Any tips for visiting Israel

Take a helmet. Be careful. I have a family member that visited recently. Loved it. Hated the food.

I went in April for 10 days with a tour group. If you are doing the same just pack accordingly for the weather. I took a small back pack for carrying water, snacks and pack-able panchos. There was hardly any down time, days are pretty full. Enjoy the sites.

Do not engage the street vendors, they are very good at what they do. I had no problem telling them to get out of my face but that one time they got my bleeding heart wife's sympathies involved, cost me a bit of cash for some junk

I really enjoyed myself, the things I saw were amazing but have no intention of going back, nothing there except the ruins and historical sites. The country is kind of a shit hole

As ORC said above, food is not great, I could only eat so much hummus,yogurt and eggplant

Oh yeah, I have never used compression socks before but they came in very handy on that loooong flight over

Darn I envy you!!!
Israel is the only place that would like to visit while I'm still able to travel.
I've been in Europe, Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and somehow I seem to missed Israel, Egypt, and South America.
Enjoy your trip.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

I went in April for 10 days with a tour group...

Can you share the name of the group? If so, did they do a good job?

Here's one we're thinking about:

https://www.tauck.com/tours/is...jordan-escorted-tour

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
The country is kind of a shit hole

A rather strong statement.. Will you elaborate as to why you phrase it the way you are.

quote:

The country is kind of a shit hole

As ORC said above, food is not great, I could only eat so much hummus,yogurt and eggplant

Both the fault of your tour group then. Shitholes can be found in any country, but from my experience, Israel is different from America, but far from a shithole.

Israel is a fascinating and dynamic place. Not all locations cater to tourists.

You may be eyed with suspicion when in certain locales and in certain company. It's a place of stark contrast: warm people individually who collectively make up one of the most paranoid societies I've ever been in. But, when the world tries to exterminate you a couple times, you tend to pick up a few odd habits, to say the least.

As far as food, it's not just hummus and pita bread, but if you don't like Mediterranean food as a genre, you aren't likely to find much outside of that. I had, oddly, some very good eggs benedict with real bacon in Tel Aviv. Israel doesn't have a lot of open range land, so livestock which becomes meat is at a premium (especially beef, which is so resource intensive). Lamb and chicken dishes are fairly common.

Yad Lashiryon was very cool (IDF armor museum). I wish I had more time to spend and definitely wish I had not gone on shabbat, but that was a timing piece I could not change. I wound up talking with an IDF colonel there. We had a brief, but enlightening conversation about the Merkava.

You asked for tips, tell us what you like to do and maybe we can be more specific.

I would definitely second the tip about carrying some water with you. And also, some sanitary napkins for cleaning your hands (lots of finger foods, sometimes not so many restrooms).

Sigmund---you can't go wrong with Tauck tours---they are the best. Wife and I have taken a number of them including Australia, Hawaii, Alaska, and quite a few of them in the good old USA. They are a little more expensive but you are in the best hotels and you get to pick your meal from whatever restaurant you are in, "no eat what they give you" They are one of the oldest outfits around. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

I went in April for 10 days with a tour group...

Can you share the name of the group? If so, did they do a good job?

Here's one we're thinking about:

https://www.tauck.com/tours/is...jordan-escorted-tour

We went with EO, no complaints. The hotels were pretty nice, buses were newer and clean and the tour guide was knowledgeable and fun.


http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/holy-land#eotours


My shithole comment may have been a little strong. A lot of garbage everywhere in the cities was my main turn off

Highly recommend https://www.gate1travel.com/mediterranean/israel

The best tour guide in Israel Simon Beni

We took our youngest son for his bar mitzvah and a 2 week visit spent touring. We loved it. We felt completely safe and had a great experience.

Take care choosing a tour group as that will impact what you see. As an example we were with a Jewish group and thus couldn’t see Bethlehem, the Temple Mount, etc. the Christian groups go to those places. There is some overlap. Finding a group that visits everything would be ideal.

Jerusalem is amazing. When you see how small the area is, and the division of who owns what, you can understand why this small patch of land has caused and continues to cause so much strife and violence.

In the old city, definitely go to the Arab quarter. You will be stunned as to how different it is.

We thought the food was amazing. The beaches are amazing. Tel Aviv is a young, vibrant place with great restaurants, bars and clubs.

Israelis grow up under the constant threat of war and terror. As a result they seem to live life large without inhibition. Young and single is a great thing to be in Israel.

We can’t wait to go back.

My son went to Israel on Birthright and extended, back in May. It changed his life, he changed the focus of his major from financial management planning to international finance, he fell in love with a gorgeous IDF solider, and he's planning on studying at U. Tel Aviv in the spring.

It is a wonderful place and I have 3 nieces who live there, along with my SIL and BIL. I visited with my wife and kids in 2006. We plan on visiting our son in Spring 2020.

I do not care for the food much, but my wife, who spent her Junior year in Israel back in the day, loved the food and still does.

8 days from today my wife and I will be on an El Al plane from JFK to Tel Aviv. We’ll spend 10 days in Israel. The tour company is Madison Travel, but the tour leaders are close friends, a pastor and his wife who were fellow Tea Partners in Maui with us. Wife has lived in Israel, both have led tours many times. The group will be just 12 including the leaders.
We’ve been watching every good historical documentary and travel video we can find on Prime Video; and I just finished “Angels in the Sky”, a history of the origin of the Israeli Air Force.
Compared with most travel outside of Europe it should be a breeze logistically, with safe water and food, excellent health care if needed, no long hikes...we are very excited about it.
One place I wish we were going is Beersheba, the IAF museum is at an air base near there.

quote:

Originally posted by Batty67:
My son went to Israel on Birthright and extended, back in May. It changed his life, he changed the focus of his major from financial management planning to international finance, he fell in love with a gorgeous IDF solider, and he's planning on studying at U. Tel Aviv in the spring.

It is a wonderful place and I have 3 nieces who live there, along with my SIL and BIL. I visited with my wife and kids in 2006. We plan on visiting our son in Spring 2020.

I do not care for the food much, but my wife, who spent her Junior year in Israel back in the day, loved the food and still does.

Mozel tov! What a blessing.

I wish that I had been able to go. I'm too old for that kind of travel, now.

Never too late V. You can easily be accommodated. They are use to it.

If interested I can set you up with a good friend of mine that could do a tour for you and your wife. He's been doing it for 25 years... an educator, guide and a great guy.

I’m somewhat concerned because I keep reading about potential escalation of engagements between the IDF and Hezbollah. Elections are September 17 during our trip.