Israel and Jordan in June for 9 days

Hi there,
I am planning a trip to Israel and Jordan from the 21st of June to the 1st of July.
I would like to know if you can recommend us an itinerary.
We are catholic couple in our thirties.
I was interested to visit Jerusalem (at least a couple of days), Tel Aviv, dead sea,
Other places I would be interested: Nazareth (do we need 1 day or half day?), same for Bethlehem.
Reading in the forum I found that the north (Golan) is very nice, also Eilat.

I want to go to Jordan mainly to go to Petra, not sure if one day will be enough or two. I guess I will need to stay the night in a city closer to Jordan in order to go to Petra early in the morning or will be best to sleep in Jordan the previous night?

I know we have no many days and this is our first time to Israel and Jordan so any recommendation will be very appreciated.
I also would like to know if will be better to flight to Tel Aviv and return to the UK from Tel Aviv as well, or should I think about other airports?

We want to travel by our own, but was thinking that maybe for some places we can take a tour for the day, for Jordan for example.

Which will be the best way to move around Israel?
Do you have any recommendations on hotels? We don't want nothing fancy, only a clean private bedroom, well located.
Thanks in advance,
Ines

Hi Ines,

You are going to enjoy so much your trip to Israel and Jordan. I just came back from there and spend 14 days there with my mum.
I will try to suggest to you the things that worked well for me.
I arrived and left from Tel-Aviv aeroport. Easy. You can take a taxi for 10 people outside the aeroport. Just ask in the information desk and they will they you exactly where to take it.
The trip from Tel-Aviv takes just 1 hour. Please don't book the place call Near the kotel. I did and had lots of troubles when I try to cancel it (the please was dirty and doesn't look like the pictures from the website). Instead you can book at Rivoli hotel, is cheap, comfortable, have breakfast and very close to Damascos Gate. If you book it directly, they make a good discount. I payed 70 dolars per night _ yes unfortunate Israel is expensive. If you have a bit more money you can try Austrian Hospice, it's in the old city close to the 4 station of via Dolorosa and like an oasis in the middle of the city. Me and mum usually went there to have a local beer in a wonderful garden. It's not easy to find beers on there.
Via Dolorosa it's really nice to do alone. It's easy to find all the places Jesus stopped in his way to cruxification. If you take a guide they talk so much that you can not enjoy this wonderful spiritual moment.
I think 5 days are enough in Jerusalem. The place is amazing and I will be back there for sure.
What you can do is mix day trips between the days you are in Jerusalem. For example, to go to Dead sea you can take a local bus from the Central Station, I think it was 9h45. They have plenty anyway. You can ask the driver to stop on the spa. I really like the place. You pay to enter but it was the part of the Dead sea I saw and you can enjoy massage, mud, and lot of nice things. If you go alone, will cost you half of the price of the tourist excursions.
I think you don't need to go to Massada or Jericho (nothing special). I also went to Bethlehem to see the nativity church and worth it's. I took a taxi and payed cheap. If the guy is from Jerusalem they know another road that you don't need to stop on the police. Bethlehem has the wall to see too and it's Palestin.
Go alone to the Monte of Olives too. it's a great spiritual experience.
I took a normal bus to Eilat from the Central Station too. I did not stayed there because as brazilian I don't need to much beach. But you can stop maybe for one day if you like it.
My best advise is Petra. I took the bus from Jerusalem to Eilat and there a taxi until the border. In the border, I took another taxi to Petra. If you sleep in Petra you save money and time. The price for the site in Petra is 50 dinars for you sleep there and 90 dinars for who come from the other places. Why? They want to make business in the city.
I was in Hotel Sunset for 2 days. It's cheap. 30 dinars for a double room with breakfast include.
I was very luck to met some nice Bedouins when I was in Petra site. They invited me and mum to have a dinner in a case. These Bedouins live in a village near by. They are the real people that lived in the caves before (I am telling you this because a lot of guides from Petra told me they were Bedouins and blablabla, but if they don't live in that village they are not the 'real' ones. They took us to the Cave and cooked us a nice dinner (I payed just for the food, really cheap, because i want to be polite).
Next day, the same Bedouins took me to sleep on the desert and the price it was cheaper than any guide I found in Petra. It's a very nice experience to sleep ion the desert, looking to the stars. I recommend it. If you want to find this Bedouins _ Mohammed and Mousa_ look for them in a site call BedouinDiscovery. They really looked after me and mum very well.
If you have any more questions just ask me please. Enjoy your trip. Clau

Hi, First, for the Jordan part of your trip you should look at www.jordanjubilee.com.

You don't really have that much time. You should devote at least two days to Petra and while you're there you should spend one day and night in a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum. That will eat up around three days. Both are easily reached from Eilat.

I would not recommend wasting money on a tour. You don't need to take one. They add little value and can be quite expensive.

