MiaMom

Ein Gedi and Massada and the dead sea are very close and you can do all in a day but that would be a very busy day. I would pick either Ein Gedi and Massada (I think massada is more intersting) and them have an afternoon dip in the dead sea before heading to Jerusalem.
The Bahai gerdens in Haifa and Acco are always in bloom, no need to visit both. I think Haifa is good as a base for the North but there is not much to see there except for the Bahai gardens. Though there are 2 Dans so you if that helps you get a good deal, you can stay there and drive to the North as a daytrip. The area around the Dan hotels has planty of nice places to eat.
If you do want to stay the night in the North, you can get much better deals during the week. Weekends are very expensive.
If you don't want to drive that much the trains along the coast especially from Tel Aviv to Haifa are managable and we liked them more than the bus. The train to Jerusalem only gets to the outer city limits. So you may want to take a bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and from there either a bus or a daytrip tour to Ein Gedi - Massada - Dead sea.

Elkaz

MiaMom--read the questions. These people were here in November. You are writing good answers but there is no longer a valid question.

judilie

We had a great trip. We spent the night at the Masada Youth Hostel and Guest House, which was not fancy but very nice (e.g., more bathrooom counter space and more electric outlet and nicer TV than anywhere else we stayed) reasonably priced. It was fun to see all of the kids there on their school trips. We went to Masada in the morning (cable car up and back) and then the excellent museum (highly recommmended) at the bottom near the cable car station. Then we stopped by Ein Gedi Beach for a quick dip in the Dead Sea on our drive to Jerusalem; there were some rocks where we enterred the water. Mineral Beach is probably nicer, but it cost more; for the few minutes we went into the Dead Sea it didn't seem worth the extra money.

We stayed at Dan Panoramas in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusulem and got a bit of a deal as a result (small discount, higher-quality rooms (so they said), and some small gifts). The one in Jerusalem was very nice. The ones in Tel Aviv and especially Haifa were a bit tired and in need of an update. The ones in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem had terrific breakfasts (and Haifa's was fine).

We ended up going to the Bahai Gardens in both Haifa and Acco. We couldn't see the upper gardens in Haifa because it had rained recently and couldn't see the shrine in Acco because it closes at noon (even though we got there at 11:45 am).

We had a rental car for nearly a week; it worked out very well.

I'll try to post a full trip report soon.

mbgg

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip and I look forward to reading the report.

AlexA

There are not a lot of reports about Israel here so please post some more details when you can.

judilie

It may be a couple of weeks before I can post a report, but I will do it. Thanks for the encouragement.

judilie

In the meantime, please let me know if you have any specific questions.