Israel Holiday - Any advice?

Rezident

Going to Israel for the first time in June. I hope to get to all the usual places: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Sea of Gallilee, the Med, the Dead and the Red. Also hoping to get across the border into Jordan, does anyone know if this is problematic?

Also, heard it can be hard to get to Bethlehem, does anyone know anything anout this? I presume the Gaza strip is realistically out of bounds?

I presume Irish atm cards will work, in Tel Aviv anyway, although pay as you go phones don't appear to? Any other tips?

Cheers.

paky

I would definitly recommend it. Spent almost a year there. Its a pretty modern country so cash withdrawals and all that kind of thing isnt a problem. How long are you going to spend there?

Downtime

Rezident wrote: »

Going to Israel for the first time in June. I hope to get to all the usual places: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Sea of Gallilee, the Med, the Dead and the Red. Also hoping to get across the border into Jordan, does anyone know if this is problematic?

Also, heard it can be hard to get to Bethlehem, does anyone know anything anout this? I presume the Gaza strip is realistically out of bounds?

I presume Irish atm cards will work, in Tel Aviv anyway, although pay as you go phones don't appear to? Any other tips?

Cheers.

I got a great tour guide for Jerusalem for a 1/2 day and it was well worth it - she drove us around and walked with us through the old city. I cant remember who it was as it was 2/3 years ago but worth looking into. I had a small issue with my Irish cards over there - the bank locked them in case they were stolen or something so I just rang them and there were no issues.

Manta Ray restaurant along the sea from in Tel Aviv is delicious for sea food, Meatos in town is nice as are a lot of the places on Rothschild.

You can get to Bethlehem from Jerusalem but it is a dodgy place with little to see.

When leaving get to the airport early as security can be a nightmare, especially on a second trip (Ben Gurion).

Rezident

paky wrote: »

I would definitly recommend it. Spent almost a year there. Its a pretty modern country so cash withdrawals and all that kind of thing isnt a problem. How long are you going to spend there?

Two weeks.

Zebra3

Rezident wrote: »

Going to Israel for the first time in June. I hope to get to all the usual places: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Sea of Gallilee, the Med, the Dead and the Red. Also hoping to get across the border into Jordan, does anyone know if this is problematic?

Also, heard it can be hard to get to Bethlehem, does anyone know anything anout this? I presume the Gaza strip is realistically out of bounds?

I presume Irish atm cards will work, in Tel Aviv anyway, although pay as you go phones don't appear to? Any other tips?

Cheers.

Gaza is a no-go. The border is sealed.

If you wanna go to Bethlehem, I can highly recommend this: http://www.patg.org/index.php?page=1177263110.1197043009

The handiest way of getting into Jordan is via the border crossing in the south at Eilat and from there you can make your way up to Petra. Plenty of day trips from Eilat by loads of companies. Make sure you get to Petra!!!! http://wikitravel.org/en/Petra

Just remember if you get an Israeli stamp on your passport there are a host of countries you cannot travel to until you get a new passport.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Israel#Get_in

Pythia

Zebra3 wrote: »

The handiest way of getting into Jordan is via the border crossing in the south at Eilat and from there you can make your way up to Petra. Plenty of day trips from Eilat by loads of companies. Make sure you get to Petra!!!! http://wikitravel.org/en/Petra

Just remember if you get an Israeli stamp on your passport there are a host of countries you cannot travel to until you get a new passport.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Israel#Get_in

Damn, there goes the holiday to Sudan!

Petra is well worth a visit, such an amazing sight!

Rezident

Yes planning on two days in petra, it sounds great.

halkar

Downtime wrote: »

...
When leaving get to the airport early as security can be a nightmare, especially on a second trip (Ben Gurion).

+1 They did not check me in even though I was at the airport 2 hours before flight. Had to change flight for the next day.

I did not have any issues with CC or Lazer (Cirrus\Maestro) cards at the ATMs. You can withdraw within daily limits of the banks. It is a small country so 2 weeks may get boring unless you go to Jordan or Sinai. Both can be crossed via Eilat. I recommend go to Eilat first. Cross to Jordan or Sinai for few days. Hire a car from Eilat to travel around Israel for the remaining of the week and leave the car at Tel Aviv on your departure.

Give at least 2 days for Jerusalem and have a night camping at Galilei

Rezident

ok good to know, thanks.

Rezident

One more thing, does anyone know if Irish O2 pay-as-you-go phones work in Israel?

O2 said they don't have an agreement with Israel but they "might" work over there!? Not ideal, does anyone know for sure?

Thanks.

Zebra3

Rezident wrote: »

One more thing, does anyone know if Irish O2 pay-as-you-go phones work in Israel?

O2 said they don't have an agreement with Israel but they "might" work over there!? Not ideal, does anyone know for sure?

Thanks.

Mine worked when I was there. No problems with it there, Jordan or the WB. No probs either topping up via the web.

Rezident

Zebra3 wrote: »

Mine worked when I was there. No problems with it there, Jordan or the WB. No probs either topping up via the web.

Brilliant, thanks a million for that.