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Eilat/Petra Itinerary advice and Where to stay in the Dead Sea Area?

Eilat/Petra Itinerary advice and Where to stay in the Dead Sea Area?

Old Apr 7th, 2014, 08:02 AM
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Eilat/Petra Itinerary advice and Where to stay in the Dead Sea Area?

Hello, My family is planning a trip for this August (I know - insanely HOT). We are two adults traveling with four young children. Here is my itinerary so far.
Day 1: arrive in Tel-Aviv. Fly down to Eilat arrive around 8:30pm. Spend the night in Eliat .
Day 2: recover from Jetlag and rest in Eilat. In the evening I have considered crossing the border and obtaining transportation to get Petra so we can be ready to visit in the morning before the day is at it's hottest.
Day 3: Visit Petra. Get transportation back to the border. Stay either in Eilat or Aqaba. I had read that Tala Bay is nice.
Day 4: Swim in the Red Sea a little more and then we'd make our way to the Dead Sea.
Day 5: Morning at Masada. Visit Qumran. Then we'll head to Galilee.

Questions:
1. Any recommendations for where to stay in Eilat? We will be arriving pretty late but want and I'm not sure how we'll feel the next day. Is there a hotel that will hold our stuff and maybe provide a place to change after check-out time. We will be checking out to get to Petra for that night but I'm guessing we'll want to spend the afternoon at the beach before we cross the border.

2. Any hotel recommendations for Petra? It will be a Tuesday so I don't think they have Petra by Night.

3. Should we stay in Aqaba or Tala Bay or even just head back to Eilat? Any moderately priced accommodation recommendations?

4. We would love to stay at a Beach hotel on the Dead Sea but am finding that most require a two night stay and are very expensive. Is there a way we could just pay a day fee for use of the beach and showers? I think I have found that the hotels on the Jordan side do this but have not found prices for the hotels on the Israel side. We could then spend the night near Masada to be ready for the morning at Masada. How far is Masada from the Dead Sea Hotels? The other option was to stay in Ein Gedi Kibbutz maybe.

This is a lot of questions! Thanks for your time and advice!
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Old Apr 7th, 2014, 08:41 AM
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I thought about staying in Eilat for the three nights and taking tour from Eilat to Petra on Day 2. The reason I'm leaning towards the option in the post above is to be at Petra as early as possible. The transportation to/from the border and to/from Petra for a group of six does seem difficult when not with a scheduled tour. So, Question 5# What is would you recommend for doing the trip to Petra with young children?
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Old Apr 10th, 2014, 07:59 AM
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We just got back last week from a guided tour in Israel/Jordan. We stayed at the Panarama in Petra. It was okay -- nice views, okay food -- about 4 miles from the Petra site.
At the Dead Sea, we stayed at the David or King David. It was the nicest of the hotels we stayed in Israel. It was about 15 minutes from Masada.

I don't know what our tour group paid for these hotels.

FWIW - I thought one day in Petra was enough. Lots of walking and a tiring day. They had camel or horse transportation available for those that don't want the long walk. A family of 6 would need 2 carriages -- probably close to $100 round trip

Masada was really cool also. Again, lots of walking and steps. If your kids are mobile and you don't have to carry them you will be fine.
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Old Apr 10th, 2014, 12:40 PM
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That sounds far too rushed, especially traveling with kids (how old?). Petra is easily worth two full days. With your limited time I would stay in Israel and see more of it, especially in August!
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Old Apr 11th, 2014, 06:25 AM
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Thank you for your recommendations and sharing your experiences.
We are continuing on to galilee for two nights , Jerusalem for 6 nights.
I have considered getting an apartment for our time in Jerusalem. I will start checking around for that.

Thanks!
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Old Apr 11th, 2014, 07:46 AM
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Jerusalem is also a ton of walking with steps. We thought 4 days in Jerusalem was plenty but then I'm not into the big city life. Galilee for me is the better option for more time with a day trip to Nazareth , Megiddo, and Mt Carmel. A night on the Mediterean Sea would be fun for the kids.
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