Hi all,

I'm traveling to Israel; arriving dawn on Friday, May 3. I want to stay in Tel Aviv with travel to Jerusalem and Petra. How long should I stay in Israel? I know that Friday and Saturday is Jewish Shabbat and nothing will be open in Jerusalem. Would Friday and Saturday in Tel Aviv, one day for a Petra tour and two days for Jerusalem be enough time? Also any recommendations on what to see on Friday and Saturday would be appreciated. I want to do something other than lounge on the beach in Tel Aviv.

Thanks!

We just returned from first trip 2 weeks in Israel on a group tour. We did 5 nights in Jerusalem, 3 in the Galil, 2 in Tel Aviv and 2 in Eilat, with a day trip to Petra.
In Jerusalem on Saturday we went to Israel Museum. Do not miss it! We also particularly enjoyed the City of David tour. The best meal in Jerusalem was at Eucalyptus. From Tel Aviv on Saturday we did day tour up to Akko and Rosh Hanikra grottos.....amazing. In Petra we left from Eilat and it was a long 10 hr day, and we only spent 4 hrs in Petra, walking from the visitors center to the Royal Tombs. My wife was disappointed that we did not have enough time to get to the Monastery. I think we could easily go back for another 2 weeks!

Let me know if you want more detail.

Steve we are going to Israel in April for 2 weeks also
. We also want to visit Petra for 1 or 2 nights but don’t plan to visit Eliat. Would you recommend flying to eliat and picking up a tour there to avoid the long drive.? It seems there are regular flights footprints $100 us each way.

Flying to Eilat is a good idea vs. driving there (or rather to the border where you will have to leave your car), just to go to Petra for a few hours. But again, if you're not staying overnight in Petra it will be a long, long day with only a few hours actually in Petra. Plus flights to and from Eilat.

bemardus - Five days in Isreal is a very short vacation and I would not recommend you try to do Petra within that time frame. More things will be open Tel Aviv than in Jerusalem on Friday and Sat. Jerusalem has so much that to allocate only two days which also must include travel there and back to the airport, is inadvisable.
We too spent two weeks in Israel and are returning in May for 10 days to do things we hadn't gotten to and even that time won't cover it.

I have not been to Israel so I cannot comment on that part, but I have been to Jordan and one day in Petra is not enough. I would spend at least two nights there to properly see it. You want at least two full days, or, at the bare minimum, one and a half days.