rahulm

Hi Everyone,

I am planning a trip to Israel this december and wanted to get your feedback on our plan:

My current (rough) itinerary is as follows:
(see comments below itinerary)

12/25/2008 Leave SFO
12/26/2008 In Flight
12/27/2008 Arrive TelAviv/Jerusalem
12/28/2008 Jerusalem
12/29/2008 Jerusalem
12/30/2008 Jerusalem
12/31/2008 Masada Day Trip from Jerusalem
1/1/2009 Tel Aviv
1/2/2009 Tel Aviv
1/3/2009 Jaffo
1/4/2009 Akko Is this doable as a day trip from Tel Aviv. Seems far (north of Haifa)
1/5/2009 Go to Eilat (bus - 4-5 hrs trip)
1/6/2009 Eilat
1/7/2009 Eilat (Chill in Eilat for 2-3 days).
1/8/2009 Go to Petra By bus
1/9/2009 Petra Day and night tour of petra.
1/10/2009 Wadi Run Day trip
1/11/2009 Go to Amman
1/12/2009 Amman
1/13/2009 Amman Desert castle
1/14/2009: Amman to SFO.

Comments/Questions:

* How will the weather be at the time we plan to visit?
* Where do we stay in Jerusalem/Tel Aviv? What do you recommend? Somewhere in the mid-range would probably be the best. ($60-$120? Or is that too less?). I will be with my wife and we prefer clean hotels as opposed to hostels.
* What to do in Jerusalem in 3 days. There is just so much to see/do I'm getting confused.
* Is Tel Aviv worth 2 days or just a day. I most definitely want to see the white city.
* Is Jaffo worth a day?
* Akko: I've read its amazing and has its unique culture/sights.
* What changes do you propose? What else should we see? (Casarea, Safed?, Beer Sheba?, Haifa)
* We're planning to fly into TLV and fly out of Amman. Is that going to be a problem? (Indian and Canadian passports)


I'm sorry these are a lot of questions and sort of all over the place. I'd really appreciate your reply / help in planning this trip.

Thanks!

laurie_ann

Your itinerary generally looks good. After Tel Aviv not sure why you also have a separate night in Jaffo. Not that it's not worth visiting, but it is really just next to Tel Aviv -- or even part of Tel Aviv -- and probably not worth moving for a night's stay. You might consider instead two nights in Tel Aviv and two nights further up north, Haifa or Akko perhaps by rental car. Israel is easy to drive and the areas outside the major cities should not be overlooked. With two nights out you could easily do both Akko and Caesarea. Caesarea was a highlight of our trip a few years ago. Fascinating and well run sight. Also easily accessible as a day trip from Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv we stayed at the Cinema Hotel. It is a renovated 1930's movie theatre and quite a nice but not fancy or too expensive hotel. It's on a main street with fun restaurants and shopping and right near the architecture foundation which sponsor tours of the city's great Bauhaus architecture examples. As for organizing your Jerusalem visit, you might start with a visit to the Tower of David museum which tells a very good history of the city. Then plan a day of the ancient city and another day of the modern city. The ancient city is easily walkable. The modern city and its museums you will want to use public transportation or taxis as it is more spread out. And finally for weather, check out the website http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp the page lets you see historical weather for the dates you have in mind. I don't think December and January have the best weather in Israel but that doesn't mean you won't have a great trip. And another good website both for ideas for planning and for good research for hotels and rental car if you are interested is www.gemsinisrael.com. Enjoy your trip!

rahulm

Thank you very much.

A few questions:

- Since Jaffo is a part of Tel Aviv, are 2 days (including seeing Jaffo) enough for Tel Aviv?

- Thank you very much for the information on the architecture foundation. Can you tell me how to contact them? Is there a website? Googling did not reveal much.

- Can Ein Gedi/Masada be done in a day en route to Eilat? (Leave Tel Aviv, visit Masada, spend the night @ Ein Gedi, float in the water the next morning, continue to Eilat)

laurie_ann

As for how many nights in Tel Aviv, not that it's not a great city, but I think what is special about Israel is more likely found outside the big city.

