Haifa - The Town

Situated as it is on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the city is divided into three zones, one above the other. The Old City with its harbor and strip of coast forms the lower town; the central zone consists of the Hadar HaKarmel district, lying at a height of 120m/395ft, with Haifa's main shopping and commercial center; and the upper town, Central Carmel (250-300m/820-985ft), with the town's handsomest residential district and a number of exclusive hotels and restaurants. These different zones were linked in 1959 by the Carmelite underground railroad, which climbs with a gradient of 12% from the lower station in Kikar Paris (Paris Square) by way of four stations in the Hadar district to Gan Ha'em (alt. 280m/920ft), near the scenic Yefe Nof