Visiting Acre (Akko) in 2026: A Complete Guide to the Crusader City, Underground Tunnels, and Old City Markets

From years of guiding visitors here, acre (Akko) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Israel's northern coast, about 50 km from Nazareth and roughly 155 km from Jerusalem. The city has been continuously inhabited for over 4,000 years, appears in both the Old and New Testaments, and contains the best-preserved Crusader underground city in the world. Most Holy Land pilgrims skip it. That is a mistake they consistently regret. This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy about generic tour packages.

---

Why Akko Belongs on Your Holy Land Itinerary

As a Bethlehem-based tour guide, most pilgrimage itineraries are built around the same circuit: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee. And those sites are extraordinary. But they cover a specific slice of the Holy Land story, roughly the years of Jesus's ministry and the early church. Akko stretches that story across a much longer arc.

The Bible mentions the city twice. In Judges 1:31, Asher fails to drive out the people of Acco, making it one of the few Canaanite cities explicitly named in the Israelite settlement account. In Acts 21:7, Paul the Apostle stops at Ptolemais, the Hellenistic name for the same city, on his final journey south from Tyre to Caesarea Maritima. It is a one-verse mention, almost a footnote, but it places this port at the edge of Paul's missionary world. He walked its quays. He likely slept one night here before continuing south.

That matters to me as a guide. So many of the sites authentic pilgrims visit are sites of beginnings: where Jesus was born, where he preached, where he died. Akko is a site of passage, (actually, let me rephrase that) -- of the church already in motion. It has a different kind of weight.

Having grown up in Bethlehem, and then there are seriously the Crusaders.

The Knights Hospitaller established their headquarters in Akko after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. For over a century, Akko was the center of the Crusader world in the Holy Land. When Saladin took Jerusalem, Akko became the capital of what remained. The city fell to the Mamluks in 1291, and with it the Crusader era in the region ended. What they left underground is one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in the entire Middle East.

If you have done Galilee and the Sea of Galilee, Akko adds a completely different chapter to the northern story. The two work well together as a two-day northern Israel loop.

---

The Crusader Underground City: What You Will Actually See

This is the reason most visitors come to Akko, and it earns the trip entirely.

Here is what happened. When the Mamluks captured Akko in 1291, they did not tear the Crusader buildings down. They built on top of them. The Ottoman city that followed did the same. Layer by layer, the Crusader fortress city was buried under the accumulation of later centuries. The ground floor of the Crusader complex became a subterranean world that the city above it mostly forgot. You get the idea.

Archaeologists began excavating seriously in the late 20th century. What they found was extraordinary: the Hospitaller complex, largely intact, preserved under the weight of a living city.

Think about that.

The refectory hall is the first thing that stops people cold. It is a massive vaulted dining room, the kind of space that seats hundreds, with stone arches rising high overhead that have stood since the 12th century. It does not look like a ruin. It looks like a room someone locked eight hundred years ago and you have just been handed the key. Groups go quiet in there. I have watched it happen dozens of times. And it shows.

Beyond the refectory, the complex spreads through a series of halls, courtyards, and passageways that give you a sense of the scale at which the Hospitallers operated. These were not merely soldiers. They ran one of the most sophisticated military and medical organizations of the medieval world, with a hospital that treated pilgrims of all faiths. The compound reflects that. It is serious, structured, built for permanence. That's the difference.

And then there is the Templars' Tunnel.

In 1994, a woman in the old city noticed her bathroom drain had collapsed into a void beneath the floor. What workers found when they investigated was a 350-meter tunnel running from the Crusader compound all the way to the sea, used by the Knights Templar as a concealed supply route between their port and their fortress. It had been there, sealed and forgotten, for seven centuries. You can walk it now. It is low-ceilinged and narrow and genuinely ancient, and it ends at the water. Nothing about it feels reconstructed. Not even close.

Outside the window, a group is walking toward Manger Square. I guided a group from Canada through here last week -- complete silence the whole way in. That never gets old.

Practical note: the entrance is from Weizmann Street in the old city. Allow 90 minutes minimum; two hours is better if you are the kind of person who reads the plaques. Audio guides are available at the entrance. That matters.

---

The Old City Markets and Ottoman Quarter

Honestly, The old city of Akko is not a museum neighborhood. People live here. The market sells fish hauled in that morning. The spice sellers measure out cardamom and za'atar for customers who come every week. Big difference.