For the architecture, the place I was thinking of is called the Bauhaus Center. I also see that since we were there the city has an entirely new museum on the topic. See the following websites with some articles and other links to "white city" and "bauhaus" including some walking tours that feature it.

http://www.white-city.co.il/english/index.htm


http://www.bauhaus-center.com/


http://www.gemsinisrael.com/index000004872.htm


http://www.dvisible.com/?p=534


We didn't do Masada, Ein Gedi or Dead Sea or Eliat so I don't know what to say about your plans for that part. But do remember that time of year daylight hours will be relatively short to try to do too much.

AlexA

Information on the White City is at
http://www.white-city.co.il/english/index.htm

I printed out some guides and did my own walking tour, mostly on Rothschild Boulevard. The organization does guided tours also, and they sell many books in the shop there.

2 days in Tel Aviv & Jaffa( yafo) could be enough if most of your time in Tel Aviv is just touring the architecture. You can walk along the beach promenade from Tel Aviv all the way to Jaffa--about 20 minutes from the southern end of Tel Aviv. How much time you need depends on what you want to see in Jaffa.
Lots of Tel Aviv& Jaffa ideas at the city's website
http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/english/home.asp

rahulm

Thanks for the information.
We most definitely want to see the white city and maybe squeeze in a ride to the top of the Azraili towers. A stroll late afternoon to evening sounds like a good idea.

W9London

I may add that the weather can get quite cold, especially in Jerusalem (due to its elevation). You'll definitely need sweaters/jumpers, probably either lined raincoat or wool coat.

Agree with laurie_ann on Caesaria. Roman aquadact is quite impressive. We also enjoyed Zichron Yaakov with wineries and beautiful views. It's between Tel Aviv and Akko/Haifa.

pittpurple

Caesaria was definitely the highlight of our trip to Israel. We spent 4 nights in Haifa as part of a two-week trip and did day trips to Akko and Caesaria - they are both incredibly interesting. It's really easy to drive around Israel and nothing is that far away (with the exception of Eilat) so really any combination is possible.

We aren't into the modern areas so we didn't spend any time in Tel Aviv. From our research though, it would seem 2 nights would be plenty and it would really be a shame to miss Caesaria. I would split your time between Tel Aviv and Caesaria.

We were there in late January and it was really cold in Jerusalem - we wore sweaters and scarves, even gloves. The weather was perfect for Masada though! We did float in the Dead Sea even though it was really cold - we couldn't skip that.

There's an amazing kibbutz you can stay at in Ein Gedi (Ein Gedi Kibbut) that I highly, highly recommend. Their breakfast buffet is amazing. I would do Masada/Dead Sea/Ein Gedi on your way to Eilat I think.

My recommendation is:
Jerusalem 5 nights
Haifa 2 nights
Tel Aviv 2 nights
Ein Gedi 1 night

Something like that. Although you might want to play around with it depending on what you like to do on New Year's Eve.

For Jerusalem there's no lack of things to do! We spent a week there and spent about 3 days just exploring the old city.

rahulm

Hi!

One quick question. Is there a way to take local transport from Eilat to Petra? I understand we'd have to hire a taxi or take a bus(??) of some sort to go to the border, then cross and get another local cab/bus to Wadi Mousa.

Has anyone done this? I'd appreciate your recommendations.

Mandilulur

I think the Canadian passport holder can get tourist visas at the border/airport, but I'm not sure about an Indian passport. Does Israel and Jordan give on-the-spot tourist visas for Indian nationals?

sandi

Jerusalem in December/January can be downright cold and wet (snow isn't unusual, but rare). We, however, lucked out and had 5/beautiful warm to hot days (mid-70s/low-80s)... most surpising. Evenings everywhere though definitely required jackets.

Tel Aviv was warm, Masada was hot. Ein Gedi was warm, but with a cool chill blowing around. Haifa should be warm.

Be prepared with layers.

rahulm

Thanks. Yes - I figured that Jeruasalem can be cold, but willing to risk it. THats the only time of the year that we can really go.

rahulm

any advice on the eilat - petra - eilat route?