Jerusalem is very different from Tel Aviv. If you're interested in beaches and clubbing then stay in TA for a few days. If you're more interested in culture and all things religious I'd recommend skipping (or at minimizing) TA. You can't see everything so you'll need to make some decisions.

If I were you I'd fly in and out of TA.

Good luck.

I think you underestimate the time needed to travel to Petra, Jordan, from Israel. You need to plan one day to travel there, two full days to visit, and one day to travel back to Israel. This means you need to spend three nights there. If possible, I'd suggest you land in Israel and fly back from Amman airport.

The bare minimum to visit Petra are two full days, but in case you're not fond of walking you can have a decent idea of the site in one full day.

Some Israeli companies offer one'day trips to Petra to naive tourists. This is a rip-off, a bit as if you were offered a one-day trip to Rome while staying in Paris - makes no sense.

Do only Israeli companies take advantage of "naive tourists" ? Are you saying that no Jordanian or European company would EVER do that ...... ?

CATW's political agenda makes all her advice unreliable. Petra covers a large area along a long winding canyon. One day is definitely sufficient to walk along the main part of the canyon and see most of the major attractions. A second day is necessary to explore the side canyons and climb to some interesting temple, but it is not mandatory.

Economically it make more sense to go to Jordan for two days because the entry visa to Jordan and/or Petra costs more for tourists who do not stay overnight in Jordan. You can see more details here:
http://www.desertecotours.com/English/jordan_short_tours.asp

You also require 1 day to get down to Eilat and 1 day to get back, i.e 3-4 days including the tour. Assuming that you have 9 days net for this vacation (not including June 21 and July 1), this leaves you 5-6 days to see Israel which is a very short time.

mbgg, where did she say any of that? you inferred an awful lot from that statement! lol

1 night in Tel Aviv on the night you arrive. No need for a car.

1 in the north, near the Sea of Galilee to visit Nazareth (half a day in enough IMO) and the Christian sites http://www.this-is-galilee.com/christian-sites.html
In the hot summer, you can go canyoning in the Golan on a hike like these:
http://www.tiuli.com/track_info.asp?lng=eng&track_id=85
http://www.tiuli.com/track_info.asp?lng=eng&track_id=124
You'll need a car for the Galilee and/or the Golan days if you want to see the sites.

3 nights in Jerusalem (including half a day in Bethlehem). No need for a car.

1 night near the Dead Sea t visit Masada, Ein Gedi and the sea itself (all possible by bus but easier with a car).

From the Dead Sea (or Jerusalem/Tel Aviv), you can drive or take a bus south to Eilat, then cross to Jordan and visit Petra.
As mbgg wrote, Petra can be done as a day trip from Eilat (alone or with a tour) which is fine. If you stay in Jordan for more than 1 day you can see much more of Petra and even Wadi Ram. It all depends on the amount of time you have.

If you do Tel Aviv, north of Israel, Jerusalem, Dead Sea then Petra, you can land in TLV and fly out of Amman.

Mbgg / Sandyfoot, our colleague wrote that she was going to visit Israel with a short trip to Petra, Jordan. She never mentionned visiting Egypt.

This is why I advised her to avoid the one-day tour to Petra sold by some travel agents in Israel, because they are a rip-off and target naive tourists. A one-day visit to Petra from Israel is simply impossible.

I will ask you one more time to be polite.

Many thanks for your replies, info and links, they are very helpful!

I was checking flights prices and went up, but found out that flight tickets to and from Amman are much cheaper.
How long will take to go from Amman to Petra? Bus will be the best way to travel from Amman to Petra? I think I will need to pay for my visa at the airport in Jordan, right? after Petra I can go to Israel and flight back to the UK from Tel Aviv.
I was considering to flight back from Amman as well (as the tickets are half price) but I think it will be too complicated and time consuming to cross the border again, am I right?
Either if I choose Tel Aviv or Amman to flight in and out, flights arrive around 8 pm on Thursday 21st and return flights leave around 8 pm on 1st of of July, so I am considering 9.5 days.

Amirico many thanks for the itinerary. I think maybe I can start in Jordan and then go to Israel where I will spend most of the days.

Claudia many thanks for sharing your experience and tips! I am sure you had a great time!

Many thanks again!

Ines,
you can offcourse reverse the plan:
Land in Amman, go south to Petra, cross to Eilat, take the bus north to the Dead Sea (Masada or Ein Gedi will be your stop), then a bus to Jerusalem and spend time there, then rent a car and do the north, then drive to Tel Aviv, spend your last night there and back home to real life...

Hi Amirico,

I have decided to take the bus at 6.30 am from Amman to Petra.
Do you know how much will cost the taxi drive from Wadi Musa/Petra to the border/Eilat central bus station? and how much can I expect to pay?
From Eilat I will take the bus to Jerusalem, but if I want to stop at Ein Gedi. Are there buses to then continue my journey to Jerusalem? How frequent and which busses?

I have seen that the bus 444 leaves at 7, 10 , 2 and 5 pm.

Many thanks!
Ines