Ashdod and haifa ports - israel

Last week was in Israel on cruise - used Guided Tours Israel for both ports

and had same guide both times. 11 in our group - great full day tours, great guide (Mickey - she was wonderful) - great vans - I would recommend GTI without hesitation.

Can you tell us what you visited and what were the standouts of each day? We will be there in October and I have no idea what to expect

Can you tell us what you visited and what were the standouts of each day? We will be there in October and I have no idea what to expect

I just posted this on the Overnight in Jersusalem thread:

PICK UP IN HAIFA

1 - Mt Carmel - photo stop for view of the gardens at the Bahai Temple.

2 - Drive by photo op of the hill Abraham took Isaac to when he was told to sacrifice him.

3 - Basilica of the Annunciation and ruins of Joseph's carpentry shop.

4 - Church of the Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount)

5 - Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (Tabgha)

6 - Capernaum

7 - Sea of Galilee - We ate lunch at a restaurant on the Sea of Galilee, and ate tilapia, which is referred to as St Peter's fish. If you eat there remember to ask them to filet your fish before it is served, unless you don't mind your lunch staring at you.

8 - The Jordan River (the week before the trip our church choir sang a song titled 'Every Time I Feel the Spirit'. This piece had extra meaning after this trip)

9- We did not make it to the Dead Sea because our stops in Egypt were cancelled and one of our friends had her heart set on riding a camel. For this reason we took a detour to a vendor our guide knew of that had camels we could take short rides on for about $5.00USD. This had been something she had been looking forward to for a long time, so we were okay with the detour. We saw the Dead Sea from a distance. 10 - Drop off at our hotel - Dan Boutique Jerusalem.

PICK UP AT OUR HOTEL

1. Mount of Olives - from there we had an overview of the Old City and Mount Zion

2. The Garden of Gethsemane

3. We went to the Old City and walked along the Via Dolorosa. (Bill and I are Lutheran so our guide made a point of showing us the only Lutheran Church in the Old City. On the way to the Mount of Olives we saw a Lutheran hospital)

4.The upper room, where the Last Supper was eaten

5. The Church of the Holy Sepluchre

6. The Western Wall (Wailing Wall)

7. We had some shopping time before we left the Old City

8. In order to go to Bethlehem the guide transfers you to a Palestinian guide that will take you to a shop, then to the Church of the Nativity. The line to go into the manger area is very long, but our guide took us to the Greek Orthodox priests who monitored the lines, and they sent us in the exit, bypassing the line. In retrospect my husband wished he had waited to jewelry shop until we got to the gift shop in Bethlehem, although I treasure the Jerusalem cross we bought at Tabgha. We did buy some beautiful olive wood crosses to take home for Christmas presents for friends. On our way to the church our driver pointed out the hill that the shepherds were probably at when the angels came to announce the birth of Jesus.

9. Drive to our ship in Ashdod. We made it in plenty of time.

Our guide was a man named Jerry Blum (Bloom). He was a Boston native that emigrated to Israel. Since he is American born the only accept that you will have to deal with is his lingering Boston accent. He married and raised his family there, so he has personal knowledge of life in Israel, and knew what things we would want to see. We would definitely recommend him, but I must warn you that he does talk ALOT, just because he has so much knowledge he wants to tell you everything about his country. If you have questions you will need to break in to ask them.