The Negev covers about 13,000 square kilometres, more than half of Israel, and holds under a tenth of its people. Rainfall drops from 200 mm in the north to under 50 in the south. David Ben-Gurion argued that the future of the country lay in settling it, moved to a kibbutz there and is buried at Sde Boker above the Zin valley.
Makhtesh Ramon
The largest of the makhteshim, erosion craters formed when a soft core beneath a hard cap was breached by a river and washed out: 40 km long, up to 10 km wide and 500 m deep. This landform occurs in the Negev and Sinai and effectively nowhere else, which is why Hebrew supplies the international term. The town of Mitzpe Ramon sits on the rim with a visitor centre, and the crater floor can be driven, cycled or walked, with black hills of volcanic rock, a prism-shaped basalt formation and Nubian ibex that wander into town.
Dark skies
The Ramon area has some of the darkest skies accessible in the region and several observatories and desert lodges run night viewing. The absence of light and of humidity makes a real difference.
The Incense Route
Nabataean caravans carried frankincense and myrrh from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean, and four of their desert cities in the Negev — Avdat, Mamshit, Haluza and Shivta — are inscribed by UNESCO. Avdat, on a hill above the highway, has a Byzantine church, a wine press and a reconstructed Nabataean farm that shows how they trapped run-off to grow crops on 80 mm of rain a year.
Timna
Near Eilat, a valley of copper mines worked from the fifth millennium BCE and intensively by the Egyptians, with shafts, rock art and a reconstructed tabernacle. The sandstone formations, the Mushroom and Solomon Pillars, are the visual draw.
Hiking
The Israel National Trail crosses the Negev over its southern half, and the desert sections around Ein Avdat, Nahal Zin and the Ramon crater are among the best walking in the country. Water must be carried; there is none. Walk between October and April, and never in the middle of the day in summer.
Practicalities
A car is essential. Beersheba is the regional centre and is on the rail network. Flash floods after rain fill dry canyons within minutes and kill people most years; check forecasts before entering any wadi.
The Bedouin
Around 300,000 Bedouin live in the Negev, roughly a third of them in villages the state does not recognise and therefore does not connect to water, power or roads. This is a long-running legal and political dispute. Several communities run hospitality and desert tourism, and staying with one is both the most interesting way to sleep in the Negev and a direct way to support them.