We are working a trip to Israel (and are Jewish) for next year and were reading info that would be helpful. I am trying to convince my husband that we must do at least a short trip to Egypt. Tripgirl - if you are still thinking about Cappodoccia, my niece lives there and would more than delighted to assist. If you want her address you can email me at [email protected].

Glad to hear your plans are all in place. We were in Egypt last year and loved it. Just as a point of information, we stayed in the Four Seasons First Residence in Cairo at the start of our trip and three weeks later, when we returned to Cairo at the end of our trip, we stayed at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza. Both are wonderful but we felt the Four Seasons Nile Plaza more upscale. Since this seems an important consideration, you may want to look into that option. You also stated that you want "unique experinces and want to go with a company that can provide some "normally closed to the public" experiences". We went into Queen Nefreteri's tomb in the Valley of the Queens which is normally closed to the public. Most guides will tell you it is closed for renovation but that is not the case. It is very expensive to get in but it is possible. If money is not a consideration try and go. It is simply the most beautiful tomb in Egypt.
In any case, have a wonderful trip. You are in for a real treat!

We are staying at the FS at Nile Plaza while in Cairo.

The rest of our itinerary is:

Luxor: Nile Palace
4 nights aboard the Sonesta Star Goddess: Beetoven Suite
2 nights Aswan: Movenpick Elephantine
On to Jordan staying in Petra one night and 2 nights at the FS Amman visiting Jerash,etc. I know Jordan is short, but we'll go again.
onto Israel( longest part of the trip)
3 nights David Intercontinental in Tel Aviv
Drive up the coast visting Caesarea, Haifa, etc and landing in Tiberias for 2 nights at the Scots Hotel
Visting Safed, golan heights( visiting winery and cheese production, sites all around the Sea of Galilee
Onto Jerusalem, 6 nights , King David Hotel( upgraded Old City view room), visiting all the sites and Masada and Dead Sea for DH's birthday.

So we'll be away about 25 days in total.

Ahmed Hamed Yousif( who has many fodorite fans!) is arranging all for Egypt and Jordan and Susan Weissberg, an agent here in the US ( she was an agent many yrs in Israel) is arranging all in Israel, all along with my own heavy research and suggestions of what we want.

We are very happy with all of our arrangments and are excited!
Our original plans were to include Turkey after Israel, but we decided to leave it for another time and pair it with Rhodes and Simi ( I've been to greece, but not to places closer to Turkey.

hi,

For those still reading and searching for info about Israel trip planning, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will give you the same info that I give everyone on this board who asks about Israel: I would highly recommend that you contact the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education: http://www.amiie.org/.

It is a fantastic organization and the staff/guides are brilliant. I used them to plan and guide a private family trip in 2006. I'm quite sure that they can be of assistance to you. David Mitchell, Dean of Education, knew exactly what we wanted and made it happen, beyond our wildest dreams.

best of luck!
anita

I'm so jealous tripgirl, you trip sounds wonderful I love Israel and have been 3 times but would love to go again.

Just thought I'd tell you that we were staying at the King David over Hanukkah and had such a wonderful time at the hotel as we were invited to join in all the celebrations. I'm sure you are going to love your stay there.

Hope you have a great trip :-)

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the above comments. We are planning to visit Israel (with a short hope to Egypt for a few days) SPring of 2010. We hope to have several other couples from our synagogue, so it will be a small group. Someone mentioned using Isram to plan the trip. Are there any other travel groups you might recommend?? I did see Anita's suggestion. Would it be better to do Egypt/pyramids/museum etc before going to Israel or after?
Thanks for your help!! Mo