Where should we go after Israel?
 

My Husband and I are going to Israel for one week. We have been many times and are going to visit family. We live in California and are looking for a romantic destination after our one week in Israel. We will have one week for this part of our trip. I have thought of Greece and wonder about the time involved with visiting the Islands. I would not want to visit Athens. I have also thought of Turkey..Please help me decide as I have to book the Air ASAP. Italy is not an option.

When?

This March 08'

Most of Turkey will still be pretty chilly in March, if that's a concern. Istanbul is a fascinating city however.

If it were us (and it has been, sort of) I'd look at Barcelona. There are direct flights to BCN from TLV, and while not warm, it's not that bad as far as weather is concerned. Lots to see, good excursions if you want, and it's quite a romantic city.

Just a side note, if you do choose Spain after Israel, you might look for a copy of a fascinating book, <i>The Mezuzah in the Madonna's Foot </i> by Trudi Alexy - before going. Probably available through Amazon if not a commercial bookstore.

Thank you for the great information. We have been to Barcelona and love it so we need to choose another location. Is India a crazy idea? The places that are our are France, Great Britain, and Italy.

There are no crazy ideas, just crazy... oh never mind.

Just an FYI, El Al and Qantas sell a fairly affordable round-the-world ticket, one that requires you to take El Al over the Atlantic and Qantas over the Pacific. You could go from TLV to Mumbai, Bangkok or Hong Kong (or Johannesburg for a bit more) and then take Qantas back to LA via Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Brisbane, etc. Probably more time than you'd like, but a helluva deal.

WOW..this sounds very interesting! I will look into this. Do you think that I will have to stop in Austrailia? I don't hav more than 2.5 weeks for the entire trip, I could cut Israel down to 5 days..

You don't have to stop in Australia but you need to connect there. The ticket does allow backtracking from Israel to western Europe, providing you eventually continue on in a continuous overall east-west or west-east direction, e.g. LAX-TLV-LHR-BKK-SYD-LAX.

Fares from the US are currently around $2300 for coach and $4970 for business class, plus taxes and fuel surcharges etc.

Hi Gardyloo,
The flight times are quite long. We are coming from Los Angeles. I don't know if these need to be two different trips? I will look into it tomorrow. Is there another place that is more on the way. India seems like a place we would like but think I would need more time to see a few areas.

Thanks for everything

Oh, it was just an off-the-wall idea. I thought if you were contemplating India then completing the trip by going home across the Pacific might be more interesting - it is a longer route via Oz, and for sure the flights are long, compared to breaking up the trip in Europe someplace. With your time constraints, though, I probably would stick to someplace where climate change and jetlag won't wipe you out for half the time you'd have.

Have you spent any time in Amsterdam? Might be a bit raw in March, but a wonderful and cozy city to spend a few days.

ahhh..that is a great idea! It has been many deacades since was there.
How does it compare to Istanbul?

Apples and oranges to some degree. Istanbul is ancient, exotic, much more like the old city of Jerusalem x 100, and huge - 10+ million, maybe the biggest city in Europe depending on how you count it. Amazing monuments, bazaars, mosques, historic sites - but extremely trafficky and bustling. You can see a lot in 4 or 5 days, but you'll be pooped.

Amsterdam is small, cozy, and surprisingly quiet in the canal zone due to bikes outnumbering cars and trucks. Great museums, easy excursions to other interesting places like Haarlem or Delft, everyone speaks English... but no spice bazaars or Blue Mosques...

This is sounding great! How can I find out about a &quot;bike excursion&quot; for people who are fit but not young and ambitiously fit.
Also, can you recommend a hotel that is small and historic as opposed to modern and BIG...

I really appreciate your time.

We stayed at the Canal House - http://www.canalhouse.nl/ - a couple of times and enjoyed it, but it's been long enough that I'd put a new post on the Europe board asking for more current feedback. Good luck!

I think there's a Yellow Bike tour (http://www.yellowbike.nl/) near the Singel, a short walk from Dam Square and the train station (actually, most things are a short walk in AMS). There's also a pretty good pannekoeken house right near there (right by the Anne Frank museum). I probably wouldn't get too hung up on the choice of hotel. As long as you're near Dam Square or the Leidesplain it shouldn't matter too much (except maybe Hotel Ibis; I've never had good luck with them). I've stayed at the Victoria hotel, and thought it was okay.

Thank you very much. I am still undecided. I was really looking for something different (Europe)

That is why I started with India. But I am a bit put off by the travel time. If we go with Europe it will be Amsterdam. My true Love is Italy but we have traveled there too many times according to my Husband. He really wants to see something new other than Italy. I could live in Italy but thats another subject.

With one week, around the world is probably too much flying.
Weather can be somewhat unreliable for most of Europe--could be wet though surprisngly mild when it's sunny. As for &quot;romatic&quot; destinations, I would consider Venice, Spain, Prague and Paris.

You might want to check Israir--a budget airline that flies to good number of cities in Europe. Also we seem to get reasonable fare on either Swiss Air or Austrian Airlines.