Phlox Pyros

I would like to plan a trip to Israel and have some questions for others. I'd love to get to know the different landscapes and topography across Israel and see many various historical sites.

(1) First and foremost, I guess I would ask if anyone in this forum has visited or actually lives in Israel?

(2) How dangerous is it really? What places should I avoid? What places is it worth a little danger to see?

(3) What are some of the most interesting things to see in Jerusalem? Are there ways to get to see things that most people don't get to see?

(4) Should I visit archaeological dig sites? Would it be worth it? Would I really see anything worthwhile?

(5) Are tourists allowed to visit the necropolis areas around Jerusalem?

(6) Is one allowed to freely roam the countryside on foot? What parts are safe for such an activity?

(7) What other areas around Israel should I visit? Again, are there ways to see interesting things that normal tourists would not have a chance to see?

(8) For those who have visited or lived there, what are the things that impress or have impressed you the most and why?

(9) Are there any tours or agencies you would recommend?

(10) Just describe your experience if you have been there. I'd love to hear it.

Anat

I'm an Israeli, though I have been living abroad for the last few years. As an Israeli left-winger I avoid the West Bank on principle though I have been to some sites there aeons ago when I was still in highschool (several years before the first Intifada). I don't know how safe the West Bank or East Jerusalem would be to a non-Israeli or how one would go about getting there. I might also avoid the area of the old Tel Aviv central bus station, which has been the target of several bombings including a recent one, and maybe Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market on Thursdays and Fridays (those are the busiest days, I recall a couple of bombings there at such times).

Roaming the countryside on foot - sure, no problem. There are many marked trails, many natural reserves. Some reserves and parks are managed by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. They are in very good condition, with well presented information, visitor centers etc. Entrance to these is for a fee. In many other reserves no fee is charged. Look up the Authority's site at Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority.
In the Negev many off-the-beaten-track places are in military fire zones and coordination with the military is needed to hike there, but the managed parks are fine.

More later.

Roger Pearse

Visited, but all I saw was the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. I recommend a visit to Masada.

Our tourist coach got stoned on the Mount of Olives, curiously just as our pro-palestinian guide had finished one of his interminable panegyrics on them!

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Anat

Archaeological sites - are you asking about active digs or also well studied sites?

The big ones are to be find in my previous link. One of the interesting ones for antiquity is Tel Hatzor - especially the waterworks. Many of the items found at the site are displayed nearby in the museum at Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar. Another impressive site is Tel Megiddo where one can see the city gates, an ancient silo, very impressive waterworks and a 'high place' worship site. Also recommended for this period are Tel Beersheva (includes a reconstructed horned altar) and Tel Arad. In the far south - the ancient copper mines in Timna.

In Jerusalem - try walking through Hezekiah's water tunnel. It's long, really not for claustrophobics! I did that once in December, water was past knee deep.
Also try the digs in and around the City of David.

For later periods - sites of Christian interest in the Galilee Holy Land 2000. Never having been a Christian I don't know what would interest one with a present, past or cultural Christian outlook.

Sites of the Roman period:
Bet She'an National Park (both Roman and Canaanite finds)
Zippori (Sepphoris) - lots of mosaics!!!
Beit She'arim - a 2nd to 4th century necropolis
Caesarea - don't forget the aqueduct.
Beit Govrin - Hellenist to Roman, also Arab and Crusader times - storage and burial caves, oil presses, amphitheater. Not for the claustrophobics.
Herodion - Herod's vacation palace, also tunnels dug by Zealots in preparation for the Revolt. Warning: located in the West Bank. But if you can go there, do.
Massada! - very well preserved and reconstructed, gives the feel of the time.
Qumran? (West Bank location, haven't been there myself, so I don't know what there is to see)
The Nabatean cities - Shivta, Avdat and Mamshit. The latter is the best preserved one. Gives one an idea of what it takes to survive in the desert.

In Jerusalem - try the Western Wall Tunnel. virtual tour of tunnel

There are many ancient synagogues. One with the most impressive mosaics is the Beit Alfa synagogue in Kibbutz Heftzibah.
Another well preserved one is Baram, though no mosaics.

