richard58

Hi, we're looking at a trip to Israel and Jordan in the Spring. Have done both tours and independent travel elsewhere, and considering independent travel through Israel, then linking up with a conducted tour in Jordan.

For Israel, looking at the following:

Day 1: Arrive Tel Aviv by int'l air, bus to hotel in city, overnight Tel Aviv (hotel TBD)

Day 2: Bus to Jerusalem and begin touring in/around Jerusalem, overnight Jerusalem (hotel TBD)

Days 3-4: Continue touring vic Jerusalem (overnight Jerusalem)

Day 5: Taxi/car visit to Masada and local highlights, overnight Dead Sea (hotel TBD)

Day 6: Taxi from Dead Sea hotel to Allenby Bridge with visit to Jericho en route. Link up with Jordanian tour guide and begin Jordan tour.

Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced Israeli agent or company who could take care of the logistics for the itinerary outlined above?

Does this seem like a reasonable itinerary?

Thanks for any advice you can, richard58

KatPen

Richard,
My first thought was that you seem to be going to Tel Aviv just to sleep over, although I guess it depends on your arrival time. Is there anything specific you wanted to see or just experience a very different city to Jerusalem? I don't think you really need an Israeli travel agent if you are doing the hotel bookings yourself. You need to decide how you are going to get to Masada and the Dead Sea and how you will get to the border. You can go to Masada on an organized day tour, and then get the hotel to organize a taxi to pick you up when the bus goes back to Jerusalem. I am not sure if an Israeli taxi will take you to Jericho, but I am not sure about that.

richard58

Hi KatPen, thanks for your reply. Tel Aviv was planned as an overnight, but after more research, realized we can go directly to Jerusalem from Ben Gurian, and that's now the plan. I have a hotel in Jerusalem now, but was surprised when dealing with the Israeli on-line site that prices would not be be available and no reservations until November. Not reasuring when we need to make our air reservations now. I was really concerned over the non-availability of Jerusalem hotel rooms for April so I made the hotel reservation through one of the US travel sites.

I did ask the Israeli site to make a reservation now for the Dead Sea hotel and send the price when available and hope that's now in progress.

Thanks again for your advice and sanity check. Richard58

sandi

I don't have a 2009 calendar in front of me, but Passover usually falls in April, so not unusual you can't find hotel availability.  Many hotels that cater to Jewish clients during this period require a minimum 7-8/day booking.

KatPen

I was a travel agent for many years in Israel and it always infuriated me when I could not get a price for a hotel room far in advance, and yet prices were available outside Israel. Go figure! Yet another one of the marvelllous oddities of this country. If possible, always go with a cancellable reservation so you can recheck pries as they come out. Do you know about the "sherut" taxi service between many points in Israel. They are shared cabs that travel between two points, usually for the price of a bus ticket and quicker. But they don't move until they have filled up. There is a regular route between the airport and Jerusalem, and ask if the driver will take you directly to the hotel in Jerusalem. He may ask for extra. Even better is to ask the taxi coordinator before you get in. Make sure you go to the official taxi or sherut stand.

richard58

Thanks again KatPen, will definitely look into using the sherut to get to Jerusalem, had read about them, and it seems like a reasonable way to go. Richard58

aeiger

Hi We used a sherut to go from Jerusalem to the airport. It picked up several other people but got us to the airport in plenty of time. The cost difference was enough to use the service. It was about 51 NIS eacg for the boh of us. It's about 3.33 New Israel Shekels to the dollar. The taxi from the hotel was about 250 NIS. Just give yourself enough time for the ride about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs. depending on where the poeple are that they are picking up and road conditions.
Why take a taxi to Masada? There are tour companies available in Jerusalem. We had a rental car and stayed in a hotel in the Red Sea. In Jerusalem, after we returned the car we took an all day tour of the city with one of the tour cos. and it was very good. If you overnight at the Dead Sea there are many hotels. Meke sure you book in advance. I had trouble getting the days I wanted and stayed at the Crown Plaza, which is a very nice but pricey place, which should not get the star rating it's given.