Anonymous
05/19/2023 06:58
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
To be clear I had a private tour for 7 full days. I booked the lodging in Jerusalem myself but we still had the tour all of those days except shabbat. They planned stuff for us to do on Shabbat but we were on our own.
They had planned a day of our touring for our first full day in Tel Aviv too but when I got the schedule I said - scratch that day - we need to rest after flight and see family. I made a few comments on the first draft of the itinerary & they updated. It was cool and flexible. And our guide even gave us certain options of what did we want to do during the trip too. We felt very taken care of. He gave us a great food tour of the Machane Yehudah Market. I want to go back and do another one with him!
Israel maven was the company and I do recommend them. I have recommended to my friends IRL.
They had planned a day of our touring for our first full day in Tel Aviv too but when I got the schedule I said - scratch that day - we need to rest after flight and see family. I made a few comments on the first draft of the itinerary & they updated. It was cool and flexible. And our guide even gave us certain options of what did we want to do during the trip too. We felt very taken care of. He gave us a great food tour of the Machane Yehudah Market. I want to go back and do another one with him!
Israel maven was the company and I do recommend them. I have recommended to my friends IRL.
Anonymous
05/18/2023 22:19
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
Anonymous wrote:Oh it was me. Let me get the receipts. I haven’t even told my husband how much the trip cost. Family of 5 - 2 adults 3 kids
Winter break
It was very expensive.
Flights- slightly above $1K pp direct IAD to TLV so $6K total
Tour planned for us with private guide who drove us plus entry everywhere and 4 nights of lodging -$14K
I did 5 nights of Airbnb in Jerusalem myself - about $300/night
4 breakfasts were included and maybe one dinner, airport transfers both ways. And we bought the rest of the food I think.
We didn’t go to fancy restaurants - in the Airbnb we went to the grocery store and basically every time we ate out we had hummus falafel and shawarma. Fwiw.
I don’t usually pay that much for a trip. I usually moonlight as our own travel agent. I did get what I paid for - I had a call with the company and said what I was looking for and they made the whole schedule and booked everything and we just showed up at the airport and they took care of everything. But I paid for it!! My husband is Israeli (but moved here when he was 6, and he hadn’t been been back since 2003 or so) & his family told us we should do a tour for our first trip.
Next time - now that I know the country a bit more - I would maybe do a tour guide for a day or two for a certain specific thing but otherwise do more on our own.
Our oldest son said he wanted a not over the top bar mitzvah and then a family trip to Israel.
Honestly, this sounds very inexpensive compared to most other options. You basically traded 4-5 private tour days for 10-12 group tour days.
Anonymous
05/18/2023 21:51
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
It actually makes me feel better that it would have been roughly same price for us to go with our synagogue if I had to pay $5Kx5.
Anonymous
05/18/2023 21:49
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
Oh it was me. Let me get the receipts. I haven’t even told my husband how much the trip cost. Family of 5 - 2 adults 3 kids
Winter break
It was very expensive.
Flights- slightly above $1K pp direct IAD to TLV so $6K total
Tour planned for us with private guide who drove us plus entry everywhere and 4 nights of lodging -$14K
I did 5 nights of Airbnb in Jerusalem myself - about $300/night
4 breakfasts were included and maybe one dinner, airport transfers both ways. And we bought the rest of the food I think.
We didn’t go to fancy restaurants - in the Airbnb we went to the grocery store and basically every time we ate out we had hummus falafel and shawarma. Fwiw.
I don’t usually pay that much for a trip. I usually moonlight as our own travel agent. I did get what I paid for - I had a call with the company and said what I was looking for and they made the whole schedule and booked everything and we just showed up at the airport and they took care of everything. But I paid for it!! My husband is Israeli (but moved here when he was 6, and he hadn’t been been back since 2003 or so) & his family told us we should do a tour for our first trip.
Next time - now that I know the country a bit more - I would maybe do a tour guide for a day or two for a certain specific thing but otherwise do more on our own.
Our oldest son said he wanted a not over the top bar mitzvah and then a family trip to Israel.
Winter break
It was very expensive.
Flights- slightly above $1K pp direct IAD to TLV so $6K total
Tour planned for us with private guide who drove us plus entry everywhere and 4 nights of lodging -$14K
I did 5 nights of Airbnb in Jerusalem myself - about $300/night
4 breakfasts were included and maybe one dinner, airport transfers both ways. And we bought the rest of the food I think.
We didn’t go to fancy restaurants - in the Airbnb we went to the grocery store and basically every time we ate out we had hummus falafel and shawarma. Fwiw.
I don’t usually pay that much for a trip. I usually moonlight as our own travel agent. I did get what I paid for - I had a call with the company and said what I was looking for and they made the whole schedule and booked everything and we just showed up at the airport and they took care of everything. But I paid for it!! My husband is Israeli (but moved here when he was 6, and he hadn’t been been back since 2003 or so) & his family told us we should do a tour for our first trip.
Next time - now that I know the country a bit more - I would maybe do a tour guide for a day or two for a certain specific thing but otherwise do more on our own.
Our oldest son said he wanted a not over the top bar mitzvah and then a family trip to Israel.
Anonymous
05/18/2023 13:50
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We are Jewish.
$14K pp person +airfare is more than we want to spend, but I guess it also depends on how long that’s for.
We have done other Backroads trips in the past and they have been so well done, but they are def expensive for a week. But they really do take care of every little detail.
Will check out Authentic Israel and any others you can recommend. What about Mazada, they keep showing up in my searches…
Our Synagogue runs a 10 day family trip for about $5k pp plus airfare. $14K is insane. Are you in the DC area?
The poster that mentioned $14k did not say it was pp.
I have a recommendation if something like $14K plus airfare and food is in your budget.
Maybe a bad assumption but I thought s/he meant $14k total plus food and airfare. Which is cheaper than $5k pp plus airfare for a family of 4. We've considered trips through our synagogue but they seem pretty pricey.
Anonymous
05/10/2023 10:22
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
Definitely think it’s worth having a tour guide in Israel but if you’re willing to put in some time planning it and working with a guide in advance, I’m not sure you need a group tour (unless you want one, in which case go for it!) There are so many tour guides you could use - I’m just naming a few I have seen recommended but so many more:
https://debratours.com/
https://www.israeltrails.com/
https://www.aussieguide.guide/
https://israelwitharky.com/
https://debratours.com/
https://www.israeltrails.com/
https://www.aussieguide.guide/
https://israelwitharky.com/
Anonymous
05/10/2023 09:05
Subject: Re:Israel Group Vacation
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think Israel is really a place where you need an arranged tour. It’s safe and easy to get around, save for the West Bank, where you should have an escort (and I highly recommend visiting it for a more rounded view of modern Israel). I went there with my elderly mother and we did Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Eilat, all by ourselves.
I really disagree. The family will get so much more out of the trip with someone to share the history, context etc.
Anonymous
05/09/2023 19:34
Subject: Israel Group Vacation
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We are Jewish.
$14K pp person +airfare is more than we want to spend, but I guess it also depends on how long that’s for.
We have done other Backroads trips in the past and they have been so well done, but they are def expensive for a week. But they really do take care of every little detail.
Will check out Authentic Israel and any others you can recommend. What about Mazada, they keep showing up in my searches…
Our Synagogue runs a 10 day family trip for about $5k pp plus airfare. $14K is insane. Are you in the DC area?
Yes, we live in DC now but are not currently members of a synagogue
It would be cheaper to join for a year and go on the trip than do it through that $14K provider!