Thanks!

W9London

There are many organised tours, usually departing from one of Eilat's hotels.

We did a day-trip some years ago. Considering the time it takes to cross the border (anything from 45min to an hour), change the buses/guides and the drive from the border to Petra, I would opt for an overnight trip if the time allows.

Once you're in Petra, you start descending the valley (meaning you'll be going uphill on the way back). make sure you have a comfortable shoes.

Pitzikat

Hi Rahulm,

You are arriving on Saturday. You'll easily get a taxi to your hotel, but there are no buses till after dark and no trains till Sunday. You may have to wait for your room until after dark also. Be sure to check with the hotel when you make your reservation!

Again, Jan 2-3 is "shabbat." Buses stop running about an hour before sunset on Friday and resume after dark on Saturday.

My suggestion is to start in Tel Aviv, then go to Jerusalem. There is a LOT to see on "shabbat" in Jm, you could easily spend the entire day in the Old City, which is a short walk or taxi ride from the center.

Plan to see Haifa and Akko as one or two day trips from TA by train, far and away the fastest, easiest and pleasantest way to get up north. Sunday is NOT the best day to go, since the trains are usually very, very crowded on Sunday morning (the first day of the workweek). You can see train schedules and other info at http://www.israrail.org.il/english/

If nothing else, I'd stop in Haifa central "Lev Hamifratz" and take the Carmelit (the very short subway line) up to the top, just for the view, then visit the Bahai gardens (reservation required).

Eilat is a 5 hr bus ride from TA or Jm. I honestly don't know what Eilat is like in January. Chill might end up chill-y. If you are looking for sunshine, you may have better luck at the Dead Sea area, where you could combine that with Masada and even a nature hike at Ein Gedi.

Pitzikat

More: I forgot to mention, Jaffa is dead on Saturday. Go during the week to wander around for an hour or two during the day, including the small museum. Then go back for an evening for dinner and wandering the galleries.

I did a 2-day tour to Jordan from Eilat in April with Eco Desert Tours. . . pricey, but worth it. Max 4 people in a jeep, with excellent guides. Day 1 was Wadi Rum, overnight in a very nice hotel in "new" Petra, then Day 2 in the historic Petra. Maybe if you contact them, they could help you with a solution that would take you to Amman from Petra. Although Petra is quite doable on your own, you must have a tour/guide to go through Wadi Rum. Hint: if you have any Israeli shekels left over, spend them in Petra on food, souvenirs, etc. In the hotel they only wanted dinars or dollars, but in historic Petra, EVERY vendor was happy to take shekels - just make sure you know the exchange rate before you leave Israel! They told us 10 shekels = 1 dinar, when we said, no, it's only 5 to 1, they said, Okay! We got really nice souvenirs for very little - we even felt a bit guilty about some of the bargaining! Prices seemed to drop the further we got from the entrance.

NoshGeek

I wouldn't spend so many days in Eilat either (unless there are things you want to see that you didn't list). Its rather a glitzy sea resort and unless you are planning to do a lot of water sports doesn't warrant so much time. Rather spend the time in the desert or like other writers have suggested go up north. Tel Aviv is also not really worth 3 days (with Jaffa). Its a very modern city with not much character compared with Jerusalem.

noanoa

I think Tel Aviv Yaffo deserves 3-4 days at the minimum, since there are lively nightlife in this town - it's a non-stop city, and of course there are museums, beaches / promenade in the winter, walking tours and sports, great restaurants and more.

I was inspired by the following website for FIT - read about Tel Aviv:

http://www.backpackingisrael.com/con...ategory/15/63/

W9London

Aside from Bauhaus architectures, good restaurants and nightlife, I won't find reasons to spend too much time in T.A.

However, it is a very convenient hub to do day-trips. You can easily go to places like Caesaria, which is beautiful, lots of historical sites, strongly reocmmended. Or places like Zikron Yaakov (winery tour, lovely town) or Tzfat (though a bit touristy, less so in winter?)