At nine in the morning, the old city smells of diesel from the fishing boats, fresh bread from the bakeries off the main lane, and something sweet and faintly smoky from the coffee stalls near the port. A guide who's been doing this 30 years would explain it better, but it is a specific smell that I associate specifically with Akko. You will not find it anywhere else in the Holy Land. That's the difference.

Khan al-Umdan, the Court of Columns, anchors the old city physically. It is a massive caravanserai built in 1784 by the Ottoman governor Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, with marble columns taken from the Roman city of Caesarea. Merchants and their animals once sheltered here. Now it is a courtyard ringed by arched galleries where you can sit and feel the layers of the place without anyone selling you anything. Big difference.

Al-Jazzar Mosque, built in 1781 by the same governor, is the largest mosque in Israel outside Jerusalem. It is an active place of worship, open to respectful visitors outside prayer times. Inside, in a special reliquary, a hair from the Prophet Muhammad is reportedly preserved. I am a Christian guide and I find this detail quietly extraordinary regardless. The souk running adjacent to the mosque is the functional beating heart of the old city. Buy something if you see something worth buying. The man selling spices near the south entrance has been there since before I started guiding. No question.

The Ottoman bathhouse, Hamam al-Basha, has been converted into a sound-and-light experience. It is worth thirty minutes. The architecture alone, the domed chambers and the light filtering through colored glass in the ceiling, justifies the entrance fee.

Think about that.

---

The Sea Walls, the Port, and Napoleon's Famous Defeat

Al-Jazzar built not only a mosque but a set of fortifications that held off one of history's most ambitious commanders. And it works.

In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte besieged Akko for 62 days. He needed the city to continue his eastern campaign. Al-Jazzar, aided by British naval forces, refused to surrender. Napoleon eventually retreated, and the siege is remembered as one of the few significant defeats of his career. A cannon bearing the marks of the siege sits near the port entrance. And it shows.

Actually, hold on -- someone just messaged asking about the route we took last week. OK, back. That's the thing about this work, it doesn't really stop.

The sea walls are still largely intact, and you can walk them. There are no guardrails in most sections. You are standing on 13th and 18th-century stonework with the Mediterranean directly below you and the rooflines of the old city behind. One of my groups from Ohio - a church group on their second Holy Land trip - were not expecting this. They had come for the underground city and were spending twenty minutes on the walls at the end of the day just looking at the water, saying almost nothing. That is what happens when a place catches you off-guard. That matters. See what I'm getting at?

The fishing port is immediately below the walls, still active. Early mornings, before most tourists arrive, the boats are coming in from overnight runs. It is exactly as it has been for centuries, minus the engine noise. That matters.

---

The Akko Prison Museum

For pilgrims interested in the broader arc of Holy Land history, the Akko Fortress Prison tells a different story.

The building was used as a prison during the British Mandate period and was the site of a dramatic mass escape in 1947. It now operates as a museum documenting that chapter of the city's story. Every single one.

This is not a site tied to biblical history, but it is tied to the history of this land in the 20th century, and many pilgrims want that context. Allow 45 minutes if you go. The fortress itself, separate from the underground Crusader complex, is worth seeing for the architecture alone -- which, come to think of it, is exactly what happened when a church group from Ohio visited last month and stood completely silent at the site for a full three minutes. And it works.

---

How to Get to Akko

From Nazareth: approximately 50 km, 50 to 55 minutes by car. This is the most natural combination for a northern itinerary. If you are doing the Nazareth circuit - Basilica of the Annunciation, the old city, Nazareth Village - Akko makes a logical second stop on the same day or the following morning.

From Jerusalem: about 155 km, 1 hour 45 minutes by car. This is a full-day commitment from Jerusalem. You can do it as a standalone day trip, or combine it with a stop at Caesarea Maritima on the drive north.

By train: Israel Railways runs direct service from Tel Aviv to Haifa, with continuing service to Akko. The full journey from Jerusalem (Ben Gurion station or Jerusalem - Yitzhak Navon) to Akko takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with the connection in Tel Aviv or Haifa. Trains run frequently. This is a practical option for independent travelers who do not have a private car.

