ISRAEL

While Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world by land area, is there any larger-than-life place on earth?  As I started planning this blog about travel to Israel, I thought about the structure and cohesiveness in how to bring this beautiful country into focus.  So, as I approach my blogs about Israel, I’m going to start big – because is there a bigger idea for travel than to go to Israel?  With each set of articles, I want to narrow down Israel by cities/regions and then down into individual sites I’ve been fortunate enough to experience.

DISCLAIMER

I write this travel blog to be informative and respectful to all persons who wish to visit this beautiful country.  If there is something you do not agree with about this post, or any subsequent posts, then please do the polite thing and stop reading now.  If you wish to learn more about the history, culture, and practicalities of travel in Israel, please continue and I hope you enjoy.

TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT

Telling someone that you want to visit Israel may sound like a simple sentence but it’s a declaration that may cause surprise or worry.  The words are easy to say but are you as equally committed to your actions as your words?  If you are committed, I want to tell you about my trips to Israel.

The first trip to Israel was actually our honeymoon in 2018.  My now-husband and I each wrote down where we wanted to go and each of us chose Israel.  It was on our heart as we were both drawn to the country long before we met each other.  In December of 2018, we made our trip reality and fell in love with the country.

One common theme I try to have is that “sharing is caring.” That is a phase I heard from our first tour guide and it became our focus when we returned.  Through social media posts, we shared our experiences and found a rapt and positive following about our travels.  There were so many positive responses that we immediately began planning our next trip.  Life put us on hold in 2019 and then the pandemic closed Israel for the majority of 2020 and 2021.  We focused our next trip for December of 2021 for both Israel and Jordan.  In the months leading up to our departure, we patiently waited for Israel to reopen its borders for tourists.  And we waited.  And then, in October, we had the green light and booked the trip.  And then the Omicron variant closed Israel again three weeks before we were scheduled to leave.  We held out hope of all hope that we would be able to go but finally rescheduled the trip five days before our departure.  While we were upset, we had time off and actually took one of the best road trips of our lives through Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California.  But it was not Israel.

We rescheduled for October of 2022 and it was the best trip of our lives.  The weather was perfect.  The restrictions from COVID were relaxed and we were able to go mask-free.  We had more time to plan and more places to visit and enjoy.  And because sharing is caring, we shared our adventures again.  The positive feedback we received opened doors for us to plan a third trip with the addition of family and friends.

We were originally scheduled to go on our third trip to Israel (and Jordan) in May of 2024.  The events of October 7, 2023 put a pause on our trip and we rescheduled for October of 2024.  While tensions had temporarily eased in the region, aggressions flared in the weeks leading up to our departure. Canceled flights and calls from friends and family begging us not to go prompted another postponement. And we rescheduled again – to May of 2026.  As I write this article, we are almost four months from our departure date and we could not be more excited.

I give this long-winded account for a reason.  We really want to go to Israel.  And just because we want to do something does not mean we get to do it.  We’ve had so many obstacles in the road and we’ve persevered.  Saying you want to go to Israel is fine.  Are you committed to going to Israel?  I hope so and I hope this article will help turn a want into an action plan.

BIG IDEA, LITTLE COUNTRY

Located in the Southern Levant region of Western Asia, Israel sits as a crossroad for East/West and as convergence between Europe, Asia, and Africa.  Israel is also a crossroads of religion as it is holy to three of the world’s great religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  This small stretch of land has been a battleground of ideologies, religions, politics, and settlement for millennia.  There is nothing in my blog that will fix these issues other than to state they have existed, and will continue to exist, far longer than my words will be remembered.

