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The massive walls surrounding the Old City enclose bygone eras and all the main sites to see in Akko. Our recommended walking tour will take about three hours to complete, including ample time to browse through the museums.

Enter the Old City on Rehov Ben-Ami, and, from it, Rehov Weizmann. There is a parking lot at the end of Rehov Weizmann.

The Mosque of Ahmad Jazzar, on your left, is typical of the style of the Ottomans towards the end of the 18th century.

Beautifully decorated with blue and brown murals inside, it has wall-to-wall Persian carpeting. The women's galleries are upstairs, on either side of the building. In the yard of the mosque you can see the underground water reservoir.

On leaving the Mosque compound, cross the street and enter the restored subterranean Crusader City by going through the gates of a former Turkish building. These cool and vaulted rooms were crafted by the Crusaders and used by them as their living quarters and administrative centre before and after they made Akko the capital of their Holy Kingdom.
The entrance halls are a mixture of architectural styles, with Turkish structures built on top of the Crusader bases.

Descend a few steps to another hall. The upper arches of Crusader columns that protrude from the floor show that it is about four metres above the original Crusader level.

Move to the Knights' Halls, intact for more than 700 years. This was the fortress of the Hospitallers, the Order of the Knights of St. John. One of the halls down here is used periodically for concerts and entertainment.

The ceiling of the hall next to this has a patch of concrete. This was covered up during district excavations and marks the same spot where Jews, imprisoned in the Akko Citadel by the British in 1947, tunnelled through. At that time the hall was filled with rubble. The prisoners escaped later by more daring means.

A gate situated directly opposite the entrance to the Knights' Halls leads to more halls that were known in the mediaeval period as the Grand Manoir. This was an administrative centre.

A passage descends to the lowest level of the fortress and to the famous Crypt. It was given this name because of its unusual depth. This spacious hall actually served as a dining room and ceremonial reception hall. Tradition holds that Marco Polo was received here during a stopover on his historic voyage to China. Four entry gates on three sides of the hall point to the key location of the Crypt within the fortress.

You have to lower your head now for a walk through the 65 m.-long narrow tunnel that the Crusaders used in times of emergency. It connected the fortress with the open quarters of the Knights of St. John at a place called Al-Bosta. This may have been a hospital or an assembly place for pilgrims. Its six halls feature cylindrical cross-vaulted roofs and gates that open on one side only. Near the exit you will see a display of some of the finds made by the excavators, including a 13th-century tombstone, Latin text on marble and many fragments of Crusader capitals and columns.

Follow the signposts to the Municipal Museum close by. Located in an opulent, 18th-century former Turkish bath-house, the museum contains relics of this region dating back to Canaanite times. The pillars, floor and part of the elevated seating are covered with Roman marble, brought here by Jazzar Pasha from Caesarea and Tyre.

Out in the open air again, walk back past the Great Mosque, veer right and then left and walk straight down past the shops. The grandiose stone steps leading up to the top of the walls are on the left of the Law Courts. The walls date back to Da'hr el-Omar and Jazzar Pasha, both of the 18th century. From one side you get a kaleidoscopic view of Haifa Bay, from the other you see Tel Akko (Napoleon's Hill) and the Galilee. Note the huge ammunition stores and shooting posts on one corner known as Burj el-Commandar. Return to the Law Courts and turn left. Facing you is the old, enormous city gate, strengthened with bolts.

To continue our walk, turn back and take the second turning on the left to the Khan e-Shawarda. This is a courtyard surrounded by workshops. When Akko was conquered by the Mamelukes in 1291, this was the site of a convent of Franciscan sisters. Tradition says they preferred suicide to dishonour when the city was conquered. Opposite, on your left, is Burj es-Sultan, the last of the Crusader watchtowers still standing at its original height. The ground floor is now a nightclub the building contains a guardroom and a dungeon where prisoners were confined. It was surrounded by water on three sides when it was built. The reclaimed area dates back to the Turks, when the walls were completed.

If you continue walking along the walls you will arrive at the fishing harbour. You can take a boat ride along the walls. Turn right and then left to get to the most graceful complex of buildings in Akko. This is the Khan el-Umdan (Inn of Columns). The original shape of this spacious inn has been preserved. The granite columns that surround the courtyard of the caravanserai were brought from Caesarea. The rectangular clock tower, built in 1906, soars over the Khan, and if you walk up the spiral stairs to the top you will get a breathtaking view of the spires and domes of the Old City below.

