Three seas, one small country.
Which Masada tour leaves early enough for the sunrise. Whether Petra really fits in a day from Eilat. What a guide is worth inside the Old City walls. Every tour in Israel, reviewed and ranked.
Down to the Dead Sea, and up Masada first.
Every Dead Sea & Masada tour →
The cable car runs before the heat arrives, the salt is warm by mid-morning and the light on the Judean cliffs is flat by two. These three carry the most travellers; the full list splits the rest by which city you start from and how early you will leave it.
Masada at sunrise, then the salt
Up the cable car or the Snake Path while the desert is still cold, breakfast on the plateau, then Ein Gedi and an hour floating in water that will not let you sink.
Judean wadis by jeep
Dry riverbeds that flood twice a winter, Bedouin encampments on the ridge, and a driver who knows which track still goes through after the last storm.
Makhtesh Ramon, end to end
Forty kilometres of collapsed rock, no water in it and none for miles around. Mitzpe Ramon sits on the rim; the colours arrive in the last hour before dark.
The Israel days that fill up first.
Masada before sunrise, the Old City on foot, Bethlehem and the Judean hills, Petra across the border, the Galilee shore and the Negev by jeep. Six days most itineraries are built around, and the best way to book each.
In Jerusalem the Old City is one square kilometre.
Four quarters, eight working gates and the Western Wall inside a space you can walk across in twenty minutes — and almost none of it explains itself. The guided mornings go first, and anything continuing to Bethlehem needs a passport and a guide who can cross.
What a day in Israel costs.
What Israel really charges for a day out, from a market walk to a chartered desert run. The cheapest good one costs about what a shared taxi to the coast does.
Old City walks, market mornings, museum entries and Jaffa strolls: the days that cost less than dinner.
The classic day trips: Masada and the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Galilee, guided Old City mornings.
Petra across the border, private guides and chartered desert days that earn the price.
- 1Day Tour to Petra from Eilatfrom $219
- 22-Day Petra Tour from Jerusalemfrom $420
- 32 Day Tour to Petra and Wadi Rum from Tel Avivfrom $399
Israel’s most popular tours.
Every review →The tours more travellers take than anything else in Israel, and what makes each one worth its day.
1
Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up
Review the 10-hour Masada and Dead Sea tour from Tel Aviv, with cable-car views, ancient ruins, Qumran, floating, mud, and practical tips.
From · $117
Read our review →
2
Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day Trip
from $118
3
Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv
from $120
4
Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Dead Sea
from $109
5
Guided Day Trip to Nazareth & Sea of Galilee
from $98
6
Jerusalem Old & New City Bus Tour
from $95
7
Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up
from $111
8
Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Jerusalem
from $111
Tel Aviv is Bauhaus, beach and dinner at eleven.
The city runs on its seafront and its kitchens. Neve Tzedek and the white Bauhaus blocks in the morning, Jaffa’s flea market after lunch, and leave the evening loose — very little here starts before nine.
Israel stops for Shabbat. Build the week around it.
From Friday afternoon until Saturday after dark, intercity buses and trains stop, the markets shut early and most museums lock the doors. Private guides and drivers keep working, and anything crossing to Bethlehem or Jordan runs as normal — so book Saturday first and fit the rest around it.
- 1Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day Tripfrom $118
- 2Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Dead Seafrom $109
- 3Day Tour to Jerusalem and Bethlehem from Tel Avivfrom $121
Three Israeli days that refuse to be squeezed in.
Plenty here fits around a city break. Petra, the Galilee shore and the Crusader coast do not — each takes a whole day and gives it back.
Petra in a Day
The coaches leave Eilat in the dark for the Wadi Araba crossing, half an hour up the road. You travel on your passport; the Jordanian visa and the border fee are arranged by the operator days ahead, which is why walk-ups do not happen. The Siq is a kilometre of narrowing rock before the Treasury appears, and the return leg gets you back to Eilat after dinner.
- 1Day Tour to Petra from Eilat★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 237 reviews
- 22-Day Petra Tour from Jerusalem★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 212 reviews
- 32 Day Tour to Petra and Wadi Rum from Tel Aviv★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 154 reviews
The Galilee Shore
The Sea of Galilee sits 210 metres below sea level and you can drive its whole shore in an afternoon: Capernaum’s black basalt synagogue, the Mount of Beatitudes above the water, Tabgha, then Tiberias for lunch. Nazareth is twenty-five minutes uphill, and the Basilica of the Annunciation is worth the detour on its own.
- 1Guided Day Trip to Nazareth & Sea of Galilee★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 824 reviews
- 2Nazareth and Sea of Galilee Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 588 reviews
- 3Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee Day Trip from Tel Aviv★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 541 reviews
Caesarea to Acre
Herod built a deep-water harbour at Caesarea where there was no bay, and the aqueduct still runs along the beach. An hour north, Acre keeps its Crusader halls intact under an Ottoman old city, with tunnels you walk beneath the souk. Rosh Hanikra’s sea grottoes are the last stop before the Lebanese border.
- 1Caesarea, Haifa and Akko Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 744 reviews
- 2Caesarea, Rosh Hanikra and Acre Day Trip from Tel Aviv★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 406 reviews
- 3Caesarea, Haifa & Akko Day Trip from Jerusalem★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 96 reviews
Book these before you fly to Israel.
Most of Israel can be arranged from the hotel desk the night before. These cannot — they run on border crossings, departures in the dark, and a week that stops on Friday afternoon.
- 01Day Tour to Petra from EilatThe Jordan crossing runs on your passport and a visa the operator arranges days ahead. There is no same-day sign-up at the border.
- 02Masada at Sunrise, Ein Gedi & Dead Sea TourSunrise departures leave both cities in the dark on a single coach, and they are the first seats to go in spring and autumn.
- 03Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day TripBethlehem is in the West Bank: you travel on your passport with a guide licensed to cross, which is not something to organise on the morning.
Tel Aviv’s markets do not close when the stalls do.
All market tours →
One week in Israel, Mediterranean to Red Sea.
Tel Aviv
The coast
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EilatBy region — north to south
The Galilee6 tours
Haifa & the Carmel coast8 tours
Tel Aviv130 tours
Jerusalem124 tours
The Negev6 tours
Eilat & the Red Sea16 tours- Every region →
By experience — what kind of day is it?
Latest Israel tour reviews.
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Tel Aviv; Jaffa Old City, Port & Shuk Hapishpishim Walking Tour
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Professional Surfing lessons in the heart of Tel Aviv
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Private Full Day Tour to Bethlehem and Jerusalem From Tel Aviv
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Jerusalem Half Day Walking Tour (3 Hours) from Tel Aviv
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Highlights of Caesarea, Haifa, Acre and Rosh Hanikra Tour from Tel Aviv
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Tour From Jerusalem & Tel Aviv: Half Day Travel to Bethlehem
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