I'm so excited I can't contain myself!!!!!!!

[Abbeygurl4]

My sister and I are going to Israel!!!!!! She's always wanted to go so we are!! What are must-not-miss things we should see and do???? There is so much to choose from and I don't want to miss out. We were thinking of staying in either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I just can't believe it.

[Hannah]

:party:

[Catwoman]

:party:

 

How exciting!!!!!!! :hurray:

[gardenmom5]

Have a wonderful time.

[nd293]

Lucky, lucky you! I lived for a few months in the Golan Heights, and it is a beautiful area. With Tiberius as your base you could see the Sea of Galilee and take a day trip tour of the north. If you go to Haifa, visit the Bahai temple and gardens. I liked Akko a lot. From Jerusalem, you should also go to the Dead Sea and Masada. Personally, if I was travelling without children I'd move around, rather than stay in one place - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Tiberius, perhaps. Try to stay in a kibbutz guesthouse and take a tour of a kibbutz.

[Mom in High Heels]

We were in Israel this past Oct, but only for 2 days. We went to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was lovely and the people were so nice! Enjoy your trip!

[SarahW]

I agree that you should go up to the Galilee area, or, as the local call it, Kinnerat. Very pretty and very safe.

 

Tel Aviv, imo, is an overpriced knockoff of a cheap European city. I mean, if your idea of vacation is spending the day at the beach and the night at a nightclub, Tel Aviv is fine. But there are better, and less expensive, places to do that sort of thing in the world.

 

In the Galilee area you could visit a kibbutz. They're everywhere, but the one's up there are generally more open to tourists.

 

The Golan heights is very nice, but a bit rural. Dan is amazing.

 

If you are hitting a lot of the national parks there is a pass you can buy that gets you admission to all of them.

 

For Jerusalem - you can stay on the West side in a (Jewish-run) hotel, or you can grab a reputable hostel in the Armenian or Christian Quarter in the Old City. The Lutheran one is very nice and very safe. Much more authentic, if that's your thing.

 

If you do much around the Old City, like go down to the Wailing Wall or go to any of the Christian sites in the area, make sure you pack a "modesty kit." This mean shoulders and knees covered. It's best if your shirt reaches your elbows and you wear full length khaki pants. Skirts aren't terribly necessary, but they are appreciated. I knew some girls who liked to stuff a "sarong" type wrap or quick pull-on skirt in their backpack for situations where they felt they needed more.

 

If you are going on your own, be aware that some sites require you to have a certified tour guide with you.

 

The inter-city buses are safe and reliable. But they aren't really set up to hit the tourist routes. Renting a car is a fine alternative. Most road signs are in English.

 

Getting to Bethlehem can be tricky, depending on what's happening at the time you're there. The Christian Information Center (http://www.cicts.org/) right inside Jaffa gate should be able to give up-to-date instructions on how to go.

 

The Dead Sea should be on everyone's bucket list. It'll be gone in a century.

 

If you really want to see the Red Sea you can go down to Eilat. But there's not much to do there but party, so if that's not your thing I wouldn't spend the time trying to get down there.

[Abbeygurl4]

Lucky, lucky you! I lived for a few months in the Golan Heights, and it is a beautiful area. With Tiberius as your base you could see the Sea of Galilee and take a day trip tour of the north. If you go to Haifa, visit the Bahai temple and gardens. I liked Akko a lot. From Jerusalem, you should also go to the Dead Sea and Masada. Personally, if I was travelling without children I'd move around, rather than stay in one place - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Tiberius, perhaps. Try to stay in a kibbutz guesthouse and take a tour of a kibbutz.

 

 

Thanks for the advice. You are so lucky to have lived there for a time! It will just be my sister and myself, no kids. She is paying for me because there is no way I can afford to travel.

 

We will be there for about 5 days and I was thinking of staying in Jerusalem. I don't really know much about Israel and I want to pack as much into these 5 days as I can. Is Tiberius closer to more things?

[Abbeygurl4]

I agree that you should go up to the Galilee area, or, as the local call it, Kinnerat. Very pretty and very safe.

 

Tel Aviv, imo, is an overpriced knockoff of a cheap European city. I mean, if your idea of vacation is spending the day at the beach and the night at a nightclub, Tel Aviv is fine. But there are better, and less expensive, places to do that sort of thing in the world.

 

In the Galilee area you could visit a kibbutz. They're everywhere, but the one's up there are generally more open to tourists.

