Metzukei Dragot

Dead Sea


Perched on a cliff about 600m above the Dead Sea – the views are truly spectacular – this no-frills, hippyish holiday village hosts festivals, cultural events and New Agey conferences. The 53 simple, clean rooms have been recently renovated, and there are hundreds of sleeping spots in large Bedouin-style tents.

Sleeping in a hut with shared bathroom facilities costs 100NIS per person (70NIS for a child). You can pitch your own tent for 60NIS per person (85NIS including an excellent Israeli breakfast); sleeping bags can be rented for 25NIS. If you want to cook, bring along your own food. Buffet dinners are available for 60/50NIS for an adult/child (80/50NIS on Friday). If you'll be arriving after 8pm, you have to coordinate – and pay – ahead.

Metzukei Dragot is 18km north of Ein Gedi. It's a steep 5.5km drive up the hill from the army roadblock on Rte 90.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Dead Sea attractions

1. Wadi David

8.44 MILES

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve’s most accessible – and popular – pools and waterfalls are situated along Lower Wadi David (Nahal David Tachton), ie the area…

2. Ein Gedi Nature Reserve

8.54 MILES

This reserve consists of two roughly parallel canyons, Wadi David and Wadi Arugot, each of which has its own entrance complex and ticket office. It is…

3. Mar Saba Monastery

8.7 MILES

A must-see on any journey through the Holy Land is Mar Saba Monastery, a bleak and beautiful 20km drive east of Bethlehem (beyond Beit Sahour).

4. Ancient Synagogue

8.88 MILES

Situated about midway between the Wadi David and Wadi Arugot ticket offices, this 5th-century-CE synagogue sports a superb mosaic floor decorated with the…

5. Wadi Arugot

9.3 MILES

Generally less crowded but no less lovely than Wadi David, Wadi Arugot has a couple of streamside trails, rich in vegetation, that afford hikers an…

6. Ein Feshkha

9.37 MILES

Fed by crystal-clear springs, this lush oasis stretches for 6.5km along the base of the escarpment that forms the western edge of the Dead Sea valley…

7. Ein Gedi Botanical Garden

9.63 MILES

These famous botanic gardens, near the entrance to the kibbutz, are home to about a thousand species of indigenous and exotic plants, from near…

8. Herodium

10.32 MILES

King Herod’s spectacular fortress-palace, Herodium, built between 23 and 15 BCE, was known through the centuries to Arab inhabitants as the Mountain of…