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Israel imas, advice for our vacation please!
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sarahmalka




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 9:44 am
We are traveling to Israel in January for 10 days, B"H! Myself, DH, children age 13 DD, 11 DS, 6 DD. Can you give me some advice on the following:
1. we are staying in Jerusalem from a Thurs. to a Tues. Renting an apartment. What are the top things to not miss in Jerusalem with my family? We will go to the Kotel and the shuk of course. Spending time with family too, Shabbos meals are taken care of B"H. What else is a must, these days? It's been ages since I toured around the city.

2. we are renting a car to go from Jerusalem up north b/c DH has never been north and last trip we went south. Truthfully though we are wide open and not sure what is best to see/do in the winter up there. We will have 4 days plus Shabbos. We know we'd like to go to Akko for sure. What else is amazing up there in January, should we go to Haifa, Tsfat? We haven't booked an air-bnb yet so are flexible on location.

3. in the north, where do you recommend spending Shabbos, what's a beautiful location for that? And, any tips on how to find hosts for meals? We'd prefer not to eat by ourselves in our rental if at all possible. Hotel Shabbos not really in the budget; the apt rentals seem to be cheaper but I'm open to tips on that.

4. What do people do for cell phones when traveling from USA to Israel? This I can also ask my local peeps who have traveled to Israel recently but figured I might as well add that question to this megilla! Very Happy
Thanks ladies.
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amother
Olive


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 10:56 am
Have a wonderful trip.

Don't forget to build in some downtime. If your kids are good walkers, you can really get a sense of the city by walking around.

There are free tours of the Supreme Court in English at noon, Sunday through Thursday. Then you are across from Cinema City, which has lots of good family restaurants.

I don't know if the zoo and aquarium are interesting for your kids. (Near Malha mall, also lots of good food options.)

What are you interested in seeing in Akko? Your older kids might find the prison museum interesting, but otherwise it's a pretty dumpy city.

Do I understand that you are hoping to be invited for shabbos meals? My best guess for that is in Tzfat, but honestly it's a bit of an imposition in strangers.

The north is beautiful, lots of places to stay at all price points.
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chicco




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 11:30 am
The virtual reality by the Kotel is a must in my opinion. Ir David is also fascinating.

I would suggest Tsfat as a Northern destination. There is also Teviria. I'm not sure how to go about finding hosts though.

For cell phones all you need to do is find a company to hook you up with an Israeli sim card and swap it out for your regular one when you get there.
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etky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 11:37 am
Akko is fascinating. Aside from the prison:
It's got the reconstructed Crusader halls and tunnels which you can tour.
It has an active shuk + bazaar.
It has Bahai gardens similar but smaller than the ones in Haifa.
It has the sea and a port.
There is a beautiful old Tunisian synagogue there too.
Israeli foodies love Akko for its multicultural cuisine but I don't think there's much that's kosher there unfortunately.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 11:43 am
amother [ Olive ] wrote:

What are you interested in seeing in Akko? Your older kids might find the prison museum interesting, but otherwise it's a pretty dumpy city.

Do I understand that you are hoping to be invited for shabbos meals? My best guess for that is in Tzfat, but honestly it's a bit of an imposition in strangers.
.


The old city of Akko is amazing, and there is a lot more to see there than in Tzfat. There is a visitor's center and they give very organized, guided tours.

I agree though that other than that, there is not much to do in Akko, at least not as far as I know. I think you can rent a ride on a boat or a ferry from Akko to Haifa and back. That might be fun if you are not the seasick types.

Maybe in Tzfat you have some kind of Chabad house or Ascent where they offer Shabbat meals? You could probably call Chabad and ask.

If you are going up north, consider the Beit She'an area, the Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) is a gorgeous natural water pool with water falls. They stay at a constant temperature all year long (may be 28 C?) although it will probably still be too cold to enter during the winter.

Also there are lots of gorgeous nature spots in the Galil and Golan. Of course it all depends on the weather, if it's raining cats and dogs you need to focus on indoor activities.

In Tzfat, you can tour the old shuls and little art galleries, although it might be boring for kids. If your kids prefer action, you might want to take them horse back riding at the nearby Vered Hagalil ranch. Or jeep riding, I believe there are a few companies in the area. Of course horses and jeeps are only good if it's not raining.
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Zeleze




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 11:56 am
Kever Rochel, just outside Yerushalyim
Walking down Geula on Fridays is nice
Chevron, but better with a bus, not driving alone
Mini Israel
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 12:11 pm
Zeleze wrote:
Kever Rochel, just outside Yerushalyim
Walking down Geula on Fridays is nice
Chevron, but better with a bus, not driving alone
Mini Israel


Walking down Geula sounds nice, though I've never done it on a Friday.
Kever Rachel and Chevron require planning and safety measures.

Mini Israel - it's interesting you mention that. Did your family enjoy it? Everyone I know seems to find it very boring.
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amother
Tan


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 12:27 pm
When you are up by Tzfat, my DD was recently at http://hamat-gader.com/en/
Which she really enjoyed.

Her Sem. evacuated their campus and went northwest last week due to the rockets.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 12:31 pm
amother [ Tan ] wrote:
When you are up by Tzfat, my DD was recently at http://hamat-gader.com/en/
Which she really enjoyed.

Her Sem. evacuated their campus and went northwest last week due to the rockets.