Crusaders and Arab period:
The best preserved crusader's castle is Cochav Hayarden (Belvoir).
Akko has sites from Crusader's to Othman periods.(but also a Canaanite city and a Bahai garden). Other crusader sites are Monfort fortress and Yehiam (also an 18th century fortress and defence positions from the 1948 Independence War). Then there's the Ayyubi Nimrod Fortress - for the other side.

Take a tour of Jerusalem's walls.

Israel's Ministry of Tourism site has a lot of information, including itineraries with Catholic or Protestant interest.

Beyond the history, Israel, despite its small size, has much to offer also in the way of landscape and eco-tourism. The best season is probably February or March - the peak of spring blossom as well as the spring bird migration. The Hula Valley Nature Reserve is an excellent place to view migratory water fowl. One can observe birds of prey in Gamla Nature reserve (as well as visiting remains of the city destroyed in the Jewish Revolt).

Best places to enjoy the bloom are Ein Afek and Sharon National Park.
Israel is on the edge of the desert. Notice the contrast in vegetation by hiking in Mediterranean habitats - for example Mount Carmel National Park (or trails in the Galilee or Golan) and in the Negev (for example the oasis in Ein Avdat) or Judah Desert (Ein Gedi area, for example). For geological interest try trails in the Golan Height, especially those in and around Yehudiya Forest or the Makhteshim in the Negev. Makhtesh Ramon is the most accessible, but HaMakhtesh HaKatan is the most beautiful.

There are ongoing attempts to restore biblical wildlife. The two main places to observe biblical herbivores are Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve (wild sheep, wild goats, fallow deer, and roe deer as well as birds of prey - Griffon vultures, Egyptian vultures, and Bonelli's eagle) and Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve (ibex, gazelle, oryx, adax, onager, wild-ass as well as ostrich. also has a desert predator center). The restoration of the ibex and gazelle has been successful to the point that there are significant wild herds. The best time to observe them is during the fall mating season.

The most important prehistorical site are the three caves in Nahal Me'arot in Mount Carmel.

If you can help it avoid traveling to Israel in the summer, but if you do keep in the shade as much as possible, wear a hat and drink LOTS of water.
There are many special activities during major holidays (especially Sukkoth and Passover) but the sites are also a lot more crowded, so I would avoid holiday times if possible.

tdcanam

My parents go every year.

They have seen things, but never experienced any violence. (They have been to the West Bank often)

They visited all biblical sites and many historical sites.

Yes, they are still alive and plan to go back this year.

Berthold

Ephraim Kishon once wrote that one of his foreign guests said, "I would like to look at the country", to which he answered, "And what do you intend for the afternoon?"

He was a patriot but sometimes very self-ironic.

Luci

I tremendously enjoyed visiting the Deganya Alef Kibbutz as well, the oldest kibbutz in Isreal. Worth visiting, IMO. It is situated on the Sea Of Galillee.

Phlox Pyros

Thanks all for your responses and suggestions. I'll surely take them into account as I make my plans!

Charles Wilson

I would as well. In fact, if you make it to Israel during Passover and are near the Second Temple near sundown, please look to the west and tell me what you see.
I wouldn't expect to see anything out of the ordinary. Mark has Jesus telling two disciples to go to a man carrying a water jar, however. On the assumption that "The Man Carrying the Water Jar" is a shadow that stretches to...the Hasmonaean Palace? , I would be interested in ANY comment from anyone in the enviable position you find yourself in.

Thanx,

Charles

Tubby Lardmore

The key to Jerusalem being where it is is two-fold, as I understand it: it is on the spine of mountains that parallel the Mediterranean coast, which puts it on the natural inland route for foot traffic (avoiding the ups and downs of the valleys to either side of the ridge), and it had a perennial water supply due to the Gihon Spring.

I haven't been to Israel, so I can't answer most of your questions. But I would definitely make time to see Hezekiah's tunnel and the Pool of Siloam, which are ancient engineering artifacts of the presence of the natural spring up on the mountain.

http://www.bibleplaces.com/poolofsiloam.htm

Head down toward the Dead Sea to see Qumran and the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Even though I am not a Believer, I am well aware of the historic importance of the ancient Jewish 'holy' books.

http://www.bibleplaces.com/qumrancaves.htm