 

The Golan heights is very nice, but a bit rural. Dan is amazing.

 

If you are hitting a lot of the national parks there is a pass you can buy that gets you admission to all of them.

 

For Jerusalem - you can stay on the West side in a (Jewish-run) hotel, or you can grab a reputable hostel in the Armenian or Christian Quarter in the Old City. The Lutheran one is very nice and very safe. Much more authentic, if that's your thing.

 

If you do much around the Old City, like go down to the Wailing Wall or go to any of the Christian sites in the area, make sure you pack a "modesty kit." This mean shoulders and knees covered. It's best if your shirt reaches your elbows and you wear full length khaki pants. Skirts aren't terribly necessary, but they are appreciated. I knew some girls who liked to stuff a "sarong" type wrap or quick pull-on skirt in their backpack for situations where they felt they needed more.

 

If you are going on your own, be aware that some sites require you to have a certified tour guide with you.

 

The inter-city buses are safe and reliable. But they aren't really set up to hit the tourist routes. Renting a car is a fine alternative. Most road signs are in English.

 

Getting to Bethlehem can be tricky, depending on what's happening at the time you're there. The Christian Information Center (http://www.cicts.org/) right inside Jaffa gate should be able to give up-to-date instructions on how to go.

 

The Dead Sea should be on everyone's bucket list. It'll be gone in a century.

 

If you really want to see the Red Sea you can go down to Eilat. But there's not much to do there but party, so if that's not your thing I wouldn't spend the time trying to get down there.

 

 

Wow! Thanks for all the info!

Nothing about the trip is set in stone yet. It's just my sister and me and we will be there about 5 days so I want to pack in as much as possible. I love ALL foreign countries and their cultures so I want to experience as much as I can. Food, music, sights, museums, etc . The Dead Sea is at the top of my list for sure.

 

I was thinking of staying somewhere that was central to the sights we want to see. I don't know what those sights are yet since we just decided to go last night. (-;

 

I would stay anywhere as long as it's safe and fairly bug free. My sister, who is paying for everything, likes top end hotels. However, she will try anything I want her to, so that's why I'm doing the planning.

 

I am open to ALL suggestions so please give me all ya got!

 

I just can't believe that I'm going to be walking on the same ground as David and Solomon and Herod and Jesus! It's mind boggling to me!

[Dandelion]

Have fun planning and enjoy your trip! :)

[SarahW]

Wow! Thanks for all the info!

Nothing about the trip is set in stone yet. It's just my sister and me and we will be there about 5 days so I want to pack in as much as possible. I love ALL foreign countries and their cultures so I want to experience as much as I can. Food, music, sights, museums, etc . The Dead Sea is at the top of my list for sure.

 

I was thinking of staying somewhere that was central to the sights we want to see. I don't know what those sights are yet since we just decided to go last night. (-;

 

I would stay anywhere as long as it's safe and fairly bug free. My sister, who is paying for everything, likes top end hotels. However, she will try anything I want her to, so that's why I'm doing the planning.

 

I am open to ALL suggestions so please give me all ya got!

 

I just can't believe that I'm going to be walking on the same ground as David and Solomon and Herod and Jesus! It's mind boggling to me!

 

 

 

5 days. Okay.

 

My suggestion is to rent a car in Tel Aviv and then drive to Tiberius. It's a moderate size city and has a good mix of modern hotels and little B&B type places and good restaurants. From there you can skip over to Capernaum (good reconstructed Synagogue and St. Peter's House). There are a lot of kibbutz's in that area, too. You can also drive up to Nazareth, which in the downtown area is a good representative of a what a "good" Arab town is like (the population is 100% ethnically Palestinian, but they are technically Israeli Arabs). The Church of the Annunciation is there, obviously, but there is also a nice suq and a modern shopping district.

 

From Tiberius you can drive down to Jerusalem, either going down by Jericho or through Samaria. West Jerusalem has the pricey and fancy hotels, but West Jerusalem is where most of the bombing attacks take place. If you think about it, it makes (logical) sense: since the Israeli army has mandatory conscription the bombers hit the places where Israeli young people are apt to hang out, buses, nightclubs, coffee shops, etc. The terrorists won't risk bombing someplace where their own cousin might be, kwim? East Jerusalem is pretty economically depressed, though there are some nice parts. That's why my suggestion is to stay in a nice place in the Old City which employs Palestinians. I stayed here once: http://www.luth-guesthouse-jerusalem.com/ and it was very nice and pretty quiet. I could hear the morning call for prayer, but that's something that you'll get pretty much everywhere.

