# Israel & Holy Land...anyone been?



## Carol C (Nov 24, 2010)

I've always wanted to visit the major sites in the region, from Israel to Jordan. Any TUGgers make such a trip and use timeshares as your home base? I wouldn't want to rent a car...would take local transportation and fly in and out of Tel Aviv via EasyJet. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences with me!


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## ginnylbs (Nov 25, 2010)

*Just got back in Oct of this year*

We did not use a timeshare - and I would suggest you don't either.  We used a Tour Company for 10 day Israel and Holy Land Tour and they took us to the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jordan River Baptism site etc.   We saw many - many sites with a knowledgeable guide.  We had an amazing and safe trip.


 Gas is very expensive in Israel and there are security checkpoints in various spots.  With a tour - you get nice hotel, breakfast and dinners on some tours and someone to explain what you are seeing as well as the significance.

You can PM me if you want more info - Ginny


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## Carol C (Nov 25, 2010)

ginnylbs said:


> We did not use a timeshare - and I would suggest you don't either.  We used a Tour Company for 10 day Israel and Holy Land Tour and they took us to the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jordan River Baptism site etc.   We saw many - many sites with a knowledgeable guide.  We had an amazing and safe trip.
> 
> 
> Gas is very expensive in Israel and there are security checkpoints in various spots.  With a tour - you get nice hotel, breakfast and dinners on some tours and someone to explain what you are seeing as well as the significance.
> ...



Ginny...thank you! You went exactly in the timeframe I'm looking to go next year. I will PM you for your tour operator & other recommendations. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!


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## chriskre (Nov 25, 2010)

I went in Sept. a few years back.  

I did not do timesharing either.  I took a tour.  Actually a kind of pilgrimage Christian tour.  

I don't think it's really a place where you want to wander out on your own because you might find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time.
For example, we didn't realize that once the Sabbath starts that you can't get a cab in certain parts of the city and that you could get stuck walking.

Just alot of different customs that we aren't used to.  Definetely need a tour to go into Bethlehem as the area isn't too safe either.  

I found the guides invaluable in making sure all went safely.  I think it's worth the extra money to do the tour.


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## Carol C (Nov 25, 2010)

chriskre said:


> I went in Sept. a few years back.
> 
> I did not do timesharing either.  I took a tour.  Actually a kind of pilgrimage Christian tour.
> 
> ...



You're always so caring and helpful...thank you! I'll be looking at organized tours, for sure!


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## sailingman22 (Nov 27, 2010)

We just returned from an eleven day tour of Israel and would highly suggest going on an organized tour. Our tour offered 4 star accommadation with breakfast, 4 dinners, and 4 free admissions to places such as Yad Yashem. We didn't worry about where we were going, parking the car, or "whats that over there". The bus driver was excellent and the tour guide did a fantastic job explaining everything we were seeing during the trip. Arie was amazing in knowing his history of the region and the people and we feel was the best guide that we could have had for this trip. He has been a guide for 40 years and runs up/down the hills like a billy goat.

We have never used a tour company before but are planning to use the same tour company for a trip to Egypt in 2012. Note: There are stairs and hills everywhere so try being in good physical health and shape when going on this trip. Many of the senior citizens said that they joined a gym 3 - 6 months to get in shape or they would not have completed it.

PM me for the tour operater.


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## rickandcindy23 (Nov 27, 2010)

Our church has done several of these types of trips, and going with people at the church seems to be the way to see the sights.  There are usually 20 or so people who sign up, and they use some tour company?  You can visit with these friends and get to know them better, and worship and pray with those whom you already know and love.   I notice more and more "younger" people are going with the group of seniors that usually take these trips.  

We have yet to go, but we are thinking more and more about it now, as Rick gets closer to retirement.  We are very excited about traveling around the globe and need to get those passports ready.


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## chriskre (Nov 27, 2010)

Carol C said:


> You're always so caring and helpful...thank you! I'll be looking at organized tours, for sure!



Glad to help.  Everyone on TUG is so helpful, I just want to do my part too.

I went with a big Church group.  We were 2500 people on 50 tour buses so it was a big production.  I gotta say though, that it was the most organized chaos I have ever seen in my life.  Our guide was in the military as are most men in Israel and he had us in ship shape, water bottles in hand at all times.

We had very few faintings on our trip.  One lady choked on her water and one had a heart attack but considering the size of our group, we did pretty good.  One lady also got a blood clot in her leg on the flight over.  You definetely gotta be in good shape for this trip.  I don't think I could do it today and am glad I did it when I did.  

Wish I could go back but gotta get in shape before I even think about that.   

We flew El-Al from JFK.  If you think TSA is bad wait til you experience EL-Al.
They made us totally unpack and repack our suitcases.  No x-raying, they take the darn thing apart.  They don't trust anyone and with good reason.


