Akko not only has a long and eventful history, but also boasts numerous sights. An ideal choice for a day in the port city is the five museums ticket: it includes the most interesting sights of the city and reduces the waiting time at ticket counters to a minimum.
How does a 5 museums combined ticket day work?
An excursion with IsraelRail naturally starts at the train station in Akko. From here, you take bus 13 to the Old City, where you exchange your voucher for the official 5 museums combined ticket at the visitor center. Once you finally hold the ticket in your hands, the sightseeing can begin.
Impressive citadel
The cityscape of Akko is dominated by the impressive citadel. It towers high above the old town and the harbor and is visible from almost every place in the city. It is also the starting point for your day trip. You start with the Knights’ Halls. The impressive vaults were built more than 800 years ago by the Knights of St. John and are worth a visit from an architectural point of view alone. In addition, some interesting artefacts dating back to the time of the Templars are also on display, allowing you to immerse yourself in the everyday life of the former inhabitants.
Diverse Cultures
You will then encounter a completely different culture in the Turkish bath. Although people no longer bathe here today, the museum is no less interesting. In several exhibition rooms, the visitor is introduced to the bathing culture of the Ottomans. Here it becomes clear: The function of the hammam was not only hygiene. Rather, various social activities from trivial gossip to professional networking and political decision-making took place here.
Before we continue, we should first take care of our physical well-being. For lunch, the market in the old town of Akko, which is already a sight in itself. Here you can dive into the hustle and bustle and get an insight into Akko’s diverse cuisine at numerous small stalls. In addition, from clothing to spices to coffee, almost all goods of daily use can be purchased.
Subterranean mysteries
Now that we have discovered the old city of Akko on the surface, we then go underground. The Templar Tunnel, which was only discovered in 1994 and has been fully accessible since 2007, runs right under the old city and connects the citadel with the city’s harbor. The lovingly developed tunnel is given a mysterious atmosphere by the discreet lighting and the water flowing through it, which once again takes us back to the time of the Templars.
Back on the surface, two museums can also be visited with the 5-Sights Combiticket. Firstly, the Okashi Museum, a small but quite worth seeing art museum, in which mainly works of the modern Israeli artist Avshalom Okashi are exhibited. The other is the “Treasures within the Walls” museum, which exhibits lovingly crafted handicrafts and historical pieces of furniture from Akko’s eventful history.
Can’t get enough of Akko? Visit more sights like…
- the Ramchal Synagogue
- the Al Jazzar Mosque
- the Underground Prisoner Museum
- If your visit to the Turkish bath has whetted your appetite for oriental bathing culture, visit the Ghattas Turkish bath house at the harbor.
For example, this ticket is included in our Akko Day Tour and in our North of Israel Tour.
