Frommer's Israel Itinerary

In One Week

Israel is small in area, but thousands of years of history are packed into this tiny country. God may have created the universe in 6 days, but you'll need a day or two more than a week to truly let yourself explore Israel's layers of time and charisma. This itinerary covers a mix of ancient and modern highlights designed to give you a good overview of the country.

Day 1: Settling into Tel Aviv and Exploring Old Jaffa

From May to October you can recover from jet lag by beaching and swimming in the sparkling, warm Mediterranean. Head from Ben Gurion airport to a hotel close to the sea; good choices include the Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel & Tower and the Hotel de la Mer. Lots of sunlight will help get you into the rhythm of Israeli time. In the cool of the evening, explore the Old City of Jaffa with its medieval streets, galleries, and eateries overlooking the sea. Dine at Margaret Tayar's by the sea, the romantic Cordelia, or the authentic Dr. Shakshouka.

Day 2: Inventive Tel Aviv
Indulge in an Israeli buffet breakfast at your hotel, and then take in the ambience of the country's quintessential Israeli city. Spend at least a few hours at Tel Aviv's unique Diaspora Museum. Swim as the sun plummets into the Mediterranean, and then head to the Tel Aviv Port, recently recycled into a stylish seaside boardwalk, for an evening of people-watching, dining, shopping, dancing, and drinking.

Day 3: Jerusalem
Take a bus or sherut to Jerusalem. Check into your hotel, then head for the Old City, the Arab bazaars, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Stroll the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in the late afternoon or at twilight; visit the Western Wall, which is fascinating at any hour, but special as evening descends and birds swoop high above the adjacent plaza. Dine in the New City, where you'll find a great range of restaurant choices. Lively downtown West Jerusalem stays open late and offers lots of cafes and shops as an evening diversion.

Day 4: The Old City and on to the Dead Sea.
Get up early and go to the Temple Mount. At press time it, the magnificent Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque are open only Sunday to Thursday from 9 to 11am, but confirm these hours with the Tourist Information Office just inside Jaffa Gate. Afterward, explore the Crusader Church of Saint Anne, with its exquisite acoustics, and exit the Old City via the Damascus Gate, while sampling interesting foods along the way. Pick up a rental car, drive down to the Dead Sea, and have a late-afternoon swim.

Day 5: Masada and on to the Galilee
Watch the sunrise over the unearthly Dead Sea. Climb or take the cable car up Masada before dawn or early in the morning. Rest before you check out, then drive up to the Sea of Galilee, the lyrical lake central to Jewish and Christian history. Visit Capernaum ruins, site of Jesus' Galilee ministry, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the ruins of Korazim, a typical Jewish village from Roman times with a large synagogue overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Overnight at Kibbutz Ein Gev, on the eastern shore of the lake, where you can have a refreshing swim, eat local Saint Peter's fish (John Dory) for dinner, and watch the twilight fall over the mountains and the Sea of Galilee.

Day 6: Safed, Akko, and Caesarea
After an early swim in the Galilee, head up to the nearby mystical, mountain city of Safed, with its quaint lanes and artists' houses. From Safed, head to the ancient walled seaport of Akko (Acre), and spend some time exploring the city's authentic bazaars and mosques beside the Mediterranean. Time your drive down the coast to Jerusalem so you can stop at Caesarea, the vast ruined Herodian city by the sea. Have a late dinner amid Caesarea's ruins (and overlooking the waves of the Mediterranean) at Helena or The Port Café. Drive to Jerusalem and check into your hotel for a well-deserved night's sleep.

Day 7: Jerusalem's New City
Return your rental car and spend the morning examining the Judaica, archaeology, and sculpture collections at the Israel Museum; or Yad VaShem, the Holocaust museum/memorial. Take an afternoon walk through Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem's colorful produce market, then head past the 19th-century mansions of Ethiopia Street en route to Mea Shearim, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood that offers a glimpse of a world almost destroyed by the Holocaust. Finish your day off with some gift shopping in West Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Mall. Have dinner in one of the area's restaurants.