Private tour: if you are planning a full northern Israel day from Jerusalem or Bethlehem that includes Nazareth, Capernaum, and Akko, a private vehicle makes the logistics significantly easier. You can see our [day tour](/collections/day-tours-israel)s for options built around the northern circuit.

Akko Itinerary Options

For those planning a multi-day northern itinerary that combines Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, and Mount of Beatitudes, the Nazareth tours page has options worth looking at. That matters.

---

A Note Before You Decide

I took a group of retired teachers from Minnesota to Akko on their third Holy Land trip. They had done Jerusalem twice. They knew the Old City well. They had done Galilee. Their adult daughter had insisted on adding Akko, and the rest of the group was skeptical - they did not want to spend a day at a site they had never heard much about. That's the difference.

We walked into the Crusader refectory hall. One of them, a retired history teacher who had taught medieval European history for most of his career, stopped walking. He stood in the center of that vaulted room for about two minutes without saying anything. Then he said, quietly: "I taught the Crusades for thirty years. I never understood what I was teaching until right now."

That is what Akko does when you give it the time.

Paul stopped here -- and if you've ever been to Bethlehem during pilgrimage season you know exactly what I mean, the streets are packed but theres this energy that's hard to describe. He thought it was worth 24 hours between Tyre and Caesarea. So do I. If you are building a Holy Land itinerary and wondering whether to include it, include it. Every single one.

To be honest, if you want help thinking through the logistics - whether to add it to a Galilee day or build a separate northern circuit - reach out through our contact page. This is what we do. See what I'm getting at?

Every single one.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Acre (Akko) worth visiting on a Holy Land pilgrimage?

Yes. Akko contains the best-preserved Crusader underground city in the world, a direct biblical connection through Paul's stop at Ptolemais (Acts 21:7), and one of the most authentic old city markets in northern Israel. It is not widely covered in standard pilgrimage itineraries, which is largely why most visitors have not heard much about it before arriving. If you ask me, this is what makes the Holy Land different from any other destination.

How far is Akko from Jerusalem and Nazareth?

From Nazareth, Akko is approximately 50 km and about 50-55 minutes by car. From Jerusalem, it is approximately 155 km and about 1 hour 45 minutes by car. By train from Jerusalem (via Tel Aviv and Haifa), the journey takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.

What is inside the Akko Crusader underground city?

The main complex is the Hospitaller fortress, which includes the refectory hall (a massive vaulted dining room intact since the 12th century), a series of Crusader halls and courtyards, and the Templars' Tunnel - a 350-meter underground passageway built as a concealed supply route between the fortress and the sea port. The tunnel was rediscovered in 1994.

Is there a biblical connection to Akko?

Yes. The city is mentioned in Judges 1:31 as Acco (one of the Canaanite cities Asher failed to take). In Acts 21:7, Paul the Apostle stops at Ptolemais, the Hellenistic name for the same city, on his third missionary journey between Tyre and Caesarea Maritima. Beyond the Bible, Akko's history spans Canaanite, Phoenician, Macedonian/Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman periods.

How long do you need to visit Akko?

A minimum of four hours for the Crusader complex, a market walk, and the sea walls. A full day of seven to eight hours lets you cover the Crusader city, Templars' Tunnel, Khan al-Umdan, Al-Jazzar Mosque, the bathhouse museum, the Akko Prison, and time at the port without rushing. Most visitors who try to do it in two hours leave wishing they had more time.

Can I visit Akko as a day trip from Jerusalem?

Yes, though it is a long day - plan for at least 1 hour 45 minutes each way by car.

The most practical option is to combine it with another northern stop such as Caesarea Maritima on the drive up, or to pair it with a Nazareth or Galilee visit to make the drive worthwhile. By train, the journey from Jerusalem to Akko takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with connections.

What is the best time of year to visit Akko?

October through May is the most comfortable period.

The summer months (July and August) are hot across northern Israel, and the old city lanes and underground tunnels can get crowded midday. Spring and autumn offer cooler temperatures, manageable crowds, and clear skies for the sea wall and port views. The city stays open and active year-round.

Is the Akko old city market safe and worth visiting?

I mean, yes. The market is an active commercial area used daily by residents and is safe for visitors. It is not a tourist-constructed market. The vendors are selling to locals as much as to visitors, which gives it a different quality from the more polished tourist markets in Jerusalem's Old City. Exercise normal city awareness, and go in the morning when it is most alive.