If you are planning to tour with your family, having a private guide makes it all the more flexible and enjoyable. A private guide can help you include something for everyone in the family in your itinerary – whether it’s wild animals, archaeological digs, nature reserves or historical points of interest. You’ll have more time to relax and enjoy the trip!

The Jewish Quarter is special because it stands on the site of the original city from the time of the 2nd temple. No other part of Jerusalem can make that claim. Looking at Jerusalem from above ground one would think that only Christians and Muslims lived there because there are churches and mosques surrounding the Jewish quarter, yet the archaeological discoveries prove otherwise. The Jews have always been the majority of the population of the Old City.

Archaeological excavations done since the 6-Day War in 1967 brought forth homes, walls, water cisterns and streets from those early days. No matter how loudly the bells ring out or the muezzin calls, nothing can change this fact.

Believe it or not, when Jews didn’t live in Jerusalem, nobody lived here.  Jerusalem lay deserted for hundreds of years before Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of Turkey, built a wall around Jerusalem, which made Jews feel that it was safe to live here. Within about 3 years after the
wall was completed in 1538, the population of the city tripled. Everyone wanted to live here because the Jews had chosen to live here.

Most of these Jews came from Spain, after the expulsion of the Jews and from Istanbul. This was not the first time the Jewish Quarter grew very swiftly. It had also grown quickly in the 13th century when Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Nachmanides) came to Jerusalem in 1265, also from Spain. That was after the Mongol invasion had destroyed the city and the Mamluk Arabs began to rebuild it and encouraged Jews to live here. That was also the time when the Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives was consecrated. It is still used today by the Jewish community of Jerusalem.

Glancing at the Old City, one may assume the Jews just entered it within the past 100 years, but we know differently. Jews have thousands of years of history here, but a lot of it is hidden underground. Muslims built on top of Jewish homes and buildings in order to convince themselves and everyone else that the Jews never lived here, but there is no way to deny the archaeology from 2000 years ago.

Is one of your kids especially interested in wild animals? Does your family share common interests, like nature or archeology? Has your family been talking about an extended family vacation, taking the grandparents along too? Do you have a toddler and a pre-teenager? Are you concerned about traveling abroad with kids for the first time? Depending on what your family is like and what you want to do on your trip, you may want to consider a private tour.

Israel is a great and special place to visit with the family.

Private Tours In Israel will design an itinerary that is comfortable, safe, and fun for everyone in the family where we can arrange a trip, customized to your kids’ ages and interests.

For kids and parents alike, you’ll have time to relax and discover the joys of travel.

The reason why Christians saw Jerusalem as their holy city wasn’t because it was the city where Jesus lived, but rather, being destroyed, it was proof to them that Jesus was the Messiah. He had prophesied on the Mt. of Olives that Jerusalem would be destroyed and now the prophecy was fulfilled (Matthew 23:36-39, Luke 23:28).

The site of the original city from the time of the 2nd temple is at Mt. Zion, where David’s Tomb is, the City of David and where the Jewish Quarter stands today. The modern day area of the Christian Quarter is the site of a city built by Hadrian in 132 CE and was known as Aelia Capitolina, a Pagan city built to commemorate the victory of Jupiter over the Jewish God.

The fact that Aelia Capitolina stood in all its glory and Jerusalem lay in ruins was considered by the Pagan Romans, the Christians and later the Moslems as proof that God had rejected the Jewish People and had chosen another nation instead of them.

The Roman emperor Constantine the Great built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and it forms the center of the Christian Quarter. Originally this was a beautiful Roman temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the Roman goddess of love. The Romans must have thought the Jews very strange because they hated Aphrodite. Naturally they didn’t hate Aphrodite because she wasn’t appealing or attractive, but she simply contravened the first 3 of the 10 commandments (to worship only God, not to have any other gods and not to make any graven images). Constantine built the church of Jesus in place of Aphrodite’s temple in the hope that the Jews would prefer to worship Jesus rather than Aphrodite. After all, he was Jewish.

Rachael E., UK

I’ll recommend you to anyone that wants to see Israel that way. You made our first impression a lasting one. You and your fellow countrymen are the nicest on the planet and we will never forget your hospitality.

Sylvia & Roger B., Canada

Sally and Clayton Frost, UK

We found Private Tours In Israel on the internet and were extremely impressed with the format and content of the website. What really impressed us was the speed and personal response to our initial query in relation to our holiday. We found the price of the holiday to be extremely competitive and had no second thoughts about booking with them. In the run up to our holiday, we felt that Private Tours really valued our business and cared about our holiday in Israel.

