Haifa and Akko: gardens on the mountain, a city under the city

Two cities on the same bay, half an hour apart, and almost nothing alike.

Haifa climbs the slopes of Mount Carmel with the Mediterranean spread out below it, and it is one of the most mixed cities in the country — Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze neighbours living on the same hillside, with the world centre of the Baháʼí faith terraced into the mountain above them. The Shrine of the Báb and its nineteen terraces are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and from the top the view runs the whole length of the bay to Akko. Further down is the cave where tradition places the prophet Elijah, venerated by Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze alike. Below that lies the German Colony, laid out by nineteenth-century Templer settlers from Württemberg and now a street of restaurants pointing straight up at the gardens.

Akko is older, and stranger. It was the Crusader capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and when the Mamluks took it in 1291 they left it in ruins. Five centuries later the Ottomans rebuilt on top of the rubble — which is why the Crusader city is still down there, and you descend into it: the Hospitaller halls, the Templars' tunnel running under the streets to the old harbour. At ground level it is an Ottoman town, with al-Jazzar's mosque, a Turkish bath, and sea walls that turned Napoleon back in 1799. The market is still a working market rather than a tourist one. The whole Old City has been on the UNESCO list since 2001.

What we will see

• The Baha'i Gardens — Nineteen terraced gardens on the slope of Mount Carmel, UNESCO listed.
• Cave of the prophet Elijah — A pilgrimage site for Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze alike.
• The Crusader tunnels of Acre — Knights' halls and tunnels beneath today's streets, UNESCO listed.
• Al-Jazzar Mosque — The most important Ottoman mosque in Israel, built with stone taken from Caesarea.
• The Arab bazaar in Acre — Fish straight off the boat, hummus and knafeh. This is not a tourist trap.