 

The nice thing about a place like that is that you are in walking distance of the major Jerusalem sites (the Wailing Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are literally a 5 min walk away) and you can easily move from East to West Jerusalem. The employees there will be able to tell you what restaurants and shops in West Jerusalem they would recommend (and would be safe), and also what shops in the suq in the Old City they recommend (but they might just recommend the shops owned by their cousin or uncle, so use your judgment).

 

From Jerusalem you can make day trips to Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. Though the Dead Sea would be an all-day thing, but there's spas there!

 

You are making me want to go back. I miss it so much.

[J-rap]

You're so lucky! I went years and years ago, before I appreciated that experience as much as I should have. I would love to go again. We spent the majority of our time in the Old City. We stayed in the Lutheran hostel and it was very nice, and were able to cook our meals there. We tried to go on as many walking tours (low key, not arranged ahead of time but arranged on the spot at various sites) as we could, because -- at least back then -- there were not many signs or written explanations at various holy sites (which was nice). But it was really helpful to have an English-speaking guide.

[Abbeygurl4]

 

 

5 days. Okay.

 

My suggestion is to rent a car in Tel Aviv and then drive to Tiberius. It's a moderate size city and has a good mix of modern hotels and little B&B type places and good restaurants. From there you can skip over to Capernaum (good reconstructed Synagogue and St. Peter's House). There are a lot of kibbutz's in that area, too. You can also drive up to Nazareth, which in the downtown area is a good representative of a what a "good" Arab town is like (the population is 100% ethnically Palestinian, but they are technically Israeli Arabs). The Church of the Annunciation is there, obviously, but there is also a nice suq and a modern shopping district.

 

From Tiberius you can drive down to Jerusalem, either going down by Jericho or through Samaria. West Jerusalem has the pricey and fancy hotels, but West Jerusalem is where most of the bombing attacks take place. If you think about it, it makes (logical) sense: since the Israeli army has mandatory conscription the bombers hit the places where Israeli young people are apt to hang out, buses, nightclubs, coffee shops, etc. The terrorists won't risk bombing someplace where their own cousin might be, kwim? East Jerusalem is pretty economically depressed, though there are some nice parts. That's why my suggestion is to stay in a nice place in the Old City which employs Palestinians. I stayed here once: http://www.luth-gues...-jerusalem.com/ and it was very nice and pretty quiet. I could hear the morning call for prayer, but that's something that you'll get pretty much everywhere.

 

The nice thing about a place like that is that you are in walking distance of the major Jerusalem sites (the Wailing Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are literally a 5 min walk away) and you can easily move from East to West Jerusalem. The employees there will be able to tell you what restaurants and shops in West Jerusalem they would recommend (and would be safe), and also what shops in the suq in the Old City they recommend (but they might just recommend the shops owned by their cousin or uncle, so use your judgment).

 

From Jerusalem you can make day trips to Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. Though the Dead Sea would be an all-day thing, but there's spas there!

 

You are making me want to go back. I miss it so much.

 

 

Wow, great info! Should we try to extend the trip to maybe 8-10 days? I'm starting to think that 5 days isn't enough.

[SarahW]

Wow, great info! Should we try to extend the trip to maybe 8-10 days? I'm starting to think that 5 days isn't enough.

 

Yes, if you aren't under time constraints, I think a week is about the minimum. You're looking at at least 14 hours in the airplane, so altogether at least a day of travel each way. Even if you're a good traveler, it's exhausting. Then if you're rushing around everywhere....it could cause a good case of Jerusalem Syndrome.

 

If you can make it ten days you'll have time to go to a church service (if that's your thing, the Christian Information Center will give you all the details), spend some time just floating in the Dead Sea, be able to accept an invitation to come over and visit with some shay (tea), and do something crazy, like hike down the cliffs of Arbel.

 

Make a list of your must-sees, then see where they are and how you'll get to them. And do realize that if you are crossing into the West Bank you'll have to budget time for possible checkpoints. Though usually the road down to Jericho was pretty open.

 

If you want to swim in the Mediterranean, you can try to make it up to Haifa while you're around Tiberius. Or you can go over to Ashkelon, which is another day trip from Jerusalem.

 

That's the best part about a trip to Israel - when you can open a conversation with "So this one time, when I was lying on the beach at Ashkalon..." :D