dec528

hello, we are 2 travelers from Miami in the US visiting israel for 2 weeks (1st time) in mid april, after passover. We are moderately active, interested in religious and cultural sights, general sightseeing, enjoying local cuisine and nightlife, moderate museums, some physical activities (easy walks.hikes/biking). We prefer independent travel, but will utilize day tours and local guides when necessary (such as to the Dead sea/Masada, etc, and in Jerusalem). We will consider renting a car to explore regions outside of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but would prefer to keep this to a minimum. Since I have a lot of hotel miles that I am able to use in Tel Aviv, we plan to spend 5 nights in tel aviv, using it as a base if possible to visit other areas, and am thinking 3 nights in Jerusalem, with the remaining nights for elsewhere. we also want to visit Petra for at least 1 night, possibly 2. We are not interested in scuba diving, and being from Florida we are less interested in the beaches so visiting Eilat is lower priority. The Haifa/Akko area and the Golan Heights/Galilee areas have been recommended to me by other travelers to israel and also a co-worker that lived in Israel.

Can I get suggestions on
1)filling in the portion of the itinerary other than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, including suggestions on which towns to stay in, and whether using a car is necessary for this portion of the trip
2) which day trips from Tel aviv are most advisable (although staying 5 notes in tel aviv don't necessarily want to spend 5 days touring the city)

Dianedancer

Be ready for a lot of questions, for example: What type of religious sites? Christian, Jewish? Both? Car is best for exploring the Galilee and Golan. Three nights in Jerusalem, IMO, is barely enough even to just scratch the surface especially if you're able to spend two weeks total. Could you spare a day less in TLV and one more in Jerusalem? IOW One additional night without using your points?
I will let others advise on day trips without a car from Tel Aviv.

Dianedancer

One other thing at the moment, my hubby and I went to Israel for the first time late last Fall. I got very little information on the Fodor's forums. Seems not many go there for whatever reason and we got much more and better information on the Trip Advisor Israel forums. A wealth and depth of help and some experts to answer all your questions..

Since we also went for two weeks here is how we divided our time:
3 nights TLV
Fourth morning we picked up a car and drove north to spend 1 night in Akko, 3 nights in Rosh Pina (to explore Golan and Galilee, no Christain sites however but lots of archeology and nature), and then south for 2 nights in Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea.
Jerusalem - Dropped off car and spent 5 days there. We stayed at the Hotel Harmony.
Hope this helps.

dec528

thanks Diane. we're interested in both types of religous sites. we could also reduce tel aviv to 3 nights and allocate more to jerusalem. How was the driving in Israel?
And would you recommend staying in Rosh Pina for exploring Golan and Galilee, and was 3 nights optimal?
We were thinking of doing the dead sea as a 1 day tour rather than overnight based on recommendations from someone that just visited.
And would you recommend Hotel Harmony - seems to have overall very good reviews.
I take it you didn't visit Petra? we would like to do an overnight trip but have to figure out the logistics.
I will check the trip advisor forums.
thanks again

Dianedancer

We're going back to Israel in May and liked the Hotel Harmony in Jerusalem enough to stay there again. They have a great free happy hour too and location is good.

The thing with taking a day trip to the Dead Sea are is that you will go to the Northern part and the beach there. It is not nearly as nice as the Southern part IMO.

I definitely would suggest you cut down on TLV and add to Jerusalem. TLV has a gorgeous beach, but you say you're not really interested in that. But a beautiful walk down the Promenade and all the way to Jaffa. I would recommend getting reservations for the Palmach Museum in TLV - you need to reserve as tickets go fast.

Three nights in the Galilee/Golan area plus Akko was enough for us although there's always more to see. Get to Rosh Hanikra from Akko - caves overlooking the Sea and on the border with Lebanon. Highly recommended - Nimrod Castle way up North, Beit She'an (which we did on our way down to the Dead Sea) for an archeological site, and Agamon Hula. This last is a nature preserve and we were lucky enough to see 40,000 cranes fly in at sunset. Get the sunset truck tour if you decide to do this. Very popular and so I'd recommend booking it before you go. I'm guessing that mid-April could be a great time to see birds as it's migration season.

In Jerusalem - Old City of course, but the newer part is great too. We went to Yad Vashem on our next to last day and I think it summed up, for me, one reason why Israel needs to be. The Israel Museum, also in Jerusalem, is a fantastic art museum with outdoor sculptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls.