Things to Do in Safed (Tzfat), Israel

Start early in the Jewish Quarter, when the alleys are still empty. The Ari Ashkenazi synagogue, the Ari Sephardi synagogue and the sixteenth-century Abuhav synagogue are all active houses of prayer and all within a few minutes' walk of each other.

Continue through the blue alleys — the colour is traditionally associated with the heavens and with warding off the evil eye — and into the Artists' Quarter, where local painters, glassblowers and Judaica makers keep open studios.

Finish at one of the viewpoints above the quarter for the panorama toward Meron. The whole loop is comfortable in half a day, less if you skip the galleries.

The ancient cemetery, on the slope below the Jewish Quarter, holds the graves of the great kabbalists: the Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria), Rabbi Yosef Karo who compiled the Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero and Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the Shabbat hymn Lecha Dodi.

A short drive away, Meron holds the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the focus of the enormous Lag BaOmer pilgrimage each spring. Nearby Amuka and Biriya add further sites for those following a pilgrimage route.

The Citadel park at the top of the hill preserves traces of the Crusader fortress and offers the widest view in town.

Mount Meron and its nature reserve offer well-marked trails and the highest accessible viewpoints in the Galilee. Nahal Amud and Nahal Dishon provide shorter stream walks close to town, best in winter and spring when the water runs.

Further afield but still an easy day trip: the Hula Valley bird sanctuary, the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias, and the wineries and olive presses of the Upper Galilee.

Safed sits at roughly 900 metres, so it is noticeably cooler than Tel Aviv — bring a layer even in summer, and proper warm clothing in winter.

Everything closes for Shabbat, from Friday afternoon until Saturday night. Buy food beforehand, or stay somewhere with a kitchen.

Because the lanes are narrow and steep, park once and walk. Staying inside the Old City — as our two suites are — removes the daily parking problem entirely.