Traveling to and touring in Israel

For the most part travelling in Israel is fairly simple. Israelis are multilingual and one can generally communicate in Hebrew, English, Arabic and often French. Upon arrival at the new terminal one may rent not only a car but a cell phone. Phones can generally be rented at all hotels and many other locations especialy in the larger cities. With the government still dabbling in the phone business most Israelis use their cell phones rather than their land lines as it is cheaper and easier to get. In Israel all incoming calls are free.

Getting form the airport to your destination is easy as hiring a cab. There are set prices to just about any location. As mentioned you may rent a car from a number of companies at the airport and roll your suitcases directly to your awaiting car. A small note on cars here, standard rental cars are either hatchbacks or subcompact cars. These vehicles are underpowered 4 cylinder vehicles that feel like they will die going up the next hill and probably would be illegal to operate in the US. If you are coming with the family or enjoy a full size car call ahead for availability before coming. I put close to 3000 Kilometers on my car during my last trip in a 4 door sub-compact while not ideal it (and I) survived although pickup was horrendous. Gas prices are more in tune with European prices rather than US prices.

Driving signs are just about the same as the European variety and driving is on the right side of the road. Parking is at a premium in Israel and you are better off parking at a central location and walking around than moving with the car to each point of interest. Some curbs are marked with red and white alternating pattern, these areas are no parking zones. There are also blue and white curbs, these are metered areas where you may pay for a certain amount of time at a machine located on the block. Be careful to watch the signs some of these areas are for residents only after a certain hour.

 

The above map book is likely the best one you will find it, covers every known street at the time of its printing.It comes in either A4 size which is a hard cover spiral and in a 6 inch X 8 inch soft cover version.although in hebrew only as far as I know it is clear and easy to follow.

Just one last note on driving. Israel is a small and sparely populated country . all interchanges as a rule have one exit instead of the clover leaf pattern. If you are looking for exit 3 take exit 3 there are no 3east or west exits. just the single one where you will turn left or right. Traffic is minimal except for a very few places like the entrance to Jerusalem and sometimes on the Ayalon highway thru Tel Aviv. Traffic of course is light compared to New York but heavy as compared to say Bangor Maine. Beware of Israeli drivers they tend to speed even in places where caution would say slow down.

Hotel motel or bed & breakfast that is the question. Hotels in israel really run the spectrum from the high end like the King David in Jerusalem to small ill kept hotels where your likely to ruin your vacation. Most hotels are like holiday Inns in the states and offer meals with breakfast usually included. bead and breakfasts are for the most part really nice especially if you intend to eat out. Alot will depend on what you expect and if you have the kiddies or not. I stayed a hotel Zichron Yaakov that had reasonable rooms, clean and nothing fancy. The view, however, was spectacular. Every room included a porch overlooking the Med. a little over 2km away.

A note on photography. Most anything you can see without belly crawling is not a problem to photograph. Israel is a country under siege even if the enemy is wearing suits these days. don't try to photograph any base, base entrance or even vehicles especially those behind fences without permission or you may get your film confiscated or you digital card if you are stopped. Police in Israel are not into humor, mess with them and you will visit a holding cell or the hospital ward. politeness goes along way to getting what you want.