Netanya Off The Beaten Path

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The Alexander River National Park (you can see more at the National Parks Authority Site:
http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?NewNameMade=45&from=116&CNumber=336072) Right in the middle of the country was a surprise for me. I had been told that they had giant turtles there, but I had never read about it in the land of Israel. Upon arriving there we walked along the riverbank and all of a sudden a large soft and pointed head poked up out of the water only a meter away from me...those giant turtles had just PROVED their existence. It is easy to get there, the reserve is just off the main Tel-Aviv to Haifa highway, #2 and it runs from the old #4 highway all the way to the ocean a few kilometers away. Well worth the visit.

Its not an easy thing to find a spot where you will have a good general view of Netanya. I cant belive that you will be allowed to enter one of the highrise buildings without a special permission.
The best spot i found until now is at Havatzelet interchnge that is a few km. from Netanya and you can find there a really beautiful view of the city.

if you get to north of netanya (near my house) till u in avichail (its a small town next to netanya) u keep driving west till u get to a stop sign - make a right turn and keep on driving (ull pass blue bay hotel) and then ull see the sea on ur left -really amazing view - u can also park there and go down to the beach - its not really for a swim there (lot of cliffs and stones) but a great walk on the beach - at sunset its amazing there

If you are going for small trips in the nature then you can search for some small animals that are very commontry to catch them because then they will run away.
Near Netanya you can find a lot of dunes and open spaces.

A charming small pedestrian mall, situated at a little turn from Hetzel str. there are botiques and cafes. There is always some shadow so you can sit down and relax a bit.
The place is very colurful and decorated all the times in original ways.
The city hall also situated there.

This picture was taken from the Liberty Squar to the direction of Hertzel pedestrian mall. If you look in the middle of the pictureyou can see a fountain, its a huge one, very beautifuhen it works and it makes the area look in a great harmony. The problam is that it dosnt work already a few years now and nobody cares. The truth is that the last time that i remember it worked was when the cities football team went up from the second to the first league before a 4-5 years...