Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very kid friendly. Food is good - I'll never be able to go back to American pita bread and hummus.

Flight and time change are similar to going to Europe. Time is one hour ahead of DC. No direct flights from DC - we went through Newark.

Medical care if you needed it for some reason is very good.

Don't rent a car unless you are a brave driver. The Israelis drive like s***. We've been living here for 6 months and you really have to watch out. No one looks where they are going, weave in traffic, pull out in front of you, etc. so you have to be really vigilant. Most people drive beater cars b.c they get trashed.

The flight is long and depending on how many stops it can seem endless with young children. In terms of the time change I would get your child closer to Israel time a good week before by putting him to bed earlier and waking up early. The jet lag is the hardest part since it is a 6 hour difference. Midnight is only 6pm here which means if his bedtime is 8 he will normally stay up until 2am local time.

I disagree about the car. Get one, you'll need it and the drivers are no worse than in Boston. The nice thing about Israel is that everything is only a few hours away since the country is so small. With he car you can get anywhere you need and can really explore all the great places such as Rosh Hanikra is the NW corner of the country.

Totally agree with this. If you weren't traveling with a kid I'd say just take the bus everywhere but seriously, driving there isn't that bad. And the road signs are in hebrew and english. I'm so jealous, I am dying to take my family there but we haven't been able to afford it (need 4 tix). We eat at lebanese taverna so much that I've joked with my kids that when we go to israel, it'll be lebanese taverna 24/7, only good. Food there is awesome, sights are awesome, beaches are awesome. Ah, go!!!!

Anonymous wrote:Very kid friendly. Food is good - I'll never be able to go back to American pita bread and hummus.

Flight and time change are similar to going to Europe. Time is one hour ahead of DC. No direct flights from DC - we went through Newark.

Medical care if you needed it for some reason is very good.

Don't rent a car unless you are a brave driver. The Israelis drive like s***. We've been living here for 6 months and you really have to watch out. No one looks where they are going, weave in traffic, pull out in front of you, etc. so you have to be really vigilant. Most people drive beater cars b.c they get trashed.

The flight is long and depending on how many stops it can seem endless with young children. In terms of the time change I would get your child closer to Israel time a good week before by putting him to bed earlier and waking up early. The jet lag is the hardest part since it is a 6 hour difference. Midnight is only 6pm here which means if his bedtime is 8 he will normally stay up until 2am local time.

I disagree about the car. Get one, you'll need it and the drivers are no worse than in Boston. The nice thing about Israel is that everything is only a few hours away since the country is so small. With he car you can get anywhere you need and can really explore all the great places such as Rosh Hanikra is the NW corner of the country.

Anonymous wrote:hey

know quite a few who have traveled there

Friend's daughter went with school - ended up with food poisoning and lice.

just sharing what I know

Probably got lice from her school and food poisoning from McDonalds at the airport.

How long are you thinking? I just did Europe with my 3 year old and I pretty much kept her on US time (there 9 days). She went to bed at 2am and slept until noon.

Depending on the trip length and how you feel you may not want to fight the jet lag.

And I LOVE the food in Israel too!

I don't turn down tacking extra days onto a partially paid for trip!

The flight won't be fun, but do-able. Same for the time change. Depending on the time of year, there's the heat factor, which is also no big deal, but might slow you down a little. Just don't over schedule yourselves, and prepare to not see EVERYTHING.

And the food is awesome

We have the book "good night israel" and ds is familiar with some of the sites from the book - might be good to read some similar books to pump him up so that things aren't just old piles of stone to him.

All you have is one 3 year old? Go for it girl!! Do not pass up this opportunity.