2024 Summer vacation help please [from Israel]

amother

OP ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 6:57 am

Hi friends,
We're a family of 5, couple + three teens 19 (DS) and two girls 17, 14 living in EY. BH.
The matzav in Israel this year is challenging for everyone. Throw into this the demands of 3 hardworking good kids who really want a break on bein hazmanim (3 weeks in August basically.)
Ordinarily, we'd book a Tzimmer in the North - but that's out, and the south is way too hot.
In times like these, requests for a vacay are absolutely not a priority, and I get that - but our
Rav has given an okay for Chu'l, and I'm not sure where to start. We need something super reasonable - a family camp if those still exist, some kind of self-catering option would be fine, something close to a hotel for Shabbosim. We're adventurous and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas that are reasonable, and secure. (I know there are still Cyprus travel warnings for Israelis.)
I may be looking for a unicorn.
B'hatzlachah to all of us. Cool

DrMom ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:00 am

If you go abroad, your best bet is a city if you want easy access to kosher food.

Try Prague, Budapest, Rome, Venice. Be prepared for it to be hot.

If you are okay taking along pots and pans and living off a very limited range of foods, you can open up more options. Try Eurocamping.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:06 am

Thank you! I may need something a bit more pastoral for DH. He doesn't love crowds and really just wants to sit and learn. Me and the kids will run around a bit more. Will investigate Eurocamping. All other thoughts gratefully appreciated.

amother

Puce ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:20 am

amother OP wrote:

We did this for years every summer, camping in the middle of France. We loved it, but you you have to be OK with people wandering around a campsite not very dressed. You can find places near a city for a minyan, but you'll have to decide if you want to stay on the campsite or move to the city for Shabbos.

We ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and barbecued fresh fish, wrapped in lots of foil. With all the mini electrical cooking devices now, you could probably manage basic cooking quite easily. I'm willing to answer questions, but my experience was close to thirty years ago, and I'm sure things have changed.

You could maybe ask for a tent on the edge of the campsite, so you could be relatively isolated in terms of seeing people walking around in swimming costumes and t-shirts.

amother

Offwhite

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:26 am

Yes, Switzerland has been very popular the past few years. Kosher hotels, beautiful mountains, relatively low on the Jew hatred charts, and not too far from EY.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:29 am

Thanks all. So far Switzerland looks beyond our price point. Great point about requesting something on the edge of camp - tho honestly, we're probably going to do day trips off into nature / mountains most of the days. I may PM you for more food ideas - and wow, the shleppage of all the food, but okay.

amother

↑ Puce

Sun, May 19 2024, 7:48 am

Fruit and vegetables we bought locally.
We would normally walk into the nearest town and choose our live fish with fins and scales. The man would bop it on the head for us, then we took it home and cleaned and scaled it, then wrapped it in lots of foil and barbecued it.

If your husband and son drive into town for minyan, there will almost certainly be kosher food options there, which will give you some back up. Even if they daven at home, you can go into town and spend a day exploring and stocking up on kosher food.

Couscous is easy to pack, and equally easy to prepare. Tins of tuna are a classic standby! We took a few packets of cold cuts with a freezer pack for Shabbos. Apart from that we didn't eat fleishics while we were there.

amother

Vanilla

Sun, May 19 2024, 9:38 am

There is My Kosher Hotel in the Dolomites (Italian Alps). Not sure if pricing is within your range, but maybe there is an option to have meals there. Have been wanting to go for years. The scenery looks incredibly beautiful. https://www.mykosherhotel.it/

amother

Trillium

Sun, May 19 2024, 10:07 am

I'm going to throw out an idea you will not otherwise have thought of but I'm not crazy:
It's sometimes possible to get tickets to South Africa for pretty cheap from Israel (I've gotten for $360 non-stop round trip but I haven't looked recently so IDK what the story is now.) once there, kosher food and kosher takeout is plentiful and cheap, all attractions, Airbnbs, etc are much cheaper than they would be in European countries, and there is so much to do! Buy a weeks' worth of takeout and rent a small cottage near Kruger Park to go on safaris every day, back to Johannesburg for shabbos for shul and minyanim etc, then fly to Cape town for beautiful beaches, mountains, etc.

amother

Amaranthus

Sun, May 19 2024, 10:13 am

amother Vanilla wrote:

They are absolutely wonderful and cheaper than Switzerland. If you can swing it it's well worth the price.

↑ DrMom ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 10:41 am

amother Trillium wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't travel to South Africa, the way they've been behaving toward Israel.

amother

DarkGreen

Sun, May 19 2024, 10:59 am

amother Amaranthus wrote:

They are absolutely wonderful and cheaper than Switzerland. If you can swing it it's well worth the price.

How much is it per night for a couple?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 1:47 pm

Thanks all. SA is not an option - flights are high and frankly they've been so hostile, I don't want to spend a shekel there. Eurocamp looks like a real possibility with perhaps a kosher hotel for Shabbos (Bet Reuven in Sauze D'Oulx, Italy perhaps) Flights to all of Europe in August are nuts though. Hashem is BIG.

amother

Charcoal

Sun, May 19 2024, 2:27 pm

amother OP wrote:

Yes the ruling party (ANC) is hostile but they do not represent the views of the majority of the population. There is way more anti-semitism in the USA and Europe besides all over campuses there are weekly incidents in Crown Heights, Williamsburg, Brooklyn which are B"H almost unheard of in South Africa. I'm not trying to convince you to come I just want you to know the reality on the ground. Anyone who comes loves it - it's a beautiful country with a warm and kind Jewish community. If for some reason you consider it keep it mind it's the southern hemisphere so the weather is cooler - the days are sunny and beautiful the nights cooler.
You're welcome;-)

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, May 19 2024, 4:23 pm

Thamk you! SA is for sure on my list BH - I have so many friends from there and have heard my entire life how stunning it is. BUT - I just don't think it's going to work for 5 of us this summer. Delighted to hear tho that it can be done affordably! Thank you Smile

Elfrida

Mon, May 20 2024, 6:46 am

salt wrote:

Why not a tzimmer neither north nor south - Gush etzion, Tverya Netanya, Zichron Yaakov, Shomron, bet shemesh area.

I think she wants a break from the tension if living in Israel during this period.

amother

Springgreen

Mon, May 20 2024, 6:51 am

salt wrote:

Why not a tzimmer neither north nor south - Gush etzion, Tverya Netanya, Zichron Yaakov, Shomron, bet shemesh area.

Do you think areas around tverya and Netanya are likely to be safe in the summer? Would love to get away and would much rather be in Israel...