I am travelling solo and I am finding private packages for Jordan are too expensive for a solo traveller.

I have found a tour itinerary that is of interest and includes the sites I would like to see in Jordan. The tour also visits Israel for 4 days, I feel, the Israel portion is too rushed, but since I am in the area I would like to include israel if feasible.

Here's the itinerary, please let me you know your thoughts, the cost is $3000 with a single supplement for 11 days. The tour company is On the Go tours and I am having a hard time reviews for them.

Day 1,

Arrive Amman, transfer to hotel

Day 2,

Amman -Jerash - Umm Quas - Amman

Day 3,

Amman - Dead Sea - Petra

Day 4

Petra sightseeing

Day 5

Petra - Wadi Rum

Day 6

Wadi Rum - Madaba

Day 7

Madaba

Day 8

Madaba to Jerusalem

Day 8

Jerusalem sightseeing

Day 9

Jerusalem, Bethlehem sightseeing

Day 10

Nazarath

Day 11

Jerusalem to Amman airport.

Here's a link to a pdf file with more details about the tour,

http://www.onthegotours.com/resource...0Jerusalem.pdf

Based on cost, is it worth going to Israel for such a short time? I do not intent to be in the region again anytime soon. If I remove Israel from the itinerary, the costs are reduced by ~$1000.

Any information fodorites can provide wil be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

As your other thread, if you can get a 5/day Jordan (Petra & Wadi Rum) itinerary just as you want for $1,200 as a single, why do you want to pay $3,000 plus a single supplement to add a few days in Israel? And, even if using this tour company for this itinerary without Israel, brings the cost for Jordan only to $2,000.

$1,200 ($240/day x 5/days) vs $2,000 (286/day x 7/days)? Doesn't make sense to me.

Don't get me wrong, Israel is a wonderful and amazing destination and though 4/days isn't really sufficient, you do have the major Christian sites included. Also realizes, homebound flight departs from AMM, so there is that transfer from JER on the last day.

Only you can decide where you wish to visit and how much you want to spend.

Thank you, sandi for the feedback.

I need to clarify that the price of $3000 includes the single supplement. I do agree the tour is more expensive per person per day, even without including Israel. The tour is in Jordan for 8 days and includes Jerash, Madba and the dead sea which are not part of the private tour package.

The appeal of this tour is that I get the chance to visit visit Israel, briefly. In the future I would like to visit some countries where an Israel passport stamp is a problem, since this tour travels from Jordan to Israel and returns to Amman, I can avoid the passport stamp at King Hussein Bridge. Since I return to Jordan, I will fly in and out of Amman; if I avoid a passport stamp by Jordanian and Israeli immigration at the border my passport will not show that I have been to Israel, I will have one arrival stamp and one departure stamp for Jordan, both of which will be the at airport in Amman.

The five day private tour of Jordan is for an Amman - Petra - Wadi Rum - Amman itinerary and includes transfers to/from Amman airport, which is essentially day 3 - day 7 of the tour itinerary.

I welcome any other feedback as I continue to explore other options.

I am finding Jordan to be more expensive than I had accounted for, it certainly is much more than Egypt.

The Israel part of the tour really doesn't include very much except the Old City in Jerusalem and Nazareth (you need at least 3 days in Jerusalem to see it properly). You should do a separate trip there or find a more comprehensive one.

I am not a fan of organised tours and Israel is a country that you can easily do without one.

I would want one day more in Petra. And although I stayed in Madaba (before my tour), you really don't need an overnight there. Just make sure you have time to see the Archaeological Park as well as St. George's church. I chose not to visit Israel, partly because of the passport issues, more because of bad reports on the time it takes to cross the border, and even more because I'm unhappy with the government's behavior. I decided I'd rather spend my money in Lebanon (which turned out to have some rather good scenery).

Even if transiting thru Allenby - it's a border crossing - once on the Israeli side, their Immigration will stamp passports and again on exiting.

HOWEVER, you can request that they DO NOT stamp the passport, instead ask them to stamp a slip of paper for both entry/departure which you keep (do not loose this) until on the plane out of AMM.

HOWEVER, there is no guarantee the Immigration agent will do this... so suggest you smile and ask nicely.

Thank you for the feedback. I will need to rethink this. I do understand that the Israeli stamp can be a problem in the future.

Only if you have a long time remaining on your passport till expiration, and you plan to visit countries that won't allow entry if with an Israeli stamp, before then...don't plan to go till it's time to get a new passport.

With a new passport, visit such countries first, then return to Israel and enjoy an extended stay.

sandi, you always give good advice.

I had thought about leaving Israel for later, especially since my passport is valid until 2013. Who knows when/if I will be able to return to the Middle East.

I'm still working out the details of the trip, fortunately, it is for Sept/Oct/Nov 2010 (The trip will be ~2 months long). I still have time to fine tune the itinerary.

I'm dreading the single supplement on a long solo trip.

I asked the Israelis not to stamp my passport and they complied, however I'm told they aren't always so nice. There are only a few countries where this is a problem. Here they are:

Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

If you have an Israeli stamp and you later decide to visit one of these countries you will need a new passport.

I think the Israeli's will always comply with a request not to stamp the passport. They have been stamping pieces of paper for decades, so I think people should know this. Your trip to Israel seems short, but if it's all you can do now, then do it. You are also not seeing much of Jewish Israel, but more of Christian Israel, just so you know. Jerusalem in 5 days is better than 1. But, better a taste than nothing at all. Also, comments about the Israeli government shouldn't influence you. You should go and see things for yourself and meet the people yourself. I personally think you'd be better off making the trip to Israel with a side trip to Jordan because I think there is so much more to see in Israel. Crossing the border by land is hit and miss I guess. We did a day trip from Eilat and it took all of 20 minutes for a bus load of 25 people to get through in both directions, but I've heard stories it can take hours. However, tour companies usually get their people through faster because they know the ropes. I found the quality of the souvenirs in Jordan to be very high. But I didn't feel the people were friendly. Certainly not as friendly as in Egypt or Israel. I also found the toilets in Jordan to be awful, and more because the people taking care of them were more concerned with putting their hand out for your money than giving you any service for it. Having said this about Jordan, we were only on a day trip, so our impression was brief. Petra is amazing. If you think you may not get the chance to go to Israel again, then go now.

tinydancer, I'm sorry your experience with Jordan wasn't more like mine. I found the Jordanians to be warm and wonderful people. I lost count of how many times I was stopped on the street to hear, "Welcome to Jordan, thank you for coming." I was there for 5 or 6 days and I would go again in a heartbeat.

You might consider the Overseas Adventure Travel tour of Israel with a 6 day extension to Jordan. I believe that the single supplement is waived on that tour, including the extension.

http://www.oattravel.com/gcc/general...ocation=search

We love to travel with OAT. Their tour guides are always excellent, and they offer excellent value. The tour groups are limited to 16 max. We leave on another OAT tour in a week.

Germanblonde-Lady Egypt will give you an addon to Jordan with your Egypt trip for alot less money.