As the months roll on by during the COVID lockdown, and international travel is still far down on the list for most people, so what’s someone with wanderlust to do? Slowly but surely, sites are opening back up again, and we’re trying to adhere by social distancing and safety as much as possible. In such a small country you can easily drive from the northernmost tip in Metula all the way to Eilat and the Red Sea in about 6 hours. I honestly thought I’d seen everything at this point, but I’m surprised to still be finding new places to explore.
Living in the north, it’s only a short drive away from beautiful national parks and enormous forests to explore. The Golan Heights is about 1,800 square km (~700 square miles) and spreads throughout Israel and Syria. In the center sits Mount Hermon, which is one of the tallest mountains in the country and hosts the country’s only ski resort. During the spring and summer months local farms open up to visitors for fruit and vegetable picking. Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, and nice fresh ones are hard to come by in markets unless you’re willing to shell out a bit of cash.
After coming across a Groupon for The Horse and The Cherry Farm we decided to just go have a spontaneous day in the north. It took about 2 hours or so to get to the farm (and a few mishaps from Waze not knowing how to direct us) and it was pretty empty even for a weekday, not that we were complaining.
The area is full of different farms with different varieties of fruits, depending on what was in season/stock. The one we went to had hundreds of cherry trees, as well as mulberries (which were delicious) and red raspberries (which were picked clean over the weekend). I’d never had a mulberry before, and it was pretty fun foraging the trees for the different colored berries. At first I thought they were caterpillars hanging from the trees! The darker ones were the best – a delicious mix of sweet and tart. The red ones were super juicy and sweet, and had a familiar taste that I just couldn’t put my finger on.
The farm itself was pretty nice, decent size and beautiful scenery. There were a few stands to buy snacks as well as a petting zoo with some sheep, ducks, and horses. Next door was another farm with more different types of fruits, but tons more people. We got our pick of the lot at our little farm. I’ve never had cherries so fresh before. There really is something to it picking straight from the tree.
After a couple of hours climbing trees, staining my shirt with cherry juice, eating until our bellies were about to explode, and just making a general mess, we decided to take the scenic route back home. The sheer size of these trees and gorgeous amount of green made me feel like I was back in the giant forests in the Northeastern US. There’s nothing like the smell of the fresh open air and passing through this incredible natural wonder.
Follow me on my next adventure!
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
International Itinerary 