Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Bus -- Bus nos. 262 and 272 (express) and 271 (local) leave the Haifa bus station every 10 minutes, bound for Akko; the schedule is less frequent on Saturday. Bus or train fare is NIS 16 ($4/£2). Trains leave Haifa for Akko and avoid the often terrible road traffic.

By Car -- Independence Road in Haifa port runs north out of the city past a heavily industrial area. At a crossroads called the "checkpost," bear left, following the signs, over the railroad tracks, and you'll be on the northern coastal road to Akko and Nahariya.

Visitor Information

Directly across from the Jezzar Pasha Mosque is the Tourist Information Office (tel. 04/995-6707 or 1-700/708-8020; www.akko.org.il), open Sunday to Thursday from 8:30am to 5pm. Here -- or next door, at the entrance to the Subterranean Crusader City -- you can buy a large, wonderfully detailed map of the entire city of Akko, and a combined admission ticket to all sites and museums in the city may also be purchased here. Operating in conjunction with this office is the Western Galilee Tourist Society, 1 Weitzman St., Old Akko (tel. 04/981-7419; fax 04/981-7423), which distributes information on touring, local festivals, and lodging throughout the entire Western Galilee.

A note for women: Medieval Akko is fascinating, but women unaccompanied by men, even in pairs or in groups, attract a lot of attention around the labyrinthine Old City, especially after dark.

Getting Around

Coming into town by car, you can simply follow the signs for the Old City. There is a small parking lot on the left (NIS 16/$4/£2), just inside the city walls.

If you arrive from Haifa by bus, city bus nos. 1, 2, 61, 62, 63, and 65 all make stops at the entrance to the Old City. A taxi should run around NIS 20 ($5/£2.50) at most.

City Layout

Today, Akko comprises two distinct parts. There's the modern city of Akko, with about 40,000 residents, and a number of large industrial plants (including Steel City) and immigrant housing projects. Then there's the Old City, still surrounded by high, thick stone walls on all sides, situated on the tip of land jutting out into the sea, forming the protected Bay of Akko.