Day 8: To Ben Gurion Airport
If your flight is at night, you can browse the Old City -- it's endlessly fascinating -- or if you haven't done so, visit (or revisit) Yad VaShem or the Israel Museum. For a simple farewell dinner with a view try Papa Andreas's, whose roof terrace overlooks the entire Old City. Then it's off to the airport.

In Two Weeks

This itinerary will allow you more time to enjoy the beauty and variety of landscapes and to interact more with places. You'll swim in four seas (Mediterranean, Galilee, Dead, and Red) and have a solid block of time to explore the jewel in the crown, Jerusalem, in a personal way.
Jerusalem Sightseeing--Tailor the Jerusalem suggestions in this tour to the days sites are open. The Temple Mount is closed to visitors Fridays and Saturdays; much of West Jerusalem shuts for Shabbat. There are wonderful concerts, performances or lectures (many in English) -- check the Friday Jerusalem Post or Ha'aretz Newspaper for listings)

Days 1 & 2: Tel Aviv
Head for Tel Aviv and overcome jet lag at a hotel at the beach and also explore this lively, very Israeli city's style, pace, museums, and architecturally varied neighborhoods, ranging from the Bauhaus city center to crusader Jaffa. A relaxing alternative if you have a car is to chill at a seaside kibbutz hotel like Shefayim, with cliffs overlooking the sea; or at the Dan Caesarea Hotel near Caesarea's ruins and beaches. Swim at Caesarea's Roman Aqueduct Beach. Dine at Caesarea's port amid Roman and Crusader ruins -- the dynamite sunset is directly over the Mediterranean!

Day 3: Up the Coast to Haifa.
Make Haifa your base -- hotels at the top of the Carmel Mountains have breathtaking vistas, and there are many dining choices in Haifa after a day of touring the countryside, from the artists village of Ein Hod to the walled Arabic port city of Akko. Akko is famous for ancient bazaars, mosques, and harborside restaurants like Uri Buri and Abu Christo. Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, founded by survivors of the Holocaust, combines past tragedy and hope for the future: It contains an important Holocaust Museum, set amid the orchards and fields where the descendents of those few who survived have made their lives. Farther north, visit the grottos and white seaside cliffs at Rosh Ha-Niqra.

Day 4: Freewheeling the Galilee
Move inland across the northern Galilee. Base in the mystic, mountain top city of Safed, in or near Nazareth or at Metulla amid orchards and greenery at the northernmost tip of Israel, or at a kibbutz guesthouse in the Galilee. Visit the ancient ruined synagogue at Baram (the best preserved in Israel) and the nature reserves and springs at Baniyas and Tel Dan, with their freezing waters. Dine at a rustic spot like Dag Al HaDan, a trout farm restaurant set amid streams, where the fish on your plate was alive and swimming while you were parking your car.

Day 5: The Sea of Galilee
Circle the shoreline of this mysterious and lovely lake with its New Testament sites at Tabgha, Capernaum, Kursi, and the Mount of Beatitudes, where the Sermon on the Mount was given. The eastern shore south of Ein Gev has quiet eucalyptus-shaded beaches. Overnight at the Scot's Hotel or Sheraton in Tiberias, or Kibbutz Ein Gev with its date-palm-shaded beach. Dine at scrumptious Decks in Tiberias and afterward dance on an evening party boat!

Day 6: More Galilee
While you're based at the Sea of Galilee, explore the wild, beautiful Golan Heights; hike to Gamla with its tragic history and ruined Herodian-era synagogue; or visit the Golan Heights Winery and museums in Katzrin. Or visit Nazareth's Church of the Annunciation and Nazareth's replica of a biblical village: nearby Kana, with two churches marking the miracle of water turned to wine; and ruined Zippori, the Hellenistic metropolis close to the then-tiny Nazareth of Jesus' childhood. Have a late swim in the lake and dine around the Sea of Galilee.