John and Joan R., Texas

Thanks to Private Tours in Israel (and Adriana), for giving us the kind of personal service we couldn’t have hoped to find with any other company. You made our Israel holiday experience a delightful and memorable one. We’ll be back soon to tour the Middle East!

Bernard W. , New York

I am writing to express my appreciation for your service during this weekend, [our driver] was unfailingly helpful, courteous, considerate and conscientious throughout the weekend and his friendly and efficient service was most appreciated.  We will consider your service again when visiting Israel.

George K., Canada

When you visit Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, you will find an amazing city with thousands of years of history.
Below is a glimpse of the best of the sites Jerusalem has to offer.

Please contact us at info@privatetoursinisrael.com if you have any questions. We can create your tour plan in every city in Israel according to your needs.

• The Gates in the Old City: Damascus Gate, The New Gate, The Jaffa Gate, The Zion Gate, The Dung Gate, The Golden Gate, The Lion´s Gate and Herod’s Gate.
• The Western Wall: one of the walls that surrounded the Second Temple.
• The Jewish Quarter where you can find the Cardo – the ancient Roman/Byzantine market – and the Burnt House which contains relics of one of the priestly families from the Second Temple.
• The Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock now sits, the place where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.
• The El Aqsa Mosque built 709-715 A.D. and the Solomon’s Stables – both on the Temple Mount.
• The Pool of Silwan: just outside the Old City. The place was picked by David to establish his residence and the capital of Israel.
• Markets or Bazaars in the Old City (also called Shuk): An incredible array of spices, sweet meats, fruits and vegetables all give the tourist a real feeling of the Middle East.
• The Via Dolorosa: The way of the cross which commemorates the path which Jesus walked bearing the cross.
• The Church of the Holy Sepulchre: where Jesus was crucified.
• Mount of Olives: home of an ancient Jewish cemetery and where the Church of all Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane lie.
• The Kidron Valley: from where the Jewish tradition says the Messiah will come from the east.
• Mount Zion: where the tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper are located.
• Ammunition Hill: the main memorial site commemorating the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem after the Six Day War.
• City Hall: the magnificent complex of the Municipality in Safra Square.
• Machane Yehuda Market or the Shuk as it is called by the Israelis:  the most visited market in Jerusalem, located on Jaffa Road. A unique experience.
• Mea Shearim:a small neighborhood inhabited mostly by ultra-orthodox Jews.
• The Knesset: the Israeli Parliament building where you can see three magnificent tapestries by Marc Chagall as well as the floor and wall mosaics he designed.
• The Israel Museum: located here is the Shrine of the Book which contains the priceless biblical manuscripts found in 1947 in caves at Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea.
• The Bible Lands Museum: a superb collection of artifacts from ancient times can be found inside.
• The Hebrew University Campus on the Mt. Scopus: the second university in Israel.
• Yad Vashem: the museum and monument to six million European Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.
• The Chagall Windows: can be found on the synagogue of the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Centre in Ein Karem.
• Model of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple: now located in the Israel Museum.
• The Jerusalem Mall: also called Malha Mall, located in the southern part of the city.
• The Biblical Zoo: just minutes from the Jerusalem Mall
• Ein Karem: a little village with minarets, spires and winding paths that make this one of the most picturesque of spots.
We also offer tours to Bethlehem and Rachel’s Tomb.

Beit She’an lies at a strategic point at the entrance to the Jezreel Valley – the natural passageway from Transjordan to the Mediterranean Sea – and close to the major highway known as the Way of the Sea, which ran from south to north. The city is first mentioned in Egyptian documents 3,900 years ago. Until the thirteenth century BCE the city was called Scythopolis, in honor of the Scythian cavalrymen who served in the Ptolemaic army, and this name was preserved in the ensuing eras. Under Roman rule, Beit She’an became an independent city, part of an alliance of ten cities (the Decapolis).

View the main street (cardo) of Beit She’an as it was in the 4th century CE. The columned road linked the theater to the foot of the mound where the first city was raised.

Revolt against Rome in 66 CE – Jewish zealots attacked the city, but its Jewish inhabitants preferred to fight them alongside the gentiles. However, the non-Jewish citizens did not trust their neighbors, and cruelly slaughtered the Jews.

