Where to Stay in Ashkelon, Southern District

What is Ashkelon known for?

Ashkelon is best known for its long stretch of Mediterranean coast and the ruins of ancient Ascalon, one of the oldest seaports on this shore. The past sits close here. The Ashkelon archaeological park protects the remains of that early port on the southwestern edge of the modern city, where columns and walls stand among the dunes.

Sport and the sea round out its identity, with the Ashkelon Sports Arena inland and wide public beaches running the length of the coast.

What are the main landmarks in Ashkelon?

The main landmarks in Ashkelon centre on the Ashkelon archaeological park, which protects the ruins of the ancient seaport of Ascalon on the southwestern edge of the city. Columns, walls, and gates lie among the dunes there. The park meets the Mediterranean coast directly, so the ruins and the beach share the same low shoreline.

Away from the sea the Ashkelon Sports Arena serves the modern town, and the long public beaches themselves function as the city's most-used open space.

What is the history of Ashkelon?

Ashkelon carries one of the deepest pasts on the Mediterranean coast, layered over the ancient seaport of Ascalon. The old port was among the earliest on this shore. Its harbour traded across the eastern Mediterranean for many centuries, until the town of Ascalon was destroyed in 1270 and its remains were left on what became the southwestern edge of the later city.

Those remains survive inside the Ashkelon archaeological park. The modern city grew apart. First known as Migdal, it was founded in 1949 a short distance inland from ancient Ascalon, and it expanded across the flat coastal plain of the Southern District in the decades that followed.

The archaeological park was set aside to protect the older port. The result is two settlements sharing a name: a ruined seaport among the dunes, and a modern coastal city built beside it, both facing the same Mediterranean coast.

Where is Ashkelon?

Ashkelon lies on the flat coastal plain of the Southern District, right on the Mediterranean coast. Low dunes edge the shore. The land runs almost level from the beaches inland, broken only by the shallow rise around the Ashkelon archaeological park on the southwestern edge of the city.

North of the ruins the modern grid spreads across the plain toward the road to Tel Aviv, while the open Mediterranean coast forms the city's entire western boundary.

What is the climate of Ashkelon?

Ashkelon has a warm Mediterranean climate set by the Mediterranean coast. Summers are long, hot, and dry. Steady sea breezes off the water ease the heat along the beaches and the dunes by the Ashkelon archaeological park, keeping the shore more comfortable than the plain inland.

Winters are short and mild, bringing the year's rain in a handful of wet spells before the dry warmth returns to the coast.

How do you get to Ashkelon?

Ashkelon is reached most directly by rail. The coastal railway runs south down the Mediterranean coast from Tel Aviv to a station in the city, linking it to the wider Southern District and the north. Buses cover the same corridor and reach the inland grid near the Ashkelon Sports Arena.

From the station and the main roads the flat, level streets make the archaeological park and the beaches an easy final stretch on foot or by short local bus.