Day 7: Drive from Sea of Galilee, to the Dead Sea
Travel south through the Jordan Valley visiting the vast archaeological park of Roman-era Bet Shean or the Crusader castle ruins at Belvoir, or a short stop at the famous zodiac mosaic floor of the 5th-century Beit Alpha Synagogue at Kibbutz Hefzibah. Overnight at Kibbutz Ein Gedi Guesthouse, with its lavish botanical gardens, overlooking the Dead Sea, or at the Masada Hostel, or the deluxe Le Meridien Spa Hotel.

Day 8: Luxuriate at the Dead Sea and Explore Masada and Ein Gedi
Explore the legendary Herodian fortress of Masada where the last Jewish resisters against Rome chose suicide over surrender; try to sink in the unearthly Dead Sea. Try the famous therapeutic mud, mineral, and massage treatments at the Dead Sea hotel spas or Kibbutz Ein Gedi Spa. Or hike the Ein Gedi Reserve, a canyon oasis where David hid from King Saul. Hope for a Bedouin cookout night at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, or have a relaxing evening Dead Sea mineral bath or treatment.

Day 9: Drive to Eilat for Diving and More
Snorkel Eilat's coral reef with its exotic Indian Ocean fish or view the fish at the aquarium or from a glass-bottom boat. Enjoy Eilat's busy restaurant scene and nightlife. Overnight at (luxury) Herod's Sheraton Eilat, Tower Floor with gourmet snack buffet; or (budget) Isrotel Riviera. For kids, there are camel rides and the Dolphin Reef, where you can watch wild dolphins. Eilat Center is a fast-food shopping mall with arcades and games to keep kids busy.

Day 10: Drive to Jerusalem
En route to Jerusalem (4 hr.) stop at Timna Park's desert landscapes, or look around Kibbutz Lotan's inventive desert buildings and organic farm. In Jerusalem, return rental car and take an evening walk to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and the Western Wall. Dine and window-shop in the New City.

Day 11: The Old City
Get up early and go into the Old City to see the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount, with the magnificent Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, is open only Sunday to Thursday 9 to 11am and 1 to 3pm. It's a highlight of any journey to Jerusalem, and should not be missed. Exit the Old City via the Damascus Gate and sample the interesting foods for sale along the way. Take a round-trip taxi to the Mount of Olives, which is best visited in the morning, when the sun will be behind you as you look (and photograph) west to the panorama of the Old and New Cities. Afterward, explore the Old City bazaars; the Crusader Church of St. Anne, with its exquisite acoustics; and the Holy Sepulcher Church. Eat dinner and then do some gift shopping or attend a concert in West Jerusalem.

Day 12: The New City
Take Egged Bus 99, for its $10 Jerusalem Highlights tour. Visit the Israel Museum or Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial & Museum (or both). Then visit the Mahane Yehuda produce market -- colorful and filled with great places for falafel, mixed grill, hummus, and other treats. Walk over to Mea Shearim via Ethiopia Street, and explore this 19th-century world of East European Jewry. Dine in and explore the gentrified German Colony/south Jerusalem neighborhoods, or walk in charming, restored Yemin Moshe.

Day 13: More of New Jerusalem
Choose from the Knesset, with its Chagall panels; Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, with world famous Chagall stained-glass windows; and a host of small museum gems. Take an excursion to bucolic Ein Kerem, village of John the Baptist, or to Mini Israel, 45 minutes from Jerusalem, where you can see miniatures of almost every place you've visited (at twilight the buildings' interior lights go on). Enjoy dinner and entertainment in West Jerusalem.

Day 14: Your Favorites in Jerusalem
Browse the Old City -- it's endlessly fascinating, or if you haven't done so, visit (or revisit) Yad VaShem or the Israel Museum. Choose a place with a view or special menu for your farewell dinner, then do some final shopping before heading off to the airport.