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Israel itinerary help
We're headed to Israel for 6-8 days (we are flexible as we are doing a border crossing by land into Jordan) in a few weeks and we need some suggestions.
We're flying into Tel-Aviv arriving late on a Friday night, so we plan to spend at least Saturday there, perhaps part of Sunday. We want to get to the Dead Sea, Jerusalem for 2 days perhaps, are considering the Sea of Galilee, and we are crossing into Jordan at Eilat. Is our best bet to base ourselves in Jerusalem and go for day trips or overnights from there, or would you suggest a loop of some sort? We've heard that there are fantastic places on the coast, but we're interested more in the history and culture as opposed to laying around on the beach since we have such limited time unless there's something truly spectacular there.
There are so many travel forums about Israel that it's all a little overwhelming. If you've been, what are your suggestions in terms of routing and/or places that we absolutely should not miss?
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Re: Israel itinerary help
We were visiting friends living in Tel Aviv and thus were stationed there. We took one day trip to Jerusalem and I regret not spending more time there. I loved both cities, but for different reasons. Tel Aviv felt like a vibrant, coastal, western European city to me. It had great food and interesting shops. Again, we were visiting friends, so we didn't see as many sites in Tel Aviv. Visiting Jerusalem was life affecting. Not because I'm particularly religious, but the whole place oozed history and echoed of stories. I'll never forget the Old City's worn stones and steps. I wished we had spent more time there. Beyond wandering around the city, often lost, we focused our trip on the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I'm sure you've read, but in Jerusalem certain sites are closed on given days and during set times. We missed getting to the Dome of the Rock because we saved it for last and it was closed.
Since you are more interested in history and culture, I'd recommend Jerusalem as your hub over Tel Aviv for that reason alone. I'm not sure how it is for transportation though. I'm sure there are ample buses, but we took a taxi between the cities. They charged a fixed fee to go between the two and getting into Jerusalem was cheaper than the return for whatever reason. For the return trip, our friends wrote their address and some instructions in Hebrew so we could give it to the taxi driver. He plugged it into his phone and used it as his navigation system. Our friends also spoke highly of the coast, but we didn't get up that way.
I checked out your blog and your trip sounds amazing. I loved your post about the kindness of strangers. I live in San Francisco now and try to lend a hand to lost tourists with their maps. I too have been saved by people pointing me in the right direction, seeing that was on the right bus (and didn't miss my stop), and providing translation services. I try to return a little helpful travel karma to the world. I wish you happy and safe travels.
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