Jordan - Lebanon - Israel Travel Advice Needed

Hi everyone - just looking for travel advice for the Middle East.

We plan on booking return flights from Dublin to Amman. The plan then would be to spend some time in Jordan, fly from Amman to Beirut and spend some time in Lebanon then make our way over land to Israel.

The final place we plan to visit in Israel is Jerusalem and following this we would cross back into Jordan to fly home from Amman.

Can anyone see any problems with this from a border-crossing point of view or for any other reasons?

Also any other recommendations in general for this trip?

Thanks a million

Paul

Well, I guess the biggest problem with your plan is there is no open land border between Lebanon and Israel (and, no you can't fly between the two countries either).

You'll have to fly round trip between Amman and Beirut. Once you're back in Amman the second time you'll have no problems traveling overland between Jordan and Israel (at least no problems in theory, you may personally have problems. Since we don't know you we can't say).

Don't let the Lebanese authorities find out you'll be heading to Israel down the road or you'll be denied entry.

Good luck.

You can't cross from Lebanon into Israel (or vice versa).
If Lebanese authorities learn that you have been in Israel or plan to go there in the future they might not let you in.
You may be asked by Israeli border authorities about your visit to Lebanon but that in itself will not cause you to be denied entry into Israel.
With this in mind: Lebanon (with no evidence of a future visit to Israel), Jordan, Israel and back to Amman to fly home.
To minimize backtracking, from Amman you can go south, visit Wadi Rum, Petra, etc. then cross to Israel, travel north through the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Galilee and then cross back to Jordan at the Jordan River Crossing near Beit Shean (Israel) and travel through Jordan south to Amman.

If Lebanese authorities learn that you have been in Israel or plan to go there in the future they might not let you in.

Incorrect. They will definitely not let you in.

You don't say how long this trip is. With all the shuttling to and fro, it might not be worthwhile.

My recommendation in general is to go to either (a) Jordan and Israel or (b) Jordan and Lebanon. Otherwise it gets extremely complicated, as you probably realise by now.

Thanks for the replies all.

The plan is to go for approximately 18-20 days.

It seems like it might be a lot of hassle to visit these three countries in one holiday.

We may fly to Amman and home from Cairo - spending a week in Jordan, a week in Israel and a few days in Cairo.

Would this seem like a more practical route?

Thanks again

That's less insane than trying to fit Lebanon in as well.

It's your holiday, but those three countries in less than three weeks will mean a lot of rushing about.

With the new plan you would have less logistics to worry about but is would still be very rushed (although possible). Once you start listing the places you would like to see in these 3 countries you'll see what I mean.
Jordan and Israel with about 9 days each would be what I would do.

I agree.

You need to consider the following; all the main sights in Jordan run basically north to south (or the reverse). You can start with the ruins at Um Qaiss in the north near the Syrian border and end with Wadi Rum just north of Aqaba on the Red Sea. Of course, you don't have to see all the sights, but to see any of them you'll be moving north to south or the reverse.

The same can be said of Israel. It's not a very wide country so you'll be moving north to south or the reverse.

That means no matter how you do it you have to double back and reverse direction at least once. Let's say you land in Amman and choose to head south eventually crossing to Israel at Eilat. You'll then have to head north again on the Israeli side in order to get to Jerusalem, TA or points north of that.

If you then choose to go to Egypt as well, guess what, you'll have to eat up yet another day reversing direction and heading south again covering all the territory you already covered.

You could easily spend a month traveling in just one of those countries. Why try and push yourself so hard?

I'd stick with Israel and Jordan.

Good luck.

So if the Lebanon/Israeli border is closed. Is there a Lebanese/Jordanian border that is open? If so, from there is it possible to take a taxi and enter Israel from Jordan? Instead of flying into Jordan from Beirut. A word of advice: If Lebanon does find out that you were in Israel, tell them that you were visiting the birthplace of Jesus Christ our Savior. Lebanon is afterall under Christian rule. God forbid the Hizb'Allah interrogate you just say that you heard that the Sook in Jerusalem had the best shopping in the Near East.

If you want to go to Israel from Lebanon, taking a boat from Jounieh to Cyprus and then another boat from Cyprus to Israel. This way may be more affordable but will take a bit longer.

#8 & #9

1. There is no common border between Lebanon and Jordan - Syria is between them.
2. Your reasons for going to Israel are irrelevant to the Lebanese. If they find out your intentions to go to Israel, you will be denied entry.
3. For all practical purposes, there are no boats/ferries to Israel.

#8 has got to be a troll.

The problem for the OP is they don't know the crack pots from the serious posters (of course, the post count helps).