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## Patty (Nov 27, 2010)

If you see bread being sold along the streets in Jerusalem, try it.  It tastes great. Go to Mesada, Kumran, Dead Sea, Galilee.  There are some really neat places to see that are now in Palestine.  I don't know if you can get to them now.  My husband was stationed in Jerusalem for two years and we drove around in a big white Jeep with UN in huge black letters on top and all sides.  We coud get into places the normal tourist could not go.  Be prepared to have your purse inspected when you go into a grocery store.  Definitely go with a guided group.  Enjoy your trip.


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## DebBrown (Nov 28, 2010)

I agree with the tour suggestion.  You will want to visit too many places and having a week at one timeshare location will not work out well.  My inlaws stayed in a timeshare there a few years ago and weren't too happy about it.  Most timeshares are not in the cities and the ones that are seem to be hotels.

DH works for an Israeli institute and travels there regularly.  They always use a tour company when taking guests.

Deb


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## Carol C (Nov 28, 2010)

DebBrown said:


> I agree with the tour suggestion.  You will want to visit too many places and having a week at one timeshare location will not work out well.  My inlaws stayed in a timeshare there a few years ago and weren't too happy about it.  Most timeshares are not in the cities and the ones that are seem to be hotels.
> 
> DH works for an Israeli institute and travels there regularly.  They always use a tour company when taking guests.
> 
> Deb



Hey Deb...thanks for posting. Also thanks to everyone else who posted...I am definitely going to sign on to a tour and skip the t/s option for this region. Hmmm, why do I suddenly have a craving for good bread?!!! :whoopie:


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## chriskre (Nov 28, 2010)

The food was good everywhere Carol.  I didn't have a bad meal once.

I hope you like fish, cause they eat alot of it.


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## GetawaysRus (Aug 31, 2011)

Here's a different viewpoint.

My wife and I took a 3 week trip to Jordan and Israel in May 2011.  A Holy Land trip had been a dream of ours for several years, and finally we took the plunge.

We visited Jordan first.  I did not think it would be wise to visit Jordan independently, so I arranged a private tour through Jordan Direct Tours (a.k.a. Jordan Select Tours).  I started with one of the recommended itineraries on their website and then modified it to suit our tastes.  You can read comments about this company on TripAdvisor in the Jordan Forum.  Jordan Direct provided the driver and car, and helped with some of the hotels.  (I used my hotel reward points for some locations.)  We had a wonderful 6 days in Jordan.

We then crossed over to Israel (there are several ways of doing this).  We spent 2 weeks traveling independently in Israel.  I arranged a hotel and car rental using an Israeli travel agent.  We started in Tel Aviv, picked up the rental when we were ready to leave Tel Aviv and move on, and then dropped the car off just as we arrived in Jerusalem for the final days of our trip.  I did hire a private guide to assist us for several of our days in Jerusalem.

We find that our travel experience is so much richer, and we remember so much more, when we are independent rather than on an organized tour.  It required a lot of planning beforehand, but it is quite possible to be independent in Israel - we had no difficulty whatsoever.

We did not stay at any timeshares.

We flew El Al back, from Tel Aviv to LAX: unlike the poster above, we had no problem.  I think what they do is ask you a few questions to try to catch you off guard and then gauge your response.  After my check-in bag went through the X-ray machine, they asked me how many pairs of shoes I had in the bag.  It's an odd question, but I came up with the answer quickly (and calmly).  Lucky they didn't ask my wife that question.  I had only 2 or 3 pairs of shoes packed, but only God knows how many shoes she was carting around.


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## mclyne (Sep 1, 2011)

We were in Israel and Jordan this past October. We went with Tauck  tours and it was wonderful. I would not recommend going there without a tour company. We felt safe knowing the tour company was capable of handling any unforseen events.


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## Loes (Sep 1, 2011)

GetawaysRus said:


> Here's a different viewpoint.
> 
> We find that our travel experience is so much richer, and we remember so much more, when we are independent rather than on an organized tour.  It required a lot of planning beforehand, but it is quite possible to be independent in Israel - we had no difficulty whatsoever.



We had the same experience in March/April on our trip to Israel. We rented a car, spent a week in a rental apartment in Jerusalem, where we visited all the highlights on our own. Only guided tour we made was to Bethlehem. After that a week in a timeshare: Clubhotel Tiberias. From Tiberias you can make many daytrips: Golan, Akko, Caesarea, Sfad, around the lake, Beth Shean, Megiddo, Nazareth and more. We were satisfied with the resort. Beautiful lake views, quiet, nice pool, though the units were a bit outdated, they were clean and had good beds. Than we went to the south and stayed at the Dead Sea/ Masada for one night. The last couple of days we stayed at the Clubhotel Eilat, a nice resort. We were not very impressed by Eilat itself, but the desert (Timna park) is wonderful!
Louise


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