The Salt and Pepper Museum and other attractions in Hadera
The Salt & Pepper Museum in Hadera is a charming attraction that showcases an extensive collection of salt and pepper shakers from around the world. Housing over 37,000 pairs of shakers, it is one of the largest collections globally. Drawing factors of the museum are how it was founded by Eitan Bar-On, and that its profits are used to fund higher education scholarships for soldiers, providing 80 scholarships annually, and supporting Gila Almagor’s Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to sick children. Additionally, Bar-On organizes annual four-day holidays for 50 children accompanied by their parents and medical staff. Other attractions in Hadera are the Kahn Museum and Hadera River Park.
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Directions: Enter “Salt and pepper museum Hadera” into Waze and click on ”מוזיאון המלך-פלפל חדרה.”
Admission: Visits are by appointment only. Hours are Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the museum is closed on Sunday. There is a large area with shaded picnic benches. There is an admission charge. The museum sells duplicate or damaged shakers, with proceeds supporting its charitable initiatives. The phone number is 050-684-9989.
Public transport: Enter “מוזיאון פלפל מלך “ into Moovit. It is about a 600-meter/19-minute walk from the nearest bus stop.
The Salt and Pepper Museum is located in the backyard of Eitan Bar-On's home and four rooms with floor-to-ceiling shelving are filled with shakers of various shapes, sizes, and themes. Visitors can also enjoy a guided tour that delves into the stories behind the collection and its creator.
The story of the museum began in 2014 when a friend gifted Eitan Bar-On, a retired Israeli lieutenant colonel, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, a monkey-shaped salt and pepper shaker, and this sparked a passion that would eventually lead to an extensive collection. Following complications from gastric bypass surgery, from which Bar On was in a coma for over four months and from which doctors predicted he would not awaken, people began bringing him salt and pepper shakers during his two years of rehabilitation. He also suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed on his left side. His therapy was picking up salt and pepper shakers, and painstakingly arranging them on the shelves, and this hands-on therapy contributed significantly to his recovery.
Over time, friends and visitors contributed to his growing assortment, which now includes over 92,000 shakers, with 27,000 displayed in the Hadera museum and the remainder in Larnaca, Cyprus, where Bar-On resides part-time. The shakers are made from various materials and depict a wide array of themes, from animals and celebrities to everyday objects. His oldest shaker dates to 1703.
Nearby places of interest
The Khan Museum of Hadera
Not far from the Salt and Pepper Museum is the Khan Museum of Hadera situated at the first site of settlement in the city, the Khan (Inn), in the remains of the original building, and which documents the history of Hadera from 1891 until the 1960s. The structure and surrounding lands were bought by The Hovevei Tzion Settlers’ Association.
The museum houses artifacts and scenes of settlers contending with swamps, malaria, the Ottomans, the British, and the changing mosaic of Israeli society, as immigrants went from being religious during the first Aliyah to secular Zionists in the second. A mural documents Hadera’s three stages of settlement. The settlers wished to remain independent and, unlike other groups refused help from Baron de Rothschild until much later. There are also outside exhibits of agricultural tools of that era. The museum can be toured in about an hour and comes with an English brochure to guide you through it.
The museum is located beside the Great Synagogue, which was built during the 1930s, inaugurated in 1941, and is still in use. It has a distinctive watch tower because of the Arab riots during the time it was built.
Directions: Enter “Kahn Hadera” and click on “מוזיאון ״החאן״ חדרה “.
Admission: Hours are 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday. Admission is 30 NIS for adults, 25 NIS for seniors and 20 NIS for students. Their phone numbers are 04 632-2330 and 04 632-4562. Click here for their Hebrew website:
Public transport: Enter “מוזיאון החאן” into Moovit for a close bus stop.
Hadera River Park
Hadera River Park is a scenic urban nature reserve located between Givat Olga and the Orot Rabin Power Station in Hadera. The park spans approximately 0.75 square kilometers and features a 1.3-kilometer-long promenade along the Hadera Stream or nahal, offering visitors green lawns, footpaths, bicycle trails, picnic areas, and a bridge over the stream. The nahal is manmade and contains salt water that has been recycled by the adjacent Orot Rabin Power Station. Its turbines are cooled with sea water which is then released back into the stream, maintaining a consistent flow and temperature year-round.
From November to March, the warm waters near the power station attract sharks, including blue sharks, sandbar sharks and thresher sharks that come from Gibraltar. They come very close to the coast to be near the warm water, which is 10 degrees warmer than the sea water They can be observed from the safety of the promenade. While shark sightings are a highlight, swimming in the area can be dangerous. In April 2025, a rare shark attack occurred near the park, leading to the temporary closure of the beach and advisories against entering the water.
Links to the best family activities, hikes and historic sites in the GOLAN, EASTERN GALILEE, UPPER GALILEE, LOWER GALILEE, JORDAN VALLEY & LAKE KINNERET, the SHEFELAH, TEL AVIV-YAFFO and surroundings, NORTH of TEL AVIV, and SOUTH of TEL AVIV.