Things to do in Netanya

Landmark · The centre, above the beach

The pedestrian plaza that is Netanya's real centre, opening onto the longest seafront promenade in Israel — a continuous cliff-top walk with the Mediterranean the whole way.

Local tip: Sit at the square at dusk and listen. In one hour you will hear Hebrew, French, Russian and Amharic in roughly equal measure, which is the fastest possible introduction to who lives here.

Nature · Along the full 13.5 km of coast

Ten beaches carrying the Blue Flag quality mark below the cliff, reached by ramps, stairs and municipal lifts down the sandstone face.

Local tip: Sironit is the busiest and best serviced; walk twenty minutes north or south and the same sand is nearly empty. Check the lift is running before you commit to a beach day with children.

Nature · Southern edge, by Ir Yamim

A protected coastal wetland and kurkar ridge where the Poleg stream meets the sea, with winter flowers and migratory birds — genuine nature at the edge of a city of 235,000.

Local tip: Go in February and March for the irises. It is the reason Ir Yamim and Ramat Poleg feel like they are somewhere rather than just newly built.

Neighborhood · North of the centre, on the sea

A Sanz Hasidic neighbourhood founded by survivors after the Second World War, built around Laniado Hospital and a diamond-polishing works, with its own beach and its own rhythm.

Local tip: Walk through on a Friday afternoon to understand how different one Netanya neighbourhood can be from the next. It has a designated separate beach; respect the posted arrangements.

Culture · Immediately south of the city, on the coast

Israel's national institute for physical education and sport — the national training base, the coaching college and the sports-science campus, in pine woods above the sea.

Local tip: The grounds and the coastal paths around it are open and pleasantly empty, which makes it the best running route in the area regardless of whether you have any business there.

Neighborhood · The southern seafront

Netanya's newest district: towers and low-rise on the coast beside the Poleg reserve, with the city's main mall and the most expensive addresses in it.

Local tip: This is where most francophone and anglophone buyers end up, which makes it comfortable and also makes it the least Israeli part of the city. Spend a week here and a week downtown before deciding which you actually want.