The 7 Best Spas in Israel (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 7 picks

The best spas in Israel are built on the country's own water: the Dead Sea's mineral mud and salt at Ein Bokek, the natural hot springs at Hamat Gader and Tiberias, and the restored Ottoman hammams in Akko and Jaffa. Add the Galilee boutique hotels and the desert spas at Mitzpe Ramon. Seven, below.

1. The Dead Sea spa hotels — Ein Bokek

The country's spa capital — mineral mud, salt floats and sulphur pools.

₪₪₪₪ SplurgeBest for Couples · Families

Ein Bokek is a strip of large spa hotels on the Dead Sea shore, and the whole town exists for this: mineral treatments, black mud wraps, heated sulphur pools and direct access to the sea itself for the float.

The water is roughly ten times saltier than the ocean, which makes swimming impossible and floating effortless, and the black mud is dug from the shore and used as a full-body treatment.

It is 430 metres below sea level and the air pressure and filtered UV are part of the long-standing medical claim for the region, particularly for psoriasis and other skin conditions.

Good to know: Do not shave the day before and keep the water out of your eyes — both are genuinely painful lessons.

Google Maps Website

2. Hamat Gader — Yarmouk Valley, below the Golan

Natural hot springs used since Roman times, in a valley below the Golan.

₪₪₪ UpmarketBest for Families · Couples · Groups

Hamat Gader sits in the Yarmouk Valley near the Jordanian border and has been a bathing site since the Roman period, with the remains of the ancient baths still on the site alongside the modern thermal pools.

The water emerges naturally hot and sulphurous, and the main pools are large, outdoor and open through the winter, which is when they are best — sitting in 40°C water in cold Galilee air is the correct experience.

The site also holds an alligator farm and gardens, which makes it a genuine family day out rather than only a spa.

Good to know: Go in winter. The contrast between the cold air and the hot springs is the entire appeal.

Google Maps Website

3. Tiberias hot springs — Tiberias, Sea of Galilee

Mineral springs on the Kinneret shore, in use for two thousand years.

₪₪₪ UpmarketBest for Couples · Families

Tiberias grew up around its hot mineral springs and they are still the town's main draw, with a modern bathing complex on the lakeshore and the remains of the ancient baths preserved nearby.

The water is hot, heavily mineralised and used for both bathing and treatment, and the setting on the Sea of Galilee gives it a view that the Dead Sea resorts cannot match.

Tiberias makes a practical base for the whole Lower Galilee, so a spa day slots easily into a broader trip north.

Good to know: Combine with a lakeside evening — Tiberias is at its best on the promenade after dark.

Google Maps Website

4. The Akko and Jaffa hammams — Akko old city and Jaffa

Ottoman bathhouses, restored — the oldest spa tradition in the country.

₪₪₪ UpmarketBest for Couples · Solo · Groups

Akko's walled old city holds the Hammam al-Basha, an eighteenth-century Ottoman bathhouse restored as a heritage site, and the city and Jaffa both have hammam-style bathing available in a modern form.

The traditional sequence — steam rooms of increasing heat, a marble slab, a coarse scrub and a soap massage — is a completely different proposition from a Western spa treatment and considerably more thorough.

Akko's old city is worth a full day regardless: Crusader halls, the souk, the harbour and the sea walls.

Good to know: Check whether a given hammam is a working bathhouse or a museum — Akko has both.

Google Maps Website

5. The Galilee boutique hotel spas — Upper Galilee and Golan

Small hotels with private jacuzzis and mountain air, the domestic weekend standard.

₪₪₪₪ SplurgeBest for Couples

The Upper Galilee and Golan are full of small boutique hotels and zimmerim — the Israeli guesthouse cabin — built around private hot tubs, treatment rooms and views over the hills.

This is what Israelis actually do for a spa weekend, and it is a very different model from the big Dead Sea resorts: two people, a cabin, a jacuzzi on the deck, and a wine route outside the door.

Amirim, the vegetarian village, and the villages around Rosh Pina and the Hula Valley have the densest concentration.

Good to know: Book midweek — Israeli weekend rates in the Galilee are close to double.

Google Maps Website

6. The Mitzpe Ramon desert spas — Ramon Crater, Negev

Silence, desert air and a crater rim to look at while you do nothing.

₪₪₪₪ SplurgeBest for Couples · Solo

Mitzpe Ramon sits on the edge of the Ramon Crater, and the hotels and design-led guesthouses that have opened there in recent years built spa facilities around what the desert already offers: quiet, dark skies and enormous space.

It is the least conventional spa destination on this list. There are no mineral springs — the treatment is the environment.

Combine with crater hiking, stargazing and the surrounding Negev sites; the town is compact and has become a genuine destination.

Good to know: Avoid July and August. Winter nights are cold and clear, which is when the desert is best.

Google Maps Website

7. The Tel Aviv hotel spas — Tel Aviv beachfront

The urban option — no drive, a rooftop pool and the sea outside.

₪₪₪₪ SplurgeBest for Couples · Solo

Tel Aviv's beachfront and boutique hotels run city spas with pools, saunas, hammam-style steam rooms and full treatment menus, and most sell day passes to non-guests.

The advantage over everything else on this list is logistical: no car, no two-hour drive, and a beach and a restaurant scene outside the door when you are finished.

Rooftop pools with a Mediterranean view are the differentiator worth paying for here.

Good to know: Ask about a non-guest day pass — most beachfront hotel spas sell them and few advertise it.

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

What makes Dead Sea spa treatments different?

The water is around ten times saltier than the ocean and unusually rich in magnesium, potassium and bromide, and the black mineral mud is used as a body treatment. At 430 metres below sea level the UV spectrum is filtered differently, which is why the region has a long history in treating skin conditions.

What does a spa day cost in Israel?

Roughly ₪250–₪450 for a day pass with facilities at a hotel spa, ₪400–₪700 with a treatment included, and ₪150–₪250 for entry to the natural hot spring parks. Hotel guests usually get facility access included in the room rate.

When should I go?

Autumn through spring for the Dead Sea and the desert — summer there is genuinely extreme, regularly above 40°C. The Galilee springs are pleasant year-round and best in winter, when sitting in a 40°C pool in cold air is the whole point.

Are spas mixed or separated?

Most hotel spas are mixed. Many also run designated separated hours or days for religious guests, and some hotels operate fully separated facilities. If either matters to you, check when booking — it is a routine question here and the answer is always available.

Do spas open on Shabbat?

Hotel spas at the Dead Sea, Tiberias and Eilat generally operate through Shabbat, since the guests are already there. Treatments may be limited on Saturday at kosher hotels, and public transport to any of these places stops from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening.

What is a hammam and where do I find one?

A Turkish or Ottoman-style bathhouse — hot rooms, marble slabs and a scrub-and-soap treatment. Israel has restored historic hammams in Akko and Jaffa, some operating as spas and some as heritage sites, and several modern hammam-style spas in hotels.

1. The Dead Sea spa hotels — Ein Bokek

2. Hamat Gader — Yarmouk Valley, below the Golan

3. Tiberias hot springs — Tiberias, Sea of Galilee

4. The Akko and Jaffa hammams — Akko old city and Jaffa

5. The Galilee boutique hotel spas — Upper Galilee and Golan

6. The Mitzpe Ramon desert spas — Ramon Crater, Negev

7. The Tel Aviv hotel spas — Tel Aviv beachfront

Frequently asked questions

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