Israel is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and the very southern tip of Israel touches the Red Sea in the south.  The western coast of Israel has beautiful beaches which rise in elevation to the mountain ranges of the Golan Heights in the north, then further south to the Galilee, Carmel, and Judean ranges moving from North to South.  The mountain ranges act as a natural barrier for rain and moisture from the Mediterranean as the lands to the east of those ranges are mostly arid desert.  While Israel sits on the western edge of what the ancients referred to as the “fertile crescent,” the eastern lands of Israel hold some of the lowest and driest lands on earth.  The Dead Sea, more than 1300 feet below sea level, is the lowest place on earth.

The west coast of Israel along the Mediterranean Sea holds a Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and hot summers.  There are several desert regions in the central and southern parts of the country have a semi-arid climate.  What should you expect?  December is the rainy season with cooler temperatures.  Summers can be oppressively hot due to the desert climate.  Both spring and fall are milder seasons.  We went in October and the weather was perfect with most days rain-free and temps in the 70s and 80s.

The size of Israel is surprising.  I’ve heard people compare its size to the US state of Delaware.  From east to west, the widest point is approximately 85 miles and can be traveled in about 90 minutes.  From North to South, the country is approximately 290 miles.

….AN ABBREVIATED HISTORY

There are references to Canaan and Canaanite people as early as the second millennia, BCE. Once part of the Egyptian kingdoms, the Late Bronze Age collapse created chaos over the Levant region and many former settlements vanished.  After the Bronze Age Collapse, the Israelites claimed the lands.  By the 9^th century, BCE, the United Kingdom of Israel branched off into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.  By 587 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Israel and destroyed Solomon’s temple.  The kingdoms were dissolved and many Jews were exiled to Babylon only to return years later for the rebuilding of the Second Temple.

Alexander the Great conquered the region in 332 BCE and the area was annexed by the Romans and called Judea.  After the Jewish Revolt and Jewish-Roman wars in the first century, Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed and the area was renamed Syria Palestina. Over the next two thousand years, Israel was held by the Byzantines, Sasanian Empire, Rashidun Caliphate and other caliphates, the Ottomans, the Mamluks, and then the British occupation prior to the British Mandate for a Jewish state with the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

In the post-World War II world, Jews began migrating back to the state that we now know as Israel and on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation.  In the 1950s and 1960s, war and attacks ravaged the newly formed country.  The Six-Day war in 1967 led to enlarged borders for the Jewish state.  Throughout the subsequent decades, short periods of peace have been interrupted by attacks.  The most recent and deadly of these were the attacks of October 7, 2023 and the Iran/Israel conflicts of 2024 and 2025.

PRESENT DAY

I think people would be surprised by Israel.  The lands are so deep with history but the people and the country are so young.  Tel Aviv has a very young population growing every year.  The skyline has massive skyscrapers glittering against the jewel-blue sea of the Mediterranean.  Yet in the middle of these pockets of modern lie areas like the historic seaport of Jaffa which dates back to the 4^th millennium BCE and served as a harbor during the Early Bronze Age.  Jerusalem is very rich in Jewish tradition and serves as the religious capital of the country.  The surrounding slopes of Jerusalem have modern buildings but the city center is a cluster of limestone monuments that tell a history of many civilizations.  The lush plains of the Jezreel Valley were once swampland transformed into nutrient-rich soil from the innovations of draining and repurposing the water sources in the region.  The Jordan-Rift Valley just west of the Jordan River and Dead Sea were once barren lands that now bloom fruits and vegetables in the desert. 

The one common theme throughout all of Israel is that with the new, there is a preservation of the ancient.  Jerusalem, for example, has modern high-rises surrounding the historic Old City at the center.  Yet I learned that the aesthetic of the city is so important that at least 70% of building structures must be faced with local Jerusalem stone so that city can maintain its uniform golden glow. 

Going to Israel is a beautiful combination of ancient and modern.  Here are some of the questions I’ve been asked:

Is there a McDonald’s in Israel?  Yes.  But the menu will be Kosher and you may not

recognize some of the items.

Does everyone speak Hebrew?  Yes, but most everyone speaks a little, if not fluent,

English.  Signs are easy to navigate as you will see listings in Hebrew, Arabic, and

English.