Beit She’an reached the heights of its development during the Byzantine period (fourth-seventh centuries CE) and most of the remains we see today are from this time. The city extended over a large area on both sides of the Harod River, and when Christianity became the state religion (fourth century) Beit She’an turned into an administrative and religious center. In opposing the Muslim conquest in the seventh century.

The Cardo (main street), seen in the picture above, led from the Roman theater to the central streets of Beit She’an. It was some 180 meters long, and was called the Palladius street, because of the inscription found there stating that the street’s portico was built by the bishop Palladius, apparently in the fourth century CE.

The portico underwent thorough renovations in the sixth century. The street is over 7 meters wide, with a deep drainage channel in its center. The vault above the channel is characterized by its unique paving pattern.

The installations, such as shops on each side of the street were raised very high – up to 280 cm – and were covered with mosaics. This installations were separated from the street by the portico, which supported the roof that stretched along the entire length of the street and protected the facades of the shops.

In the sixth century, changes were made in the street; some of the shops were knocked down to make room for the construction of a semicircular patio, surrounded by rooms with mosaic floors.

In one of the rooms, a mosaic was found describing Tyche, the goddess of the city. In the Muslim period, water cisterns and various structures were installed above the street. Only ten shops have been excavated so far. There has been widespread pillage of stones in the area, and few remnants are to be found along the street.

Main Airport Location

The airport of Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv is situated nine miles (14km) southeast of Tel Aviv, 30 miles (50km) west of Jerusalem.

There are of course other airports,  most of them used for air traffic between Israeli cities except Eilat Airport that also receives flights from other countries, mostly from Europe.

Time

GMT +2 (GMT +3 from April to September).

Airport Facilities

The facilities in the Airport include banks and currency exchange, ATMs, a post office, public telephones, restaurants, duty-free shops, left-luggage services, a children’s nursery, information counters, facilities for disabled passengers and conference and business services.

Weather

Israeli climate “ranges from temperate to tropical, with plenty of sunshine. Two distinct seasons predominate: a rainy winter period from November to May; and a dry summer season which extends through the next six months.”

“Rainfall is relatively heavy in the north and center of the country, with much less in the northern Negev and almost negligible amounts in the southern areas. Regional conditions vary considerably, with humid summers and mild winters on the coast; dry summers and moderately cold winters in the hill regions, hot dry summers and pleasant winters in the Jordan Valley; and year-round semi-desert conditions in the Negev.”

“Weather extremes range from occasional winter snowfall at higher elevations to periodic oppressively hot dry winds which send temperatures soaring, particularly in spring and autumn.”*

Money

The money used in Israel is the New Shekel, but tourists can easily change Euros or dollars to the local money.

New Shekel (ILS; symbol) = 100 agorot (singular, agora). Notes are in denominations of  200, 100, 50, and 20. Coins are in denominations of 10, 5 and 2, 1, and 50 and 10 agorot.

A few words in Hebrew that will be useful in Israel

GOOD MORNING = BOKER TOV

THANK YOU = TODA

YES,NO = KEN, LO

PLEASE = BEVAKASHA

HELLO (AND ALSO) GOOD BYE = SHALOM

——————————————–
*part of the info taken from MFA site

Private Tours In Israel is one of the leading private touring company with top guides and a fleet of tourism vehicles of various sizes. All our guides are licensed by the Ministry of Tourism.

We specialize in cruise ships. Our representative is always at the pier when the ship arrives and our vehicles have a special permit from the port authorities to park opposite the gangway.

We provide guiding services to the ports of Haifa and Ashdod.

Our rates are much more attractive than what you may buy on the ship.

Please contact us for any question you may have! 

At Private Tours In Israel we also encourage you to explore Israel with your family in mind, focusing on the interests of you and your children.

Is one of your kids especially interested in wild animals? Does your family share common interests, like nature or archeology? Has your family been talking about an extended family vacation, taking the grandparents along too? Do you have a toddler and a pre-teenager? Are you concerned about traveling abroad with kids for the first time? Depending on what your family is like and what you want to do on your trip, you may want to consider a private tour.

Israel is a great and special place to visit with the family.

Private Tours In Israel will design an itinerary that is comfortable, safe, and fun for everyone in the family where we can arrange a trip, customized to your kids’ ages and interests.

For kids and parents alike, you’ll have time to relax and discover the joys of travel.