Subject: Re: Israel, Jordan, Egypt |
Dear Felice and Middle East Travelers,
The first thing that comes to mind when you mention a September trip to Israel is to check the Jewish holiday dates on the calendar for 2006. Rosh Hashaha will be celebrated in Israel on Sept. 22,23, and 24 and Yom Kippur on Oct. 1st and 2nd. Perhaps you may begin your planning with these dates and trying to work around them for your touring in Israel. The Israeli week begins actually on Saturday night at sundown and begins to wind down Friday afternoon. If you have some flexibility, the best would be to fly into Israel on a Saturday afternoon, rest and stroll and then begin your touring on Sunday morning. One usually flies into Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, and takes a taxi to Jerusalem, which may take as much as an hour and would cost approximately fifty to sixty dollars depending on the number of people and pieces of luggage. After touring Jerusalem, you could rent a car and travel either north or south from there. If I remember correctly, Carol Bailey traveled south in a rented car to the Dead Sea and perhaps Eilat, and from there you could drive north again or fly north to the airport to continue on the next leg of your journey. The trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea takes at the most two hours, so you could do this in one day either with a rented car, commercial group bus trip from your hotel or just a guide. Three days in Jerusalem will give you a good feeling for the city, especially if you take any day trips to the south and depending on your stamina after a 12 hour flight. Another option is to drive north from Jerusalem and tour the Golan Heights, Haifa and that region and ofcourse, you could also do this touring with a driver and licensed Israeli guide. Specific sites, hotels, etc. will come later after you get the outline of your three destinations in place. I would assume that there is either an Israeli tourist bureau in Toronto or the Toronto consulate might have some travel folders and maps to mail to you. This is a wunderground.com link to the weather for Sept. 2005 for Tel Aviv. Please be aware that Jerusalem is quite a bit cooler and there should be no precipitation in the whole country. http://tinyurl.com/dgb5c http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/LLBG/2005/9/12/M onthlyHistory.html I expect to be here in Sept. 2006, so we should be able to visit and I know that you will have a wonderful vacation and everything will fall into place. Bettina Jerusalem |