Eilat

Eilat welcomes you to the ideal resort town, summer or winter, with a year round selection of hotels, restaurants, lively entertainment venues, beach retreats, tourist attractions, as well as a rewarding TAX FREE shopping experience.

Where to Stay

Eilat offers a wide range of accommodation options to suit every budget and preference, from a luxurious five star vacation in one of the grand lavish hotels along the beach to a homely holiday in one of the small family hotels, guesthouses, rooms for rent or hostels. Designed to international standards, Eilat’s luxurious hotels are fully equipped with swimming pools, fine-dining restaurants, gyms and spas, children’s clubs and excellent entertainment, making your stay even more pleasant. Most of the large hotels have a fair selection of shops and hotel staff ready to fulfill almost every wish so that you can comfortably enjoy a real vacation. In recent years, the growing number of small hotels in the city center offer further indulging luxuries.

Eating Out

Eilat is a tourist city with dozens of restaurants offering a taste from around the globe suitable for every pocket, including Asian, Italian, Indian, French, Yemenite, Brazilian, fish, meat, hummus, and more.

Alongside gourmet restaurants with a wealth of delicacies by renowned chefs, in the city center and in the industrial area you will find hummus, grill and home-cooking restaurants offering good food and affordable dining. Popular fast food chains operate branches throughout the city while hotel fine-dining restaurants always welcome visiting diners.

Fun in the Sun

If you dream of a deep bronze tan, Eilat is where you can comfortably fulfill your dream. Sunbathing is the favorite pastime for residents and visitors alike, and the spectacular beaches are a real incentive. Every beach varies with unique characteristics allowing you to choose the one most suitable for you. There are open public beaches as well as paid beaches, and when looking for peace and quiet there are secluded spots where you can connect to nature by the blue Red Sea against the biblical landscape of the Edom mountain range.

Eilat’s shoreline runs from the east, bordering the coast of Aqaba, Jordan, along the northern coast and south to Taba, Egypt. Many hotels provide beach services for vacationers, including buffets, sun beds, sun loungers and sports facilities.

The Northern breeze and sun may sometimes be deceiving, so be sure to remember to wear sunscreen, a hat and light clothing to protect your body from sunburn. Most beaches offer parasols for rent or free of charge.

For action fans, there are plenty of attractions to enjoy by the beach with various challenging water sports on offer in Eilat. Complement your vacation with various net games, pedal boating, wild banana boat cruise, birds-eye parasailing and paragliding, sailboating, and more.

The Almog Beach, considered one of the most beautiful aquatic nature reserves in the world, offers a wonderful paid beach as well as diving equipment rental including snorkeling masks, and a fascinating scuba diving experience to explore the abundant colorful marine life.

Another wonderful paid beach, the Dolphin Reef, offers a unique attraction where you can enjoy swimming or diving with dolphins. Here, excellent beach services include restaurants, a diving club and plenty of shaded seating areas by the sea. A recently added accessible wooden pier on the water offers the opportunity to meet the dolphins up close while you sit and dip your feet in the water.

Underwater and Beyond

Eilat offers you a great opportunity to experience the wonderful world of underwater marine life. Enjoy the abundant colorful coral reefs and unique display of aquatic wildlife without getting wet, when visiting the glorious Jules Verne Marina – the mobile underwater observatory, or on glass bottom boats with exciting views to the bottom of the sea, as well as at the Underwater Observatory Park.

The Eilat Underwater Observatory Park is the largest in the Middle East offering a comprehensive display of marine species including dozens of types of local fish, vegetation and corals as well as huge sea turtles, rays and sharks. Designed as a submarine this magnificent aquarium simulates an underwater journey in the depths of the spectacular oceans of the world. There is also a fascinating exhibition of wildlife from the Amazon region in South America including snakes, venomous toads, predatory piranhas and colorful parrots.

The highlight is the three-story underwater structure that leads you six meters below sea level, where large glass windows allow you to observe a spectacular variety of local marine animals and plants in their natural habitat.