Exit from the Khan on the side opposite the clock tower and continue right along the sea wall. Abu Christo's sea food restaurant is on your left. This is a good place to stop, select a live lobster in the kitchen, and have a meal a few metres from the sea and the ruins of the Crusader port.

There is a new tourist centre at the Pisan Port.

Continue north along the sea wall, passing by craftsmen fashioning copper and other metals in their shops. The lighthouse and St. John's Church, built on Crusader foundations, are on your left. Notice the remains (under the lighthouse) of a fortress with storage space for weapons and ammunition.

Our walk leads along the western wall lining the Mediterranean. On the right are Arab houses and street scenes that are almost biblical in their simplicity.A few minutes from the lighthouse is the Citadel - Museum of Heroism that dominates the entire city. Built in 1785 by Jazzar Pasha on Crusader foundations, this fortress was used by the British Mandatory authorities as a top-security prison. Many Jews who fought for the liberation of Israel in pre-State days were imprisoned here. The mass break-out in 1947 brought the fortress international publicity.

The Citadel is now a museum to commemorate the Jewish freedom-fighters and their exploits. The most poignant scene is the death cell, where we can see the red garments worn by the condemned men. Nearby, are the original gallows, with a frayed noose and an open trap- door.

You will be led to the rooftop of the fortress. The view from here is unsurpassed anywhere in Akko. You can see as far as the border with Lebanon, south to Haifa and Mount Carmel and far into the Galilee.

From the Citadel you can either retrace your steps or cut across the city through the maze of alleys, taking in the sounds of the Orient and the squeezed bazaars that are so colourful and so uniquely Akko.

In the summer you can enjoy the lovely beaches of Akko.

Recommended: the Argaman beach, located on the road to Haifa. Akko has a song festival in April and a theatre festival in October. Return to the main road (No. 4) and turn left for Nahariyya. Pass by some squalid-looking flats, cross the railway line, and soon arrive at the ornate, wrought-iron gates of the Bahai Gardens, 3 km. north of Akko. Entry is through the second gate, a few seconds' drive north, to your right.

The founder of the Bahai faith, Bahaullah, lived and died here. His shrine is adjacent to the mansion. As with the Bahai Shrine in Haifa, this holy place is surrounded by clipped lawns, trees and gardens with Versailles-like dimensions. It is open to the public on Sun., Mon., Fri., Sat. 9 a.m. - 12 noon. Admission free. The gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Drive on for a couple of kilometres and turn right into the grounds of Kibbutz Lohamei HaGhettaot (``The Ghetto Fighters''). Founded in 1949 by survivors from the Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Poland and Lithuania, the kibbutz maintains a museum dedicated to the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance. The galleries contain many photographs that speak for themselves, and models of ghettos and concentration camps. The museum is also the repository of many paintings and sculptures by Jewish artists who languished in concentration camps. Tel. (04)9958080.

Open: Sun. - Thurs. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Fri. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. There is a buffet at the centre. Admission free. An amphitheatre adjacent to the museum looks down on the aqueduct built by Ahmad Jazzar to bring the Kabri spring waters to Akko. Drive on two kilometres and leave the main road at Regba. Passing between this moshav and the Arab village Mazra'a, four kilometres on through avocado orchards, you'll reach the kibbutz-like settlement Nes Ammim. It was founded in the 60s by Christians, who wished to develop a new relationship between Christians and the Jews of Israel, based on trust, respect and solidarity.

Europeans and Americans work together, and take part in a study programme about current events in Israel and the relations between Christians and Jews. Visitors can receive a basic explanation about Nes Ammim and can see one of the biggest rose-growing enterprises in Israel. People with more time can take part in the learning-activities of the village, which has a three star guest house.

Continue to Nahariyya, passing by the moshav shitufi and rest resort of Shavei Ziyyon (``Those who return to Zion''). Enter Nahariyya, 10 km. north of Akko, either by crossing the road and the railway line and driving through the southern suburbs, or by turning left at the traffic light on the main road ahead.