Israel's vacation capital offers gorgeous, unspoiled nature, from Eilat’s Edom Mountains to the Red Sea's turquoise waters. Anyone wanting to connect with nature and wake up to the city's amazing landscapes every morning can sleep outdoors – whether in a tent pitched on the beach or at a luxurious glamping site – and enjoy the best of all worlds while saving money on accommodations.
Overnighting in Eilat offers tourists from all over the world the chance to enjoy a fantastic seaside resort town with lively nightlife, bountiful restaurants, and enticing beaches, as well as easy access to both Jordan and Egypt, day trips to Petra, Aqaba, Taba, the Blue Hole, and Ras Muhammad. Many visitors choose to go on day trips to Jordan and Egypt and come back to Eilat for a night of fun, drinking and dancing till dawn. One of the best ways of connecting with the unspoiled beauty of the city is to sleep on the beach in tents or glamping tents. There are several campsites in Eilat as well as regulated beaches where tents can be pitched by day or night.
There are two areas where visitors can park caravans and pitch tents for up to seven days: the site between Lighthouse Beach and Snuba Beach on the southern shore, and the designated section of the parking area on Sun Bay Beach and Thai Beach on the northern shore. On the northern beach, tents cannot be erected directly in front of the water, only at the designated camping lots. At the designated camping areas, visitors are asked to follow the rules specified on the signs.
A number of comfortable, air-conditioned tents are available at the Madbaria accommodation complex in Nahal Shlomo, in the Eilat Mountains Nature Reserve, for those interested in glamping in Eilat. A combination of nature and comfort make the complex perfect for families, couples, groups, and anyone looking for a vacation in Eilat. The complex is located in the heart of the desert and is ideal for those seeking a quiet place to stay, away from the hustle and bustle of hotels, but still just a short drive from the city's beaches and attractions.
If you're looking to glamp, try the Colonia Resort built on a large lawn in the mountains. It has nine large, luxurious, air-conditioned tents. The resort is suitable to families, couples, groups, and anyone looking to combine comfort with nature during their Eilat holiday. The resort is located across from Coral Beach and the coral reef, the northernmost shallow water coral reef in the world. The glamping site is located near the Taba Border Crossing and many visitors cross into Egypt in the morning for day trips in the Sinai Peninsula to visit sites, such as Saint Catherine's Monastery or the famous diving sites (the Blue Hole, aka the Blue Lagoon), or in the evening for a night of fun at the luxurious casinos of Taba.
If you want some distance from the city and the beaches, try overnighting at one of the camping sites around Eilat, where you can sleep in the desert under the stars and look for shooting stars and meteor showers. Park Timna, one of Israel's most beautiful parks, has a wonderful campsite with gorgeous desert vistas – a low-cost alternative to accommodations in Eilat proper. Other sites offering camping and outdoor overnighting in the Eilat vicinity are Neot Midbar right outside the city, the overnight parking area at Wadi Mangan, and the Givat Yocheved parking area right next to Amram's pillars, as well as an abundance of sites in the mountains and desert where visitors can pitch tents for free and connect to nature.
