bbrier

We will be meeting family for a week in Provence in May then to a wedding in Israel. Any suggestions of easiest way in and out? Train to Milan and flying to Tel Aviv? any suggestions appreciated.

enroute

We flew Israir in and out of Paris for the wedding in Israel. While it was by far the cheapest alternative, the flight was canceled and they moved us to another airline in a hurry, in another CDG terminal. That, after it was moved to a day earlier and we had to rearrange our whole itinerary to be in Paris in time.

For a Fodorite I was unforgivably uninformed. Israir, as we found, is a charter carrier and you need to confirm if the flight is on three days before, and even then they can cancel/move. I probably would not do it again, but some of my friends are very happy with Israir and esp. the price.

Gardyloo

There are nonstops from Geneva and Milan to Tel Aviv; for some arbitrary dates in May Swiss out of Geneva was around $100 cheaper than Alitalia out of MXP (and frankly a better experience); El Al also flies from MXP, but is (as usual) more expensive.

However, Brussels Airlines (current incarnation of Sabena) flies from Nice to Brussels with an easy connection to TLV, for something like $300 less than Swiss or Alitalia, plus Nice is a lot closer to Provence than either Milan or Geneva, so a better deal altogether IMO. Brussels is a pretty good outfit, and BRU is easy to navigate.

valtor

There are also ElAl direct flights to Tel Aviv from: Mareille, Milan, Paris. You can check www.elal.co.il

valtor

Sorry, I wanted to write Marseille

bbrier

Thank you all, this is so helpful.