Guided Tours Israel

[stripe]

We just came home from a trip including Haifa and Ashdod. First and foremost Guided Tours Israel was the best tour I have ever had anywhere. I was part of a group of 6 from our CC board. This is a must and a place to start. $99 pp for Haifa and $119 pp for Jerusalem. We were out from 8 am until 8:30 pm. We were NOT rushed and we got to see everything we wanted to see. From Haifa we went all the way up along the Jordan border to the Golan Heights. Where is this on most tours???? Joe was our guide and he would stop and pull over if something was important to that area to know. He was very informative but it was done in an easy way so it was loads of fun. We went many places he suggested and places we decided we wanted to see at the time. We opted for a quick lunch of falafals the first day as not to take time away from sightseeing. There was no problem what so ever and cost us about $6.00 each. With a drink!

 

We did do the Jewish tour both days. From Ashdod where our driver was waiting for us in the parking lot along with the cruise ship buses (this was as easy as can be). GTI is licensed with the government and have no problem picking you up right there. The port itself provided a challenge to drive out of though. We did Yad Vashem in the morning as it was more important to see this for the 6 of us then to float in the Dead Sea on this trip. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there and just touched the surface. We went up to the mountain and viewed Jersusalem from that vantage point. Then we went into the old city. Toured after an informal lunch at a restaurant a friend of mine suggested who lives there. Went to both the Arab and Jewish markets. Went to the Wall as the last stop in Jerusalem at the end of the day. This is one moving experience and I urge everyone not to miss it. No matter of religion, this is the nerve center of the old city.

 

Sorry to be so long winded but if you can get at least 2 other people with you, you will not be paying 500 or 600. Just remember this is for a whole day trip. Best bet is to get 6 people and write to Alon at GTI and work out a trip with him. Very helpful and certainly got our money worth and then some.

Thanks so much for the review and recommendation. We will be 2 days in each of those ports in September and this sounds like a good tour company to go with. We're hoping for an overnight tour in Jerusalem.

[stipmom]

I believe guided tours charges extra for an overnight in Jerusalem. We are using Moti Barness in June and because he lives in the Jerusalem area he is just going to drop us off at our hotel and pick us up the next day.

[gemmagee]

WE have just returned from a cruise, Oceania, Nautica. Whilst docking in Ashdod and Haifa, we used Guided Tours Israel. Two days out of Ashdod, staying in Jerusalem at HArmony Hotel, and one day out of Haifa. We used the same guide, Miki, same mini bus and driver. You would be so lucky to get Miki as your guide. She suggested an itinerary, which we amended to what we wanted. Her greatest concern was that we saw everything that we had wanted to see. She was so well informed, enthusiastic, 'smart and gorgeous', great sense of humour, knew so many people, i.e. security, that just eased the way everywhere. Cannot say enough good things. Was on time, didn't have to worry about anything. In fact was the best guide we had anywhere on this particular cruise.

[Jade13]

WE have just returned from a cruise, Oceania, Nautica. Whilst docking in Ashdod and Haifa, we used Guided Tours Israel. Two days out of Ashdod, staying in Jerusalem at HArmony Hotel, and one day out of Haifa. We used the same guide, Miki, same mini bus and driver. You would be so lucky to get Miki as your guide. She suggested an itinerary, which we amended to what we wanted. Her greatest concern was that we saw everything that we had wanted to see. She was so well informed, enthusiastic, 'smart and gorgeous', great sense of humour, knew so many people, i.e. security, that just eased the way everywhere. Cannot say enough good things. Was on time, didn't have to worry about anything. In fact was the best guide we had anywhere on this particular cruise.

 

We have two people for a fast paced 7.5-8 hour tour. I just received a response and they want $600.00 for two people. It seems really steep to me. Have their prices gone up recently? That is about what we paid for a 14 hour private tour from Rome.

 

If we do the tunnel tour, I assume the guide will just meet us at the end/Arab market?

[gemmagee]

We were part of a group of 10. For day one, we paid each $99.00. included in this was seeing, not in order, Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa, Church of the holy Sepulchre, , King David's Tomb , Western Wall, Temple Mount, Arab Market. The Old City, Mount of Olives Walk, plus more. A lot depends on traffic, i.e. how many cruise ships are in port. Also Bethlehem, which can take up a vast amount of time, depending on how long the wait is to get into see the manger.Can be up to 2 hours.

