Israel is four hours end to end. Plan it one day out at a time.
What the Masada sunrise run costs from Tel Aviv. Whether the Old City is worth a guide or walks fine alone. Which Dead Sea day leaves real time in the water. Reviews of every tour you can book in Israel.
Masada, the Old City, the Galilee and the Roman coast.
The five days a first trip to Israel is usually built from. What each one costs, how long it runs, and what the people who took it said afterwards.
01The desert dayMasada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick UpCable car up Masada, then two hours of float time at the Dead Sea. Leaves Jerusalem early and is back for dinner.
02The Old CityGuided Walking Tour of the Old CityFour quarters on foot with somebody who can explain the gates. The cheapest serious day on this list.
03Jerusalem in oneJerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day TripThe Old City and Bethlehem together. The checkpoint is part of the day and the guide handles it.
04The Roman coastCaesarea, Haifa and Akko Day TripCaesarea harbour, the Haifa terraces and the Crusader tunnels at Akko, on one run up the shore road.
05North to the lakeGuided Day Trip to Nazareth & Sea of GalileeNazareth, Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. Green, low and nothing like the rest of the country.
The lowest place on earth is a day trip, not an expedition.
Every desk in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem sells the same three shapes of desert day. What separates them is the departure time, how long you actually get in the salt water, and whether Masada is climbed or ridden.
The days out Israel sells more of than anything else.
Every Israel tour review →More travellers take these than any other booking in the country, and each one has a reason it stays at the top.
1
Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up
Travel by air-conditioned coach from Tel Aviv to Masada, ride the cable car to Herod’s fortress, then spend about 90 minutes at a Dead Sea mineral beach. Guides such as Udi, Avi, Yuval, and Omri are known for clear history, humor, and careful timing. Qumran caves are viewed along the return route.
From · $117
Read our review →
2
Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day Trip
from $118
3
Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv
from $120
4
Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Dead Sea
from $109
5
Guided Day Trip to Nazareth & Sea of Galilee
from $98
6
Jerusalem Old & New City Bus Tour
from $95
7
Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Jerusalem
from $111
8
Caesarea, Haifa and Akko Day Trip
from $120
Two cities an hour apart, and the whole country inside three.
Tel Aviv for the sea and the food, Jerusalem for the stone. From either one you can reach the Dead Sea, the Galilee and the Roman coast and still sleep in your own bed. Six bases, and the best day out from each.
Bethlehem, the Via Dolorosa and the Sea of Galilee, all within a morning of each other.
Pilgrim routes here are short. The Church of the Nativity is forty minutes from the Old City, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes sit on one lakeshore, and the Jordan River is on the way back from the desert. These tours differ mostly on how many of them they fit into one day.
- 1Day Tour to Jerusalem and Bethlehem from Tel Avivfrom $121
- 2Nazareth and Sea of Galilee Tourfrom $108
- 3Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee Day Trip from Tel Avivfrom $98
What an Israeli day out actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. The country is not cheap, but the Old City on foot and the museums come in under the price of lunch on the beach.
Old City walks, the Jaffa lanes, museum entries and the Tel Aviv bar runs.
The standard days out: Masada and the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the lake.
Petra across the border, private guides and the two and three-day routes.
One square kilometre, four quarters, eight gates.
The walls Suleiman built enclose the Western Wall, the Holy Sepulchre and the Haram al-Sharif within ten minutes of each other. Nothing is signposted the way you expect, the rooftops are a route of their own, and the gate you come in by decides what you see first.
Three things that only happen in Israel.
Deserts and old walls run right across the region. Water you cannot sink in, a fortress with its own dawn, and a street worn smooth by pilgrims do not.
Floating at the Dead Sea
The water is roughly ten times as salty as the sea, so it carries you whether you meant to swim or not. Nobody swims properly in it, everybody lies back with a newspaper, and the shoreline drops about a metre a year as the water recedes. Rinse at the shower block afterwards, and do not shave that morning.
- 1Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,496 reviews
- 2Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,014 reviews
- 3Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Dead Sea★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 881 reviews
Sunrise on Masada
Herod built a palace on a rock above the desert and the Romans spent months building a ramp to reach it. Groups leave Jerusalem in the dark to climb the Snake Path for the light coming up over Jordan. The cable car starts later and does the same job for anyone who would rather not take 700 steps before breakfast.
- 1Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,496 reviews
- 2Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,014 reviews
- 3Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Jerusalem★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 757 reviews
Walking the Via Dolorosa
The route runs from the Lions Gate to the Holy Sepulchre through the Muslim and Christian quarters, past stalls selling spices and football shirts. Nine stations are marked on the street and the last five are inside the church. On Friday afternoons the Franciscans walk it in procession and the lanes fill in behind them.
- 1Jerusalem Old City & Dead Sea Guided Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 389 reviews
- 2Guided Walking Tour of the Old City★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 386 reviews
- 3Best seller! Jerusalem old city four quarters tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 123 reviews
Four bookings here that will not wait for your flight to land.
Most of this country can be arranged the night before over a beer on Rothschild. These four run on borders, dawn departures and opening hours that take no interest in your flight.
- 01Masada at Sunrise, Ein Gedi & Dead Sea TourThe bus leaves Jerusalem around three in the morning to put you on the rock for first light. One departure a day, and it fills.
- 02Day Tour to Petra from EilatCrossing into Jordan means a border post, a visa and passport details handed over in advance. Nobody arranges that on the morning.
- 03Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day TripBethlehem sits behind the checkpoint in the West Bank. The guide carries the paperwork, and seats go early around Christmas.
- 04Jerusalem Old City & Dead Sea Guided Day TourFriday afternoon to Saturday night the country stops, so the weekend slots on the few tours that do run go first.
Shabbat closes most of Israel for a day and a half.
From Friday afternoon until dark on Saturday the trains stop, most buses stop, the shuk empties and the Jewish Quarter shuts. Two things carry on: the Christian and Muslim quarters of the Old City, where Sunday is the quiet day instead, and the tours that run out of Tel Aviv on their own minibus.
By place, from the coast road to the crater
By kind of day, desert, stone, water or table
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the desert and the lake: the week most first trips end up doing.
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Jerusalem & Bethlehem Tour from Haifa Port 2024 – Small Group
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Haifa Port Shore Excursion: Nazareth and Sea of Galilee Day Tour from Haifa Port
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Ashdod Port Shore Excursion: Jerusalem and Bethlehem Day Tour from Ashdod Port
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Jaffa: Old City, Port & Shuk Hapishpishim Walking Tour
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Unforgettable Tour to Caesarea, Haifa, Acre and Rosh HaNikra from Tel Aviv
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Private Tour: Best of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea from Tel Aviv
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