Haifa Shopping

Haifa has a lot to offer in the way of shopping. Some of the malls and shopping centers have features that are not found anywhere else in Israel. Here we list for you a few of those unique shopping places.

Talpiot Market During the Festival of Purim (Photo: Orrling, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Haifa Shuk

The Talpiot Market, or Haifa shuk, is a great place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, grains, fresh baked bread and baked goods. Prices are cheaper than in supermarkets and the produce is nice and fresh.

Herzl and Hechalutz Streets in the Hadar neighborhood have all kinds of bargains in household items, kitchenware, clothing, shoes, and more. Many of these small shops are closed Tuesday afternoons. On Fridays there is an open-air market that sells all kinds of items at bargain prices.

Grand Canyon Mall (Photo: Reuvenk, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Haifa Grand Canyon Mall

The Grand Canyon Mall on Simcha Golan Road in Neve Sha’anan lays claim to the title largest mall in Israel. With 150 stores, it has both Israeli and international chains, as well as 2,500 free parking spots. If you’re looking for a nice place to sit down and eat, Cookie Man is a kosher dairy coffee shop that offers salads, toasted cheese sandwiches, pizza and pasta. There is also the Holmes Spa, with its large, inviting swimming pool, wet and dry saunas, Jacuzzi, a separate fitness workout room for women and more. For further information call (04) 812-4545.

Haifa’s Castra Art, Recreation and Shopping Center is located at 8 Moshe Fliman Street in a building with an amazing circular architectural design. There is a beautiful blue and white fresco on the ceiling of the inner dome that depicts the sefer Mishlei (the Book of Proverbs) written by Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon). The fresco was created by the Jewish-Austrian artist Arik Brauer, who also covered the outer walls of the center with ceramic-tile wall murals depicting 24 Biblical scenes. In fact, Arik Brauer was given free rein to decorate the entire building with sculptures and paintings. The central panel showing Adam and Chava (Eve) in the Garden of Eden is the largest ceramic-tile mural in the world and is written up in the Guinness book of records. At the entrance to Castra are two ceramic-tile panels depicting Abraham raising his knife to sacrifice Isaac and Moses crossing the Red Sea.

The Castra Art Gallery is one of the largest galleries in Israel and changes exhibits every two weeks. The Castra Gallery Shop has beautiful items for sale like jewelry, glassware, ceramics and Judaica made by Israeli artisans. One can also see glass being blown and bronze being sculpted in workshops here. In fact, there is so much to see and do there that one might forget that this is also a shopping center with 80 shops, including boutiques for fashion and jewelry and shops for interior decorating. For further information call (04) 859-0001.

Haifa Mall (Photo: Zvi Roger and Haifa Municipality, CC BY 3.0)

More Haifa Malls

The Haifa Mall on 8 Moshe Fliman Street is a fairly large mall with many affordable shops. There is a bowling alley as well as a hardware store and a supermarket. There are also go-kart rides.

The Cinemall – Lev HaMifratz is located at 55 HaHistadrut Avenue, Mifratz Haifa and offers attractions for all ages. The main attraction is the huge movie theater. There are also about 85 shops, businesses and some entertainment for children. Street fairs take place here too. It is close to the train station that goes to Tel Aviv and Nahariya.

The City Center Outlet in Haifa’s German Colony is home to about 30 exclusive-type shops with good quality items. The architecture of the building resembles that of the Templar style.

Mercaz Horev is located at 15 Horev Street in the Ahuza neighborhood and has shops, a supermarket, and kosher restaurants like Pizza Hut and Burger Ranch. At 18 Horev, across the street, is Baron’s Bagel Café, which offers kosher dairy cuisine.

Haifa Shopping: Did You Know?

Haifa’s Grand Canyon Mall boasts Luna Grand, an indoor, air-conditioned amusement park for children where you can take them in any kind of weather. This is the largest amusement park in northern Israel.