Ashdod is considered one of the cities in the country where there is an exceptionally high percentage of young people. More than half of its residents are aged 34 and below. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the city offers a considerable number of attractions and points of interest for young people.

The tour ahead is dedicated to families visiting Ashdod with children who are interested in a route that includes, on the one hand, as many diverse attractions as possible, but on the other hand, isn’t too long or too tiring for the little ones. The route is designed in such a way that at various points along it, you can choose whether to continue walking or reach the next point by car.

The tour begins at Pirate Park on the Me-Ami Beach,

the northern one among the city’s beaches. Upon reaching from the parking lot, you won’t want to miss the main attraction in the park – the large Pirate Ship facility, which can keep the children entertained for a long time. The area has a wide variety of playground equipment for children, including swings, slides that are 35 meters long, and a giant climbing structure made of ropes. Try to tear your children away from the playground equipment and return to the parking lot. Now you can continue in your car to the next point on the route:

Lachish Park Ashdod (PAL)

. The magnificent park, established in 1996 on the southern bank of the Lachish River as part of the river’s rehabilitation process, spans an area of approximately 650 dunams. When it was built, the emphasis was on preserving the ecological balance, so a large part of the park’s natural vegetation was left as is, while other areas were cultivated, adding shaded seating areas, beautiful botanical gardens, barbecue areas, a beautiful promenade, and large stone statues. At the end of the descent, the path forks (T junction). Turning right will lead you to the “Hay-Lachish” promenade, which you will reach later on in the route, while turning left towards the sea will take you to the next point on the route:

Dolphin and Sea Center

– The first of its kind in the Mediterranean region. The center was established in 2016 at the Naval Officers School in Ortz Ashdod by volunteers from the Mahmal”i Association (Research, Information, and Assistance Center for Young Dolphins) with the aim of serving the educational community and exposing visitors to the wonderful world of dolphins that live along the coast of Israel. Ashdod was not chosen randomly as the location for the center. Mahmal”i researchers and the University of Haifa have been monitoring dolphins in Israel for decades, and the results of numerous observations indicate the presence of dolphins in large quantities, especially off the coast of Ashdod, and especially the presence of a permanent and influential community of common dolphins, which is in danger of extinction. After finishing your visit to the center, retrace your steps and return to the parking lot. A short car ride will now take you to

Challenge Park and to the eastern part of the promenade, where the barbary sheep reside.

Upon leaving the parking lot, turn left, and at the square, take the second exit – onto Ben Gurion Street. Turn left onto Hertzel Street, and after about 800 meters, turn left onto the Karkar Road following the signs to the park and the nearby horse farm, about 100 meters from the road.

From Challenge Park, you can start a tour on the Hay-Lachish promenade,

for less than a kilometer and get impressed by the variety of wildlife transferred here from Gush Katif after the evacuation of the settlements in 2005. Walk from the Challenge Park parking lot and head left on the dirt road. For those interested in seeing the natural and uninhabited part of Lachish Park, you can walk about 400 meters along the riverbed (right on the dirt road) towards the high bridge of Hertzel Street, which crosses over it.
If you turned left, this is the time to retrace your steps, get in your car, and finish the route: