We are 2 couples planning to visit Israel in October 2010 for 12-13 days. We normally stay away from the big bus and organized tours but have received advice to hire a private guide. The prices I have received are pretty expensive so we are wondering if we can "do Israel" on our own. There is no problem with transportation as we can drive. The main question is whether we will be able to get the "information" one would expect to get from a tour or guide.
The alternative to a guide or "do it ourself" is to take 1-day tours with one of the bus companies. Does anyone have any feedback on those?

All comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Phyllis

Hi Phyllis,
What you want to visit in Israel? Do you have a plan or a list of some places to be visited?
You can visit on your own and , you can take day trips in some places , if you like.
You can buy a good travel book about Israel, or you can download info from Fodor's destinations, from Frommer's or from a lot of other internet sites.
If you tell us what you are interested to visit, and have specific questions, there will be many Fodorites who can help.

You can certainly do Israell on your own. Traffic is a horror and drivers are crazy, but otherwise, the signage is good - in English - and roads in good condition.

You just have to plan where, when and for how long. This doesn't discount hiring a private guide at any particilar city - JER, TLV, HAI, etc. Mix-n-match!

It depends on your backgrounds and styles.

I have visited many archaelogical and historical sights in Israel on my own. I rely on a combination of guidebooks, brochures at the site (if available) and additional research I've done on my own. I've also been on a couple of tours (half day/whole day) with private guides hired by friends.

You have to factor in how much you know about the background of Israel and the specific locations (I consider myself fairly knowledgeable) with the amount of information you want to know. Guides are generally well trained and knowledgeable, and may tell you more that you want to know
I personally prefer to experience most sites without the impressions of a guide, but if you feel like you would be lost without one, the idea of hiring a guide just for a day (no overnight expenses) will cost about the same as 4 people taking a bigger organized day tour.

What locations and sites do you have in mind? Some really don't need the expense of a guide. Tell us more about your travel style and interests, too

First of all, Sandi's irresponsible statement "traffic is a horror and drivers are crazy" is an exxageration; traffic is no more of a "horror" than in any western county and a small fraction of the drivers are "crazy", especially when compared to countries like France, Italy, etc.

Traffic can be a "horror" in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv for a tourist that is not familiar with the streets so I recommend taxis and public transportation in those cities.

Many tourists do Israel on their own. Although nothing can ever match a good guide, most sites in Israel distribute brochures, are well signed, some have audiophones (Massada) and all this can be augmented with some research done via the internet and a good guidebook.

The advantage of doing your own tour is that you will be able to pick the sites that interest you and decide yourself how much time to spend at each one. There is much more to see than what the standard tours offer. For example, look at all of the attractions listed in the National Parks web site:
http://www.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/...php?mc=378~All

I second AlexA's last comment: please explain what your interests are - museums, nature, archeology, food, etc - so that we can post specific advice.

the guides in israel are amongst the best in the world. of course you can do israel on your own, and you will have an amazing time. but, having been several times, the best trip ever was the one with a guide. the country/history- it all comes alive. you will get to amazing food places, you will have no hassles, you will tailor the trip exactly to your needs. it is worth every penny, and will make your trip. spend the extra!

Hi

We've been to Israel twice and have rented a car and traveled independently. We avoided driving in both Jerusalem and tel Aviv but have driven from the Golan to Eilat. The drivers in Jerusalem drive like in NYC not any worse than any big US city. I've used both Fodors and Frommers for planning our trips. I also have the Insight Guide to Israel for backgrounds. We took a day tour in Jerusalem and it was wonderful. Other than that we relied on guidebooks, knowledge of the sites we wanted to see. You would be surprised what you can learn watching History, discovery and other channels on tv. We find independent travel is best for us. we can adjust our schedule, modify it etc. We have been traveling independently for over 25 yrs and still enjoy it best.

To 4bams:
Can you tell me/us your wonderful guides names. I'm planning a trip in Sept. and agree that guides combined with independent rambling about are our favorite ways to see a city or country.

we were a family of 10 people, my parents siblings and kids (ranging in ages from5-75) we had a large and roomy van, and we had the guide for the entire 2 weeks (it would have been ok to have the guide just for parts of the trip, but this worked out better for us)
we booked our guide thru our travel agent, who arranged everything. it was the easiest trip I have ever planned, even though in some ways (dealing with so many travellers you'd think it would be more complex) in toronto there are 2 main travel agents who do this all the time- Peerless Travel and Aufgang Travel (we used the latter, though we know many who used the former with good success)

they do everything for you, find the guides, book hotels etc. do not waste time doing hotels and stuff yourself, as I really do not think it is worth it for israel just let the agency know what level you want to travel at. the guides in israel are uniquely well trained, and almost without exception are well regarded.everyone I know says "we had the best guide ever" about their tourguide! let your agency book for you if they are experienced.
if you do not live in a city that has such agencies, it would be well worth your while to call one of the 2 toronto ones I listed above and they will take good care of you.

(we almost always are independent travellers who book everything ourselves- this xmas we were in egypt, last year thailand, the year before france etc. this is the only time we put our hands in those of an agency)

I don't think Israeli drivers are crazy but more like un-patient. You should have no trouble driving outside Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and you can use public transportation in the cities.
I usually like DIY travel but there are some places in Israel where a guide could add a lot of background information.
You could join tours of interest in Jerusalem. You wouldn't need a guide in Tel Aviv, and you could drive up to Nazareth and the Galilee and meet a guide there. The audio guides in Massada are good so you would not need a guide there if you don't have any special interests.
I do not know of specific people.

We were in Israel for 2.5 weeks last May and rented a car which we drove all over. We found it really easy to get around, just used the map we got from the rental company. We went up to a kibbutz near Yokneam in the north, we drove to the Golan, Caesarea, Tel Aviv, down through the W Bank to the Dead Sea, Eilat, back up to Jerusalem where we returned our car because you just don't need one there. We had no trouble except one night leaving Tel Aviv we missed a turn and after awhile none of the signs are in English, just in Hebrew. Around all the tourist areas and main roads the signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. We rented another car to take us from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv for one night and then we drove ourselves to the airport and returned the car there. We used Budget, which might go by the name 'rent-a-wreck' in Israel, but the cars made it everywhere and we paid around $450 US for 13 days for a car with a boot that held all our luggage. I priced a private guide when I was there and thought it cost a fortune. There are free tours of the Old City, and guidebooks are pretty good for everything else. Most of the big sites have audio guides too. Both my husband and I drove and found it no more crazier than here, although as a passenger driving with Israeli drivers I was terrified. Go figure. I arranged for the car over the internet, but it was difficult to get a reply and I ended up calling them. They charge an extra fee to pick up and drop off at Ben Gurion, but I can't remember the details of that. They are closed from 4PM Friday until Sunday morning.

We were in Israel for 3 weeks in Oct. In J'lem we took taxis, and in TA we took buses. It is not only the traffic, which is heavy, but the unfamiliarity of the cities which would be difficult.

One example of 'un-patient' drivers was in J'lem, where a taxi driver beeped a police car in front of him. You wouldn't see that in the US.

I drove from J'lem to Eilat, which was fine.

Since we have been there before with guides, this time we just used our guidebooks. If you are first-time visitors, guides would be helful, at least at first.

Another car rental option worth checking is Sixt, or in Hebrew, http://www.shlomo.co.il/
Never seen them renting a wreck...

PS: forgot to mention that one of the reasons we went with budget is that they advertise 24hr road service anywhere in Israel, which we wanted.

Thank you all for your comments. Sorry it took me so long to respond but I didn't get a notification that there were messages for me.

I think we are going to rent a car - but not in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv - and possibly get a guide or tour where we think we need them. Which, frankly, we don't know yet. Do you think we can get one through our hotel(s) when we get there?

As to what we want to see/do, I guess it is the highlights since we have a limited amount of time and probably will never have a chance to return.

Our problem now is that our current itinerary (Jerusalem, the north, Eilat/Petra and TelAviv - in that order) calls for us to be in Jerusalem on Friday and Saturday (we arrive from US on Thursday afternoon and will go straight to Jerusalem) and will leave there for the north on Monday. Now I'm worried that Saturday will be a completely dead day. But if we change our itinerary, won't we have the same problem everywhere else? Our 2nd Saturday will be in Eilat/Petra so no problem there. Any advice?

Lastly, we need a hotel in Jerusalem - preferably for under $200/night. We were going to stay at the Crowne Plaza but the reviews were so uniformly awful, we decided not to.

Any and all advice is appreciate.
Phyllis

A lot of sites are open in Jerusalem on Saturday and you have to check their opening hours. The Muslim and Christian quarters in the Old City as open for business as usual. An alternative is to pick up your car on Friday afternoon and go to the Dead Sea (Ein Gedi & Massada)on Saturday.

If your only time in Jerusalem is Friday/Saturday, you will be missing a lot. Virtually any other city in Israel will be more active. Yes, there are some things open, and a few restaurants, but then you would be stuck going to what's open, rather than what you really want to see.

Most national and regional parks, archaelogical sites all over the country are open Saturdays, though most still close early on Fridays (it makes, no sense, I know). Also it will probably still be good enough weather to be at the beach at that time of the year, so that might be another better way to spend some of Friday/Sat if you can rearrange. Starting off in Tel Aviv, which has fewer actual must see sights would be my suggestion.

By the way, you say you don't want a car in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv--which makes sense. But if you have specific car needs--certain size car, or automatic rather than manual, you may be best off renting in TA or Jerusalem or even the airport. I learned the hard way that even if you can reserve a specific car from many locations in Israel, they're not really good about getting you the car you need! Also check the rates because it could actually cost the same amount or even be cheaper to have the car longer and park it at your hotel than to rent for a shorter time period.

You may want to check out the Harmony Hotel or Dan Boutique in Jerusalem. I am staying at Harmony this summer - never been there but have stayed at the Dan Panorama a few times and we really liked it.

Saturday will be quiet but you can go to the Israel Museum on Saturday or take a walk, picnic lunch in a park (get items the day before). Saturday is also a nice time to relax by the hotel pool if it's warm.

Lots of people responded to your query but I also did Israel twice by ourselves - driving is really easy. Traffic is no worse than NYC.

I liked having a private tour of the Old City, Tzfat, Masada - and some other sites where things aren't as obvious. I liked doing a lot on our own at our own pace with a guide book.

In Jerusalem you can visit on Saturday Old City, every thing is open there and there are a lot of tourists.

I think that will be a very good idea to take one day tour in Jerusalem, or a private guide at least for 1/2 day there. There are so many historical and religious places to be visited and a guide will be very useful. In Israel are very good guides, they know a lot about the country's history and like their profession.
You can take in Jerusalem a private guide (it will ask for 1/2 day walking tour around 100 Euro) - look here http://www.tour-guides.co.il/ for good guides.

In Jerusalem is also a hop on/ hop off touristic bus (99) (not recommended to take it on Friday, as it run only 1/2 day, I think it does not run on Saturday):

http://www.egged.co.il/Eng/main.asp?lngCategoryID=2773

From Jerusalem or from Tel Aviv you can take organized day tours Egged
http://www.eggedtours.com/

In Tel Aviv is another touristic bus (100):
http://www.dan.co.il/english/templat...=24&pageId=560

If you go to Haifa, visit Bahai Garden. The entrance is free, but you have to phone to schedule your visit. It is a beautiful and unique place, the garden are superb.
Tel: 972 (4) 831-3131 • Fax: 972 (4) 831-3132

Thank you all for the information. We have revised our itinerary and now will be in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - leaving on Saturday morning. So, I guess this will work out fine.

Appreciate everyone's responses.

Phyllis