My husband and I are 60 years of age from Michigan and planning a vacation to Italy in April/May 2019. We would like to tour the country for two weeks and he will be flying back home and I will be continuing on with a flight to see the Holy Land and spend 3-4 days there and return home. He refuses to accompany me to Jerusalem, so I am trying to plan this on my own. This will be his first trip abroad and my second visit to Italy. Any advice/suggestions would be so very much appreciated! God bless!!
Posted by
8474 posts
Jerusalem is amazing. You can see a lot in 3-4 days. Don't miss going to Bethlehem.
I haven't researched tours there, but you can find Viator or Tours by Locals. https://www.viator.com/Jerusalem/d921-ttd
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
In addition to any replies you get here, look at the TripAdvisor Israel forum, as it seems to be the most active one online. In particular, if you are accessing it on a desktop computer rather than a phone, on the right you will see FAQ's which are very helpful as a start: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293977-i1733-Israel.html
A frequent poster on TripAdvisor, Douglas Duckett, has written his own travel guide to Israel. Here's a direct link to the PDF; the current one is 72 pages: https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-guides/israel%20travel%20guide.pdf
For flights, you will want open jaw, into Italy and out of Israel. To find these flights, use the "multi city" or "multiple destinations" option on websites, rather than "one way" or "round trip."
Note that while Israel's airport is called Tel Aviv and has the code TLV, it is actually between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and either city can be easily accessed from it.
For flights from Italy to TLV, try Skyscanner: https://www.skyscanner.com/
If you want to know who has nonstop flights from Tel Aviv, here's the airport's Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gurion_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations
Looking at that list quickly, I see options to Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence, Naples, and even Catania (on Sicily).
Four days in Israel is a very short time. You will have be ruthlessly selective about what you want to see and how. For instance, you could spend all that time in Jerusalem (no car needed or wanted). Or, you could rent a car at the airport and see sights in the north of the country related to the last days of Jesus, with a last day in Jerusalem (by all accounts, these sights are much easier with either a car or a multi-day tour). Or, you want a different focus altogether. Start with Douglas's guide (since it's free) to see what appeals to you most, and prepare now for the disappointment of having to miss something you desperately want to see due to lack of time, closure, etc.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you Harold!!! I definitely will be doing escorted tours in Israel, I'm adventurous, but not to the extent of driving the country alone. I was wondering if it would be best to base in hotel in Tel Aviv and do north and south tours from there? Thanks folks for the info!!