Yes, Hamat Gader is lovely, though I believe it's at least an hour's drive north from Tzfat.

You have hot springs there (with the smell of sulfur or something). Call first though to see if they are open and the hot springs are accessible.
They also have little shows with parrots which your kids might enjoy, and some ancient ruins.
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amother
Tan


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 12:41 pm
Other favorites are the Ayalon Bullet factory, not sure of location.

Pantry Packers near/in/outside of Yerushalaim is also great with kids.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 12:44 pm
IF you are going to factories, you have the Elite Chocolate visitor's center in Natzrat Elite. It's quite fun for kids. But I do believe you have to reserve ahead of time.

It's up north.
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 2:10 pm
for cell phone, simtoisrael.com has been good in my experience. we have used them a couple of times. they deliver in USA as well as in Israel. they have customer support in English if you need it. Your phone(s) will need to be unlocked in order to swap out SIM cards--check with your carrier to do that (sooner is better).
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 2:39 pm
In the north we love Tzfas. We went to Akko on our last visit and it was by far the worst stop on our itinerary. I would definitely skip it in favor of Tzfas and even other places in the Golan. Also, not far from Tiveria is an amazing place called Gan Garoo (Guru?), where you can pet and feed kangaroos, one of the only places in the world outside of Australia. My kids love it!
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sarahmalka




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 3:00 pm
Super, thanks for all the helpful replies! I'll take it all into consideration! The factories sound neat, I think my kids would like those. Akko we were interested in exactly for what people said, the ruins and city tour. Bummer about lack of kosher food though. Re: hosting Shabbos meals, it's so standard in my community to host random out-of-towners for Shabbos meals. Each shul has a hospitality committee for this purpose. I didn't think it would be a weird request for info on that but that's ok, I'll just contact Chabad.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 3:14 pm
doctorima wrote:
In the north we love Tzfas. We went to Akko on our last visit and it was by far the worst stop on our itinerary. I would definitely skip it in favor of Tzfas and even other places in the Golan. Also, not far from Tiveria is an amazing place called Gan Garoo (Guru?), where you can pet and feed kangaroos, one of the only places in the world outside of Australia. My kids love it!


We were at Gan Guru and we were not that impressed. The kangaroos look depressed and none of them are particularly interested in letting you pet them. But I know some people enjoy the place.

In any case, it's adjacent to the Sachne/Gan Hashlosha, which is an incredible tourist stop:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/At......html

Both are a 5 or 10 min drive from Beit She'an, where there are impressive archaeological findings in a National Park, as well as a light and sound show.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 3:16 pm
sarahmalka wrote:
Re: hosting Shabbos meals, it's so standard in my community to host random out-of-towners for Shabbos meals. Each shul has a hospitality committee for this purpose. .


It's not standard in my city at all, unless we are talking about out-of-towners who are considering a move to the city. But random tourists? There is no welcoming committee for them where I live, though maybe other cities have them.
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 3:18 pm
amother [ Firebrick ] wrote:
We were at Gan Guru and we were not that impressed. The kangaroos look depressed and none of them are particularly interested in letting you pet them. But I know some people enjoy the place.


Wow, surprised to hear that. It was a highlight of our visit a few years ago, and one of the places the kids insisted on returning to on our most recent trip. We were advised to go early in the day before it gets too hot and the kangaroos just want to rest in the shade, don't know if the heat had to do with your unsuccessful visit.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 3:20 pm
doctorima wrote:
Wow, surprised to hear that. It was a highlight of our visit a few years ago, and one of the places the kids insisted on returning to on our most recent trip. We were advised to go early in the day before it gets too hot and the kangaroos just want to rest in the shade, don't know if the heat had to do with your unsuccessful visit.


Maybe. Also our kids were a bit older. I think Gan Guru is probably best with small children.

Anyway, it was just a small stop for us, we spent most of the day at the adjacent Sachne natural water pools. We love that place.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 4:01 pm
You can find something kosher near Akko, but within Akko not much in the way of restaurants. You can always pack sandwiches and buy fruit, though. I think the old city of Akko is very interesting and worth a visit.

It's a half hour drive from Akko to Atlit, where there is a super-interesting place called the Atlit Detention Camp, where the British detained clandestine Jewish immigrants to what was then British Mandate Palestine.
https://shimur.org/sites/atlit.....ng=en

You could work a trip to Caesaria into the drive up as well.

If you decide to go to Tsfat (a city I have always found disappointing), you could stop at the Talmudic Village in Katzrin. Lots of other nice places in the Western Galil as well.

For Shabbat meals, I suggest either renting a airbnb and ordering take-out from some prepared food place, or going to a Youth Hostel (Spartan but clean) and getting half-board.

I have ever heard of communities hosting random tourists. I can see that in places with very limited access to kosher food, but not in Israel.
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STovah




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Nov 18 2019, 6:15 pm
Book the Kotel tunnel and Ir Dovid tours in Jerusalem - English tours for both can be booked online.

I loved Akko - the Tunisian shul a one of a kind sight, and I found the prison tour extremely moving.

Shabbos in Tzfas is very special. Shabbos is not so long in January so if you do find yourselves eating on your own it is not so bad. Mendy’s has delicious takeout. Also, not sure if they run the tours year round but Livnot Ulehibanot runs a free tour of ruins beneath their building on shabbos afternoon.
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