Where to Start When Planning a Trip to Israel

Things to Consider:

Currency: New Israel Shekel (NIS)

 

Best Time to Visit: March-May or September-November

 

Language: Hebrew

 

Drinkable Tap Water: Yes

 

Haggling:No

 

Tip: Yes (usually 10-20%)

 

Flush Toilet Paper: Yes

 

Cash or Credit Card: Mostly credit card in stores, cash for transportation and street vendors

 

Cultural Tips: 

“Kosher” is the name to describe the diet held within the Jewish traditional law. Meaning there will be no pork, shellfish, no dairy and meat products on the same menu.

 

“Shabbat” is the Jewish sabbath. Practiced from sundown on Friday until nightfall on Saturday. Jewish owned stores will be closed. If you are interested in more the history and culture of Jewish tradition, this is a great blog. 

What We Wish We Knew:

  • If going with a tour group don’t be afraid to venture outside of the hotel or go somewhere else to eat when stopping for lunch. Some of the places the tour group would stop to have lunch would be over $15 per person. We opted to walk down the street to some street vendors for half the price. 
  • Jerusalem is such a unique city. With very diverse people groups living within a small space. Rich history is quite literally everywhere. No matter if you are in a tour group or not, try to spend at least a couple days in Jerusalem to explore the city yourself. Somethings we wished we had more time for would be the Holocaust History Museum and Israel Museum. Recommended to us by other travelers, but could not squeeze it in this time around. 

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