landmark
Old Jaffa
One of the oldest port cities in the world with 4,000 years of history, now an artists' quarter with galleries, restaurants, and views of Tel Aviv's skyline.
46 km · about 55 min drive
Southern District, Israel · Asia
Ashkelon sits on the route: 10 minutes from Be'er Ganim, 46km from Old Jaffa.
Ashkelon is a city located in Southern District, Israel. With a population of 144,073, it is an important destination in Asia.
On a road trip, Ashkelon sits in Israel, where you drive on the right. It's in the Asia/Jerusalem time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Ashkelon to your route.
Ashkelon ( ASH-kə-lon; Hebrew: אשקלון, romanized: ʾAšqəlōn, IPA: [ʔaʃkeˈlon] ; Arabic: عسقلان, romanized: ʿAsqalān) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (30 mi) south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of the border with the GazaRead more
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The modern city is named after the ancient seaport of Ascalon, which was destroyed in 1270 and whose remains are on the southwestern edge of the modern metropolis. The Israeli city, first known as Migdal (Hebrew: מגדל), was founded in 1949 approximately 4 km inland from ancient Ascalon at the Palestinian town of al-Majdal (Arabic: الْمِجْدَل, romanized: al-Mijdal). Its inhabitants had been exclusively Muslims and Christians, and the area had been allocated to the Arab State in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine; on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the inhabitants numbered 10,000 and in October 1948, the city accommodated thousands more Palestinian refugees from nearby villages. The town was conquered by Israeli forces on 5 November 1948, by which time much of the Arab population had fled, leaving some 2700 inhabitants, of whom Israeli soldiers deported 500 in December 1948, and most of the rest were deported by 1950. Today, the city's population is almost entirely Israeli Jews.
Migdal, as it was called in Hebrew, was initially repopulated by Jewish immigrants and demobilized soldiers. It was subsequently renamed multiple times, first as Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon, until in 1953, the coastal neighbourhood of Afridar was incorporated, and the name Ashkelon was adopted for the combined town. By 1961, Ashkelon was ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000. In 2024 the population of Ashkelon was 166,864, making it the third-largest city in Israel's Southern District.
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Ashkelon offers many attractions including tourist sites, museums, parks, and local restaurants. Explore famous landmarks, scenic roads, and natural wonders on our interactive map and plan your visit.
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Ashkelon is located in Southern District, Israel, Asia. The coordinates are 31.6693 latitude, 34.5715 longitude.
Ashkelon has a population of approximately 144,073 people, making it a city in Israel.
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3 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
One of the oldest port cities in the world with 4,000 years of history, now an artists' quarter with galleries, restaurants, and views of Tel Aviv's skyline.
46 km · about 55 min drive
restaurant
A Jaffa hummus counter running since 1971, famous for masabacha made with whole chickpeas and extra tahini. It sells out and closes by mid-afternoon, and the queue starts well before that.
46 km · about 55 min drive
museum
Israel's official memorial to the Holocaust, with deeply moving exhibits and a striking modernist museum built into a mountainside.
58 km · about 65 min drive
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