Day 2, was driving to the Dead Sea, Qumeran, (Dead Sea Scrolls) and Masada, which takes up a lot of time, but so worthwhile.

[Senior Citizen]

We returned from our 20 day cruise of the Middle East/Holy Land on May 13. Our ship was in Ashdod for two days and Haifa for one day. I arranged a private tour for 12 of my shipmates with Guided Tours Israel. I started "talking" to Alon over 6 months prior to our tour. Between Alon and Leo at Guided Tours Israel, we planned out everything our group wanted to see over the course of the 3 days. Our guide Mickey and our driver Tzumi were amazing. Mickey was so energetic and full of wonderful information. Tzumi was a great driver in the heavy Jerusalem traffic and everywhere else. We were picked up at the port in Ashdod around 8 am and we toured Jerusalem and its surrounds and Bethlehem on day 1. Around 7:30 pm, we were dropped off at the Harmony Hotel in Jerusalem (great hotel, great location). At 7:30 am the next morning, Mickey and Tzumi were at our hotel to pick us up for our full day of touring the Dead Sea and the Masada. At the end of the day, they took us back to the port in Ashdod where we boarded our ship as it made its way to Haifa. At 7:30 am, Mickey and Tzumi were at the port gates in Haifa ready to take us to the Sea of Galilee/Jordan River and Nazareth. We had another full day and were dropped off at our port at the end of the day---exhausted and exhilarated by all that we had seen and experienced during the last three days.

 

Guided Tours Israel and its guide Mickey were fantastic. We couldn't have made a better choice.

 

While our group insisted that we needed to go to Bethlehem, I would tell others that if you only have one day to spend in Jerusalem, then spend it all in Jerusalem. Adding Bethlehem to the itinerary just shortchanges Jerusalem because there are only so many hours in a day and there is soooo much to see and do in Jerusalem!!! This wasn't Guided Tours Israel's fault, it was ours because we just had to do it!

 

Our group would highly recommend Guided Tours Israel. They were very professional and easy to work with. Alon and Leo were great tour planners. Mickey was brilliant and Tzumi was a wonderful driver.

[laurelhollow]

Hi Cynthia - I will be in Israel June 20-22 on and Oceania cruise. I also am traveling alone and, since I can't seem to find anybody to share, am willing to pay for the guide myself. Can you tell me your experience as a solo? I will be spending one night in Jerusalem so I can include Masada and the Dead Sea in the itinerary.

 

Thanks

 

Holly

 

From my own experience, I can tell you that I did have a lot of difficulty finding others to share a tour IF you want to personalize it and not just do a "highlights" or standard tour.

 

I always do a lot of advance research and had specific sites I wanted to see. My tours were not geared toward Christian sites or Jewish sites but rather toward those ancient sites I felt best represented a specific period.

 

I was not able to find ANYONE (despite months of trying to recruit) to share my tour from Haifa -- so yes, I paid for a private guide all to myself. And for Jerusalem, where we did quite a few basic highlights but also a few specific things to the Roman period -- I could only find one other couple to share.

[cruisemom42]

Hi Cynthia - I will be in Israel June 20-22 on and Oceania cruise. I also am traveling alone and, since I can't seem to find anybody to share, am willing to pay for the guide myself. Can you tell me your experience as a solo? I will be spending one night in Jerusalem so I can include Masada and the Dead Sea in the itinerary.

 

Thanks

 

Holly

 

It worked out great for me. I have to say that the private tours I did were some of the best I've had. I did one day with just a guide and myself to see Caesarea, Tzippori, and Beit She'arim. Fantastic day, and we saw so much. We even made a couple of extra stops during the day (just happened to drive by a sign that said "Bird Mosaic" outside Caesarea and I said "Oh, could we stop?" Well we did, and it was fantastic -- one of those serendipitous moments.

 

I had already planned to return to Israel about 4 months after that cruise -- which I did. I enjoyed the guide so much that I booked him again for another full day. There's such a difference between seeing a site on a "basic" tour with a lot of others versus seeing it on your own, in depth, with a great guide. I know, because I saw Caesarea a second time on my Israel tour and it did not compare well with the private tour I had previously -- the guide only showed us about half of what I'd seen a few months earlier. :rolleyes:

 

Go for it, you won't be sorry. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

[laurelhollow]

It worked out great for me. I have to say that the private tours I did were some of the best I've had. I did one day with just a guide and myself to see Caesarea, Tzippori, and Beit She'arim. Fantastic day, and we saw so much. We even made a couple of extra stops during the day (just happened to drive by a sign that said "Bird Mosaic" outside Caesarea and I said "Oh, could we stop?" Well we did, and it was fantastic -- one of those serendipitous moments.

