ShareNow that things are back to normal here, I want to relate to you and experience I just had earlier today. I run a closed group on Facebook called “Private Tour Guides in Israel.” I invited about fifty guides I know to join the group. You have to be an experienced licensed guide and own […]

Now that things are back to normal here, I want to relate to you and experience I just had earlier today.

I run a closed group on Facebook called “Private Tour Guides in Israel.” I invited about fifty guides I know to join the group. You have to be an experienced licensed guide and own your own specially-licensed tour car to be a member. I wanted the group to be a bit of an elite club where we more experienced guides could share experiences, gripe and maybe share a joke or two.

Someone who I do not know asked to join the group. No, he wasn’t a guide, but an agent. I let him post a form on the group because he has to make a living, too.

The form was for private tour guides, like me, to join his group of guides on a site he manages.

I wonder…why would a prospective client go to his site and pick a tour guide from there? Price? His good name? I mean, who is this guy?

When hiring a private tour guide, you are sometimes investing quite a bit of money. If it were me, I would first of all go to someone either I knew or my family and/ or close friends.

TripAdivisor is the next best thing.

If you are going to hire a guide, anywhere in the world today, look them up an TripAdvisor and read about them.

If they are not listed there, I sincerely wish you good luck.

You’ll need it.

    ShareChristmas, Hanuka and New Year’s holidays are over. Everyone has gone back to work and school. In the northern hemisphere it is winter. This winter already seems to one of the coldest and snowiest on record. Except in Israel. January and February are the slowest months for tourism in Israel. Mainly because of rainy weather, […]

    Christmas, Hanuka and New Year’s holidays are over. Everyone has gone back to work and school. In the northern hemisphere it is winter. This winter already seems to one of the coldest and snowiest on record.

    Except in Israel.

    January and February are the slowest months for tourism in Israel. Mainly because of rainy weather, but also because most people don’t take vacations (or holiday, for the Brits out there) in winter.

    As a private tour guide in Israel, I believe that this is one of the best times to visit the Holy Land. Hotels are only partially full, sites are almost empty, and unlike Greece, for example, everything is open.

    Many destinations in the Mediterranean close down for winter. Take the island of Rhodes, for example.

    I was on Rhodes July of last year and met a couple who had been there before, but in February. They said that the excellent bus service we were using to get from the hotel to the main city was not operating, almost all the restaurants were closed and, well, there was nothing to do!

    Except for laying on a beach, you can do everything you usually do on a trip to Israel in January as you can in July, and probably enjoy it more.

    I’ll tell you why – the weather. It isn’t hot outside. True, the days are shorter and the national parks close at 4pm and not at 5pm, but with average temperatures in the 50’s, what is not to enjoy? All of the sites visited my tourists, whether they be religious sites like the Temple Tunnel Tours or the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, are open and business is usual!

    All the hotels are open, prices are sometimes 40% cheaper and you can always get a room in the hotel you want.

    Bird Watching in Winter

    Bird Watching in Winter

      ShareWhat kind of camera should I bring? Coming to the Land of Israel on holiday/pilgrimage/vacation/family visit is no small thing. The price of airline tickets, hotels (and a guide) do not come cheaply. This will be a trip that you will take home with you and cherish the memories for the rest of your lives. […]

      What kind of camera should I bring?

      Coming to the Land of Israel on holiday/pilgrimage/vacation/family visit is no small thing. The price of airline tickets, hotels (and a guide) do not come cheaply.

      This will be a trip that you will take home with you and cherish the memories for the rest of your lives.

      Many of us take photos and videos of our trips to help us relive those fantastic moments. Some of us will even buy a camera for the trip. As a private tour guide in Israel, I am sometimes asked what kind of camera to bring.

      Today, smartphones (like the iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy 4, for example) are equipped with very simple to use, but sophisticated cameras which can take excellent photos and videos.

      However, when you want to zoom into your scene using a smartphone, the picture will lose quality.

      Also, I don’t recommend using your smartphone in harsh or adverse conditions like the Dead Sea or the desert on a windy day and certainly not near the pool!

      Some really good digital cameras have been announced recently like the Nikon Df and the Sony a7 and a7r, but these are full frame (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means) digital cameras for serious photographers and cost about $3,000!

      However, the Nikon doesn’t shoot video and you don’t Sony, though a landmark camera, still costs 3k and you can’t take it surfing.

      There is an easier and less costly alternative: a weatherproof camera. All the big companies like Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc., make them.

      They range from $120 to $300, but I would like to recommend one in particular – the Fujifilm XP60. Coming in at about $150, this thing takes great photos and videos (HD) and you can even scuba dive with it (imagine tossing your smartphone to your 11 year old in the pool)!

      Don’t take my word for it. Google “best weather proof cameras” and start reading.

      Enjoy!

      fujifilm-xp60_blue_front

        Share Falafel is a dish consisting of deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas onions, parsley and garlic, seasoned with coriander and cumin. The balls are then put into a pita usually with “Israeli-stlye” salad (chopped cucumber and tomato) and French-fries (chips). Any self-respecting falafel joint with have a self-service small buffet of tahini (a sauce make […]

        falafel private tour guide in Israel

        Falafel is a dish consisting of deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas onions, parsley and garlic, seasoned with coriander and cumin. The balls are then put into a pita usually with “Israeli-stlye” salad (chopped cucumber and tomato) and French-fries (chips). Any self-respecting falafel joint with have a self-service small buffet of tahini (a sauce make of sesame seeds), hot chili pepper sauce (schugg), sauerkraut, fried eggplant, pickles, olives, hot peppers, etc. Humus is usually not added as humus is made from the same chickpeas as are the falafel balls (and humus tends to sour quickly in the hot Israeli weather).

        Apparently, falafel originated in medieval Egypt where Christians there called “Copts” ate falafel balls (there made mostly from fava beans and not chick peas) during Lent. As the dish migrated east, chick peas which were grown locally, replaced fava beans.

        The word falafel comes from the Semitic word pilpel (pepper) like small round peppercorns.

        Now readily available in many parts of North America, this private tour guide in Israel contends that the best falafel is in Israel.

        Where’s the best place to eat falafel in Israel? That is the subject of many an argument between Israelis (and Palestinians) today.

        If you Google “best falafel in Israel,” your results are mainly from Israeli daily newspapers (like Ha’aretz) that publish food reviews which are, how to put this delicately, paid for by the food establishments themselves.

        Locals know where the best spots are. As a local, here’s my two cents:

        In the north – Assal Falafel in Rosh Pinna. Ask anybody in the area where to get falafel (and also great humus) and they will direct you to the main traffic circle just off the main highway.

        In Jerusalem – “Levy Brothers” have been in business since 1954. Situated in the Machneh Yudah market in Jerusalem (next to the Lottery stand), they are truly a head above the local competition. Note that their small stand in on Agrippas Street, not inside the market proper.

        The best? Without a doubt, falafel Golani in my hometown of Afula is consistently chosen as the best falafel in Israel. Owner Dudu Levy named the spot in honor of his brother, a soldier in the famous Golani Brigade, who fell in battle in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

        Not only will you get a great mean for about $4.50, but there’s a floor show, too!
        Enjoy!