The Amazing Desert

Explore the vibrant and lively desert landscape surrounding the city of Eilat. With jeeps, ATVs, or on horsebacks and camels, you can enjoy an expedition to discover the fascinating desert life. Many tour guides offer a wide range of wonderful desert excursions including short one-hour tours as well as magical over-night trips with Bedouin-style hospitality. You can also hire mountain bikes and tour the Shlomo creek or continue to the nearby camel ranch where you can try camel riding. Birdwatchers enjoy an abundance of bird species in various habitats at the International Birding and Research Center near the Arava Border Crossing, and there are mountain hikes and rappelling for both amateur and skilled climbers. While enjoying the great outdoors you learn about desert vegetation and formation as well as the history of this region that was once a flourishing agricultural area.

At the Texas Ranch, a Wild West-style town, you can tour the pavilions, ride horses, pose for the camera and enjoy every moment.

Amram Pillars is a recommended destination for a short trip outside the city, approximately 10 kilometers north of Eilat where you will wonder at the glory of these impressive sandstone pillars designed by the water and the wind. A hike through the Red Canyon, about half an hour drive on the Ma’aleh Eilat road, reveals the stunning beauty of 600 meters of natural red sandstone. Netafim spring, at the foot of a 40-meter high waterfall, is also a recommended site to visit.

Hand in Hand

A favorite sport in Eilat is walking along the broad promenade by the coast that stretches from the south to the north. Enjoy a breath of sea air, which is often accented by scents of delicacies from the beach restaurants. In the summer, it is bustling with locals and tourists filling up the many cafes and restaurants while dozens of pavilions along the promenade offer souvenirs, sunglasses, hats, ice cream, refreshments, hot corn on the cob, and more.

Eilat by Night, a Sheer Delight

Most bars and pubs in Eilat are within a walking distance in and around the tourist area, at the new tourist center or along the promenade by prominent hotels, offering a rich variety of alcoholic beverages, delicious snacks, and hosting various performances with artists from Israel and abroad. Most entertainment establishments in the promenade area are run by hotels for the benefit of their guests while entrance fees may be required for other visitors. Nightclubs and discotheques are also centered in the tourist area, however recently the industrial area is experiencing a rejuvenation with the opening of more nightlife attractions and hot spots. With state-of-the art sound, lighting and technology, these contemporary designed clubs play the best up-to-date music.

Many beaches open a bar by night attracting those who enjoy this special atmosphere of music, dimly colored lights and the rippling waves.

WOW is the best show in town, a glamorous performance in the spirit of the great Paris and Las Vegas shows. It is indeed a wow with breathtaking acrobatics, colorful feathered dancers in sweeping dance routines, circus stunts, magic tricks, a man disappearing in a balloon and a couple who with incredible speed change dozens of costumes. WOW evening performances are held at the new Isrotel Theater at the Royal Garden Hotel and tickets are available for purchase at the theater box office and at all Isrotel hotels in Eilat.

There are two multiplexes in Eilat offering viewers the best movies on show in Israel; one located at the Mall HaYam mall by the promenade, and the other at the Red Canyon shopping center in the center of the city.

Although far away from Tel Aviv, you can find plenty of cafes here in Eilat, and the recent trend is cafe-bar-restaurants. Alongside popular chain cafes, there are quite a few amazingly delightful local establishments to enjoy light meals, homemade breads, original beverages and fine alcohol.

The Ultimate Shopping Experience

No vacation is complete without shopping and in Eilat, a free trade area, you can buy almost everything GST tax free (except for a short list of electrical appliances and cigarettes).

There are dozens of stores in the city, in hotels, in malls and along the promenade, including popular brand stores offering their goods at a much lower price than in the center of Israel. Eilat’s industrial area is also worth visiting offering attractive prices on a wide selection of jewelry, clothing, footwear and fashion accessories, household products, CDs and almost everything you fancy. The quaint and modest Eilat market operates twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, from early morning to late in the evening. The market although not large is quite pleasing with a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, fragrant spices, clothes, jewelry, decorative items, and more.

La Boulevard Eilat, the prestigious shopping pavilion at the Royal Garden Hotel, and the Queen of Sheba mall where you can find luxury fashion shoes and accessories, attract the brand fashionistas.

For more information, please visit the Eilat Municipal Tourism Corporation website www.redseaeilat.co.il and/or the Eilat Municipality website www.eilat.muni.il