When we got in contact with Raphaela we were intrigued by the request she send us – The Golan Heights. That was certainly a new hike for us and after some research we were inspired! While Raphaela spend years ‘hating’ hiking a move to Catalonia sparked a new interest and new passion for her. After having done quite a few hikes, we are extremely excited that she was willing to share her experience of the Golan Height with us.
The Golan Heights Trail is located in Israel and covers 125km through the Golan Heights. The trail starts at the highest point of Israel, Mount Hermon and leads you through a beautiful and challenging trail to the lowest freshwater lake in the world, Sea of Galilee. The trail will reward you with fantastic views, historical sites, and welcoming villages.
Now let’s dive into the interview as we can’t wait to share this with you!
To start, would you be able to tell us a bit about yourself?
I am 33 years old, originally from Germany, but I've been living in Catalonia (Spain) since a few years. Whenever it is possible, I'm out to discover new things.
How did your passion for hiking and the outdoors start?
As a child, my parents had to force me to go hiking. Small tours through the Black Forest were answered by me with complaints. I went with them, but with childlike unwillingness. It just had to be done. But this changed in my early 20s. It started slowly when I came to Catalonia. There is a path along the coast, the GR-92, which allows you to follow the coastline from the French border down to Valencia. And that's where it all started. Since then I've been running up and down the mountains. Especially here in Catalonia, there are great routes, both on the coast and in the Pyrenees. Before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, I went hiking every weekend.
How did you discover the Golan Heights Trail and what was the reason to hike this specific trail?
I was actually researching the Shvil (in English known as Israel National Trail). The Shvil connects the land of Israel from north to south with a trail more than 1000 kilometres long. While researching this trail, I came across the Golan Heights Trail (Hebrew Shvil HaGolan שביל הגולן). It is about 130 km long and can be hiked in a week. This is a great time advantage over the Shvil. From the kilometres, the difficulty and the variety, it seemed to me a suitable trail doing for fun.
The Golan Heights are not really a tourist destination and this is a real pity because it has so much to offer. It is one of those regions that everyone knows, mostly from the news and history books, and yet no one has visited personally. My interest was stimulated. I had been to Israel twice before, so the country was no stranger to me. But the Golan Heights were something special. As soon as I saw the landscape, from the high mountains to the Sea of Galilee, the decision was quickly made that this would be the trail I would do next.
The Golan Heights Trail is not even widely known in Israel. Even in the Golan Heights themselves, other travellers, from Israel itself, asked me what kind of trail I was actually hiking.
You hiked the Golan Heights Trail in Israel; what a fantastic achievement! The trail is maybe not as well known yet, and we would love to hear how your experience was on the trail?
I completed the trail in several sections. On average, I covered 16-18 kilometres a day. Yes, you could do more, but the accommodations are more or less at this distance from each other. And I just recommend enjoying the trail and also just stopping in the small towns you pass by.
The trail begins in Odem (אודם). If you are travelling without a rental car, you can take the bus from Tel Aviv to Odem (אודם/מרכז). You have to change buses in Kiryat Shmona (קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה). From there, buses go directly to Odem several times a day. The bus stop is only 200 metres from the hostel. It is recommended to spend the night before the first day in the hostel and to take a taxi to the starting point the next day. Bus and taxi will be constant companions from now on. The sections are chosen so that you either walk directly to your accommodation or to a bus stop that takes you back to your accommodation or to the next one. On two days I took a taxi back to the end point of the previous section to start again where I had left off. Other stops besides Odem are Merom Golan (מְרוֹם גּוֹלָן), Alone Habashan (אַלּוֹנֵי הַבָּשָׁן), Keshet (קשת), Bnei Yehuda (בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה) and at the end the Sea of Galilee.
The most beautiful thing about the Golan Height Trail is the diverse landscape. It is simply spectacular to walk down from the highest point in Israel to arrive at the Sea of Galilee. Everything changes within a few kilometres: The weather, the climate, the vegetation. It is simply impressive.