Go for it, you won't be sorry. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

Thanks. Went once before but was only able to tour for one day out of Haifa after being attacked by King Tut's revenge on my visit to Cairo. :eek: Had a fantastic time with a private guide, but, at the time we were a group of 6. The trip to Caesarea was phenomenal - had lunch there by the water. Just lovely. Also got taken to the bird mosaic. Tel Megiddo was awesome. Everything was fascinating.

Just worried that the tour guide will get laryngitis just talking to me. ;)

[DrJJ]

I have now used Nir Ofer twice for private guided tours of the North (Haifa and Tiberius), Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Negev. He is a licensed Israel guide, perfectly fluent in English and German and has an outstanding command of history and geography.

Highly recommended.

http://nirofer.wordpress.com/

[laurelhollow]

I believe guided tours charges extra for an overnight in Jerusalem. We are using Moti Barness in June and because he lives in the Jerusalem area he is just going to drop us off at our hotel and pick us up the next day.

 

 

Hi Stip - are you by any chance booked with Moti for June 20, 21 and 22?

[Birdie1810]

GTI has not worked out for me. I tried to book several tours with them over the last 2 weeks. I received an email today stating they didn't have a tour guide for the 3 days, August 15-17. So they had to cancelled my tours. I think there were a couple of others trying to book with GTI too. I know one other who received a similar "tour canceled" email from GTI.

 

Can some recommend another tour company in Israel?

[rosie#1]

GTI has not worked out for me. I tried to book several tours with them over the last 2 weeks. I received an email today stating they didn't have a tour guide for the 3 days, August 15-17. So they had to cancelled my tours. I think there were a couple of others trying to book with GTI too. I know one other who received a similar "tour canceled" email from GTI.

 

Can some recommend another tour company in Israel?

 

 

I think GTI is the only company that arranges semi-private tours. You can also arrange a private tour with them. Two other companies I have seen mentioned on CC are travel-israel.info and avitours.co.il. Most private tours are around 600 for up to four or five people. It will be less pp if you have a larger group. It is affordable if you can find another couple interested. So far going this route has worked out very well for us. We were able to customize our tour and found others to join. I will post a review when we get back.

[crabby apple]

We had 2 days with GTI last week- the Northern Christian Tour from Haifa and the Dead Sea/Jerusalem tour from Ashdod. We had different guides both time, and they seemed to be self-employed tour guides getting jobs from GTI, but they also had conferred with each other, so when disembarking at Ashdod we knew exactly what car to look for etc.

 

We were very happy with both guides who were informative and thorough. The only observation that I would have is that we had several people on the roll call who were looking to get the private rates for the tour by getting GTI to put them in a group (the per person rates were identical for groups from 6-14 people). GTI tended to put together groups of 14 which some felt were a bit crowded, especially as by waiting on the roll call they could put a group of 6 together at the same price.

 

so, if I were to arrange a group myself and include only say 10 people, they could at their will at the last minute add 4 more people?

 

I would prefer to keep it smaller than the top limit of attendees

 

do you mean they went ahead and added random peopel to any already pre arranged groups ?

[Grannycb]

so, if I were to arrange a group myself and include only say 10 people, they could at their will at the last minute add 4 more people?

 

I would prefer to keep it smaller than the top limit of attendees

 

do you mean they went ahead and added random peopel to any already pre arranged groups ?

 

We also took the two days of tours with GTI. There were people at the meeting point who had arranged tours for four. Their price was different from ours. We had asked to be put in with others to get the group rate. Our group had eight people. It was a very nice size and we all had a lot of fun exploring Israel together. It's up to you if you want to keep your own little group or join others. Our total experience was very good.

[Birdie1810]

GTI has not worked out for me. I tried to book several tours with them over the last 2 weeks. I received an email today stating they didn't have a tour guide for the 3 days, August 15-17. So they had to cancelled my tours. I think there were a couple of others trying to book with GTI too. I know one other who received a similar "tour canceled" email from GTI.

 

Can some recommend another tour company in Israel?

 

GTI has come back with 1 of the 3 tours which I can confirm. I'll do that one and stay with Celebrity for the other tours.

[rosie#1]

We also took the two days of tours with GTI. There were people at the meeting point who had arranged tours for four. Their price was different from ours. We had asked to be put in with others to get the group rate. Our group had eight people. It was a very nice size and we all had a lot of fun exploring Israel together. It's up to you if you want to keep your own little group or join others. Our total experience was very good.

 

With GTI you need six people on a private tour in order to have the same price as their arranged semi-private tour ( 6-16 people). Four people on a private tour would cost a little more pp. My only issue with the semi-private tours is that you can have up to 16 on your tour. I am on a 9/15 cruise and so far the semi-private tour is at 14.

[crabby apple]

With GTI you need six people on a private tour in order to have the same price as their arranged semi-private tour ( 6-16 people). Four people on a private tour would cost a little more pp. My only issue with the semi-private tours is that you can have up to 16 on your tour. I am on a 9/15 cruise and so far the semi-private tour is at 14.

 

how do the prices for a limited type(limited persons) private tour cost vs a semi private tour?

[rosie#1]

how do the prices for a limited type(limited persons) private tour cost vs a semi private tour?

 

Depends on the tour, the amount of people and which company you use. I am assuming you are asking about GTI.

 

GTI charges roughly $600 for up to four people on most of their private tours. The Dead Sea/Masada and I think Bethlehem cost a bit more. So figure 300pp for two and 150pp for four. They will charge you the same price for a private tour as their semi-private tour if you have six or more. Depending on the itinerary the prices for six or more is from $99pp to $135pp.

 

I have not used GTI, but I did ask a lot of questions.

[rosie#1]

I looked at my emails and the term GTI uses is shared tour, not semi-private tour.

[epixx]

Realize that a private tour with GTI is not the same as a private tour with a tour guide that you select.

 

I asked GTI for a price quote for 2 private tours. For one of the tours, I was given the itinerary for the general area, Northern Israel, that I requested. When I asked to add and subtract specific sights, I was allowed to subtract but not add. For my second request, I proposed a specific itinerary from Ashdod. GTI indicated that they could not supply a guide for my preferred itinerary. Note that I easily located private guides for these tours, some at a lower price than the $596 charged by GTI.

[crabby apple]

Realize that a private tour with GTI is not the same as a private tour with a tour guide that you select.

 

I asked GTI for a price quote for 2 private tours. For one of the tours, I was given the itinerary for the general area, Northern Israel, that I requested. When I asked to add and subtract specific sights, I was allowed to subtract but not add. For my second request, I proposed a specific itinerary from Ashdod. GTI indicated that they could not supply a guide for my preferred itinerary. Note that I easily located private guides for these tours, some at a lower price than the $596 charged by GTI.

 

 

Do you have the post on here about which guides you used and what company or private guide agency? If so would you mind linking me?

[aussie cruzer]

Do you have the post on here about which guides you used and what company or private guide agency? If so would you mind linking me?

 

 

GTI gets good reviews here on Cruise Critic,also on Tripadviser.

The idea with any private tour is to take control of the booking process,if you book the tour as i have..you decide on what you do,if you go in a semi private tour...you lose control.

 

If you book the tour & get others to make up the numbers,you are still in control of the booking.The mistake IMHO is getting to many people on a tour...example the price for six people with Gti p/p is the same as ten people p/p..I would rather have six people than ten for the same price.

[crabby apple]

GTI gets good reviews here on Cruise Critic,also on Tripadviser.

The idea with any private tour is to take control of the booking process,if you book the tour as i have..you decide on what you do,if you go in a semi private tour...you lose control.

 

If you book the tour & get others to make up the numbers,you are still in control of the booking.The mistake IMHO is getting to many people on a tour...example the price for six people with Gti p/p is the same as ten people p/p..I would rather have six people than ten for the same price.

 

true, and when the tour is popular with the ship they said they won't limit how many are on the tour and not offer private only semi private.........I suppose we could pay more for private tour if we don't want 16 people on the tour bus

[epixx]

Do you have the post on here about which guides you used and what company or private guide agency? If so would you mind linking me?

 

I cannot comment on guides, as I have not yet taken the tours.