Israel in 2 weeks

Israel in 2 weeks

Israel is definitely a country to visit! It’s very easy to travel around and 2 weeks is plenty of time to see the highlights! My friend and I rented a car (super cheap – $300 for 10 days!) and drove around the country.

In the 2 weeks we visited:

  • Tel Aviv
  • Jerusalem
  • Sea of Galilee
  • Ein Gedi & Masada
  • The Dead Sea
  • Eilat

Tel Aviv

We landed at Ben Gurion Airport ad night, picked up our car right in the terminal, and headed to downtown Tel Aviv! It was super confusing in the dark (you’ll NEED a GPS!!) but we finally made it to Abraham Hostel.

The next day we roamed the streets – we walked around Jaffa, the coastline, and tanned on the beach! We also went to the main market and bought some yummy snacks!

We were in Tel Aviv on Memorial Day, which was a very cool experience. At 11am the sirens go off and everyone (even people in their cars) stop whatever they’re doing and have a moment of silence. Even when we were walking along the beach everyone stopped and showed their respect! Every 18 year old in Israel has to join the army, so it is an extremely meaningful day to all the Israelis as everyone knows someone who has fought for their country!

Jerusalem

Next stop Jerusalem! We stayed with a family friend in Tzur Hadassah (~20 mins outside of the main city). We were lucky to arrive in Jerusalem on the eve of their Independence Day, so we went to a huge night party right by the Jaffa gate! Super fun and I must say – Israelis know how to party!

The next day we went on a tour through the religious and historical sites. We saw the Mt. of Olives, the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and Gethsemane! Coming from a religious family, it was unreal to be in the city and walk through the streets that I’ve heard about as a young girl.

The following day was a Friday (the Sabbath) so we relaxed, did a little shopping in the city, and spent time with the family we were staying with. (NOTE: stores close at 2pm on Fridays) They made us an authentic Shabbat dinner – it was delicious!

Sea of Galilee

The next day we headed up Route 90 to the Sea of Galilee. The drive itself was an experience – the landscape changes from city to desert to lush green farmland. It was interesting to drive alongside the Palestinian villages and see how different they live from the Israelis.

We stopped along the Jordan River where the river is at its narrowest point. This is where it is believed that Jesus was baptized- and still today there are baptisms performed every day!

We headed right to the Sea and took a little dip (it was freezing in April) and then went to Mount Arbel to get a beautiful lookout of the area! There was a group of tourists singing hymns (which caught us a little off guard) but it was honestly so surreal! In that moment I imagined what it was like to be back in biblical times.

We stayed the night in Tiberias (not much to do here-but it’s a fine place to sleep) and went up to the Hexagon Pools the next morning! This is a little hike at the top of the Sea of Galilee- it was an easy hike down into the valley and we were the only ones there!

Ein Gedi & Masada

After the hike, we drove back down the 90 to Ein Gedi Nature Reserve! There’s a few different paths to hike, we chose the easiest one called Wadi David. There’s another one called Wadi Arugot but it’s a quite a bit longer and more difficult. Hindsight, I would have chosen that one because the David path was full of older people moving at 1mph. It was beautiful and you get views like this!

We then headed to Masada- we chose to take the gondola up and hike down ourselves. Masada is in the middle of the desert on a massive ‘mountain’ overlooking the Dead Sea. In 30 B.C. King Herod built a fortress here to hide from the Romans. The fortress is massive and extremely elaborate – it’s crazy to imagine them building this back in the day!

The ‘Snake Path’ is path that goes up/down the mountain – it’s deathly because it’s right in the sun, so if you’re going to venture up I would recommend going early in the morning! If you’re super keen there’s a group that goes up every morning at 4am to watch the sunrise.

The Dead Sea

We then drove all the way to Ein Bokek where we stayed in a fancy spa resort (Oasis Dead Sea – HIGHLY recommend). The hotel had a man-made dead sea pool and in the room they gave you some dead sea products (moisturizers, scrubs, etc).

The Dead Sea was my FAVOURITE part of the trip!! It is such a unique experience that you really have to do once in your life! I could lay in there and float all day – just be sure to rinse off after because you’ll have a whole layer of salt on your body! Also if you have cuts on your body they will sting – so try not to shave a day or two before!

Eilat

After the Dead Sea we drove 4 hours south to Eilat. We stayed at HI Eilat which was a perfect location – right between the main boardwalk and the main beaches (all in walking distance!). It’s a touristy vacation town at the most southern tip wedged between the Red Sea, Jordan and Egypt! When overlooking the Red Sea you can see both countries which felt pretty cool!

My favourite thing to do here was snorkelling! We went a little off the beaten path and snorkelled closer to the Egypt border (less people than the main beaches) and there was tons of fish and coral to see!

The town itself was very touristy, but it was fun to walk along the boardwalk at night and peek in all the little shops! There’s a few malls to shop at too if you have a bad weather day!                                                                                                                                                                           

Overall I LOVED Israel. Don’t let the bad image represented in the media affect your view on the beautiful country. Never once did I feel unsafe (and I’m a 24 year old blonde female!)

Thanks for reading

xx steens