What do they eat there?  Well, any person in the Middle East is, on average, eating

better than we are in the US.  There are very few processed and refined foods and the

vegetables and fruits are very fresh.  I will do a separate food post but will answer the

question with this – I never went hungry and the food was delicious.

Are you not scared?  No.  I have good common sense and don’t put myself in

dangerous situations.  That’s the first rule.  Second, it’s one of the safest places to be –

regardless of what you hear on the news.  The country is secure and very

hospitable to Americans and visitors of all nations.  You do not need a helmet.  It is not

a war zone. 

What’s with all the hummus?  SMH.  You’re going to see and eat a lot of hummus.  If

there’s a national dish of Israel, it’s probably hummus.  But it’s better there that the

stuff we get in containers in American grocery stores.  Try it.  I did not like hummus

before my first trip and I’m a convert.

I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

You need a plan.  If you are going to Israel, you need to have a plan and you need to do your homework.  I like to plan my own trips.  I’ve used a travel agent for every trip we’ve taken and will continue to do so – regardless of how comfortable I am with building an itinerary.  In the alternative, I would suggest joining a tour group so that you have an itinerary and course of where and what to see.  Israel is not the country to hop on a plane, land, and plan where you stay and what you do while sitting in the airport.

Budget.  Israel is expensive.  I recently read that Tel Aviv is one of the most expensive countries on Earth.  Plan accordingly.  If it is really on your heart to go, then start with that goal, save, take the time off work, and enjoy the trip.  I would not encourage budget traveling for this trip but encourage methodical planning on where you stay, tours, activities, restaurants, etc, to get the best prices.

Attractions.  You will want to see everything.  The first time we went, we thought we saw everything.  Then we planned our second trip and just scratched the surface.  As we plan for our third time, we are returning to see some of our favorite places (Mount Carmel, the Old City, Jericho, Masada, Ein Gedi, Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemene) as well as planning for new adventures in the Negev Desert and Golan Heights.  Make a list of what you want to see and either find an organized tour that offers those activities or employ a travel agent to help with getting those tours set up.

Transportation.  Flights to Israel are secure and I would plan advance purchase of tickets.  US domestic carriers such as American Airlines, United, and Delta have direct routes from New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.  The Israeli carrier, El Al, has hubs in New York, Newark, Miami, and Los Angeles.  International carriers such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Aegean Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and others, have flights in and out of Tel Aviv.  Expect high security and last-minute gate announcements.  We’ve flown British Airways both times and had to scramble to our gate once they finally announced.

Where to Stay?  I think the best cities to stay are Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Tiberias.  With those three choices, you are in proximity of the best of the best archeological and religious sites.  As far as where to stay, for all, I suggest near the city center for walkable access to restaurants and other activities. Alternatives would be to stay in the port city of Haifa, the southern port city of Eilat, or even at one of the resorts by the Dead Sea if the opportunity arises.  Hotels range for the extravagant (King David) to more moderate choices.  There are several American-based chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and others.

Travel Insurance/Refundable Flights and Hotels.  Yes.  For all the reasons.  Life happens.  Protect yourself.

DON’T STOP BELIEVING

The only trip we’ve planned to go to Israel that went off without having to reschedule was our first trip in 2018.  Since then, we’ve navigated pandemics, country-closures, wars, rumors of war, and overall geo-political uncomfortableness that I’m not going to be able to explain or solve in this post.  But if you are committed to go, make your plan, and make your backup plan.  Be flexible.  While the world is uncertain, my husband and I are not.  We love Israel.  We feel safe in Israel.  And we will return to Israel when the timing and the planning is right.

NEXT TIME I GO….

Spoiler alert – there will always be a next time.  But I’m going to save my suggestions for the more specific posts about food, sites, hotels, and more.  I really hope everyone enjoys the journey as I get to unwrap my favorite place to go – the next time I go.