children 12 NIS.
- 9 Avdat National Park (Remnants of a Nabatean city). Tel.: (08) 655-1511. Ruins of the Nabataean city Avdat.Open: Apr - Sept 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., otherwise 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.Price: adults 28 NIS, children 14 NIS, combined tickets with En Avdat possible.
- 10 Ramon Park Complex (at Mitzpe Ramon between Beersheba and Eilat). Tel.: (07) 658-8691, Fax: (07) 658-8620. Open: all year round from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Price: Adults 28 NIS, children 14 NIS.
- 11 Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve (on Road 90, about 35 km north of Eilat). Tel.: 972(0)8 637-3057, Fax: 972(0)8 632-6172. Outdoor area with the wild animals oryx, wild ass, ostrich; Zoo enclosure with predators: fennecs, leopards, hyenas, hall with nocturnal desert animals.Open: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Price: Adults 28 NIS, children 14 NIS.
- 12 Timna Park. Tel.: 972(0)8 6316756, Fax: (0)8 9658745, Email: [email protected]. approx. 30 km north of Eilat, archaeological site with ancient copper mines in the world, bizarre sandstone formations and a replica of the tabernacle.Open: SUN-THU, SAT 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., FRI 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.Price: about 40 NIS / person.
- Israel National Trail: The just over 1,000 kilometers long long-distance hiking trail leads about 400 kilometers from Arad to Eilat through the Negev.
activities
- Hiking in Makhtesh Ramon, around Sde Boker or in the judean desert
- Hiking in the area of Eilat, i.a. Red Canyon and Timna Park
kitchen
- You can usually eat in towns, farms and holiday apartment complexes, and the density of restaurants is very low overall.
- many places have Bedouin in addition to cattle breeding with tourism, Eating in the Bedouin tent and camel tours, a second mainstay built up. The proverbial Bedouin hospitality, where one is invited to a banquet for the joy of being able to host a guest, has given way to a more commercial variant. Nevertheless, traditional offers of tea, flatbread and humus or Tehina can be found as a contrast to commercialized offers with a Bedouin tent, which could also be in Disneyland, music from loudspeakers and Bedouin dances in the style of Club Med animators ...
nightlife
The Negev is only sparsely populated and is marked partly as a nature reserve and partly as a restricted military area ("Firing Zone"); if you are looking for nightlife, you will most likely be in Beer Sheva Find what you are looking for in the north, but as a "party metropolis", the city owes its rank to the city Eilat expired on the Red Sea.
security
- In winter it can rain heavily. Then, within a short time, the wadis are full of water, dragging away mud and debris, and driving through a flooded river bed can become a deadly danger.
climate
The Negev has an arid desert climate with hot daytime and relatively cool nighttime temperatures.
In the winter months from November to March, the conditions for hiking are most pleasant with daytime temperatures of around 18-25 ° C, the nights are cool with 7-12 ° C, there is rarely frost, the little rainfall falls exclusively in the winter months and this mostly in the region north - west of Be'er Sheva (If rain is announced, the otherwise dry wadis can suddenly carry water, which leads to the statement that more people drown in the Negev than die from heat).
In the summer months, with daytime temperatures of around 26 - 33 ° C and peaks of up to 42 ° C, it is often barely bearable hot, in the nights it reaches 20 ° C. Since the summer months between the spring and autumn festivals are practically rain-free, the water holes usually dry up and the vegetation withers. The hot hours of the day should be avoided when hiking, the need for drinking water is high.
literature
Web links
- Website from